*Major upgrades and many extra features from the original game.
*Intriguing storyline that will last 4 seasons(instead of 1 season.)
*Ability to play as Legends and Hall of Famers.
*Constant mini-games make fielding very fun.
*Damon Bruce doing play-by-play is as funny as ever.
*Several environments for the Baseball Pinball.
*Certain players have perks, which makes this game as strategic as ever.
The Bad:
*Some challenges rely on dumb luck rather than skill.
The Bottom Line:
Attention video game sports franchises: Take notes! This is what a sports sequel should be like. Unlike other franchises such as Madden, which basically want you to cough up $59.99 every year for basically the same game, Bigs 2 has managed to upgrade from last time in such a way, that it makes "Bigs 1" almost forgettable. Fielding for example is no longer boring. Now in order to make a "legendary catch," or to catch a line-drive, or catch a foul pole near dugout, you will engage in several mini games: Button Sequence, Hold and Release the button at the right time, lining up crosshairs and even playing a balance beam game with your RT and LT buttons while trying to keep a baseball from dropping. If unsuccessful, you will not make a great catch and drop the ball. From the batting point of view, in addition to BIG BLAST, you can now choose to activate BIG SLAM as well, which gives you a chance to quickly load the bases and hit a grand slam all in one shot. Pitchers now get rewarded more points for BIG HEAT strikes to combat the powerful hitting.
Some players now have perks. For example, David Ortiz has "No Doubt Homeruns" which can't be caught. Some players like Ichiro have Free Boost before batting, while other defensive others have power to influence other defenders to play better. Other players even temporarily have higher stats if they trail. This really forces you to manage line-ups in a more thoughtful way.
The story mode of the game(*SPOILER WARNING*,) which now lasts four seasons, forces you to restart your career in a Mexican league during Season 1. As always, your stats slowly get better as you progress. After Season 4, you retire, but the game doesn't end there! You will now have to get yourself into Hall of Fame by playing with and against other legends on your quest to becoming the best player ever and ultimately beating Babe Ruth.
*END OF SPOILERS*
Pinball Mode is also fun with more stuff to destroy in several surroundings. There is now even a co-op mode. For all of you achievement hunters, one that I found really fascinating is where you and another online player have to work together and earn 2 million points together.
Some nit-picking: There will be some challenges in the game that will rely on dumb luck, rather than skill. If one of the challenges is to hit a HR and record 5 RBIs, that takes skill, but when it asks you to throw out 2 runners, you are forced to do things that you may not necessary want to or they won't even happen. In order to increase your chances, you will force your pitcher to throw hittable pitches and hope that it will be put in play towards your player. Therefore, if you concentrate on strikeouts as you should, chances are you won't get the intended task done.
The Bigs 2 is a great baseball game that also includes a season mode as well, if the lengthy Legend Mode didn't satisfy your hunger for non-stop action. While some traditionalists and those who like realistic baseball may not fall in love with this game, I think most baseball fans will enjoy this game in a big way. My only question is: Why can't 2K Sports be this successful with their other MLB games?
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This is the 47th game in my collection, I say that to let you know I play EVERYTHING.The Bigs 2 does for baseball on the 360 what Blitz did for football on the N64 and NBA Jam did for basketball on the SNES. It is out of control arcade sports at it's best. I enjoy all sorts of sports games but I find that sometimes they are just too complicated to enjoy. This isn't to say that complicated=bad, but sometimes you don't want to think.
Bigs 2 does not do any one thing spectacularly well, but it does so many things well enough, that it makes for an awesome game.
You have access to the full MLB roster and it is customizable. You can play a full season, a "pick-up" game, a HR derby mode, or the classic Campaign where you start from a small Mexican league and work your way to the big time. The game allows you to customize your own character and beef him up by completing challenges, but it's nothing groundbreaking.
The controls are simple for a sports game (I'm comparing to the 2K line, because some of those controls are so detailed it's out of control). You can pick it up and be awesome within an hour. The AI is pretty responsive and I don't really feel a rubberband effect. If you beat them soundly they don't all of the sudden get better.
All in all this game is well worth the minimal payment you'll make here on Amazon. If you're looking for a fun baseball arcade, then you've found your answer.
As with all my reviews, if you have any questions or want any advice on this, please leave me a comment and I will give you my OPINION. Remember that folks, reviews are opinons, not the Gospel.
Best Deals for The Bigs 2 - Xbox 360
Every now and then they make a game that well, you just cannot get the kids and their dads to stop playing. This is definitely one of those games! Although, for you serious baseball fans out there, this is more of a "superhero" type of game the players have super powers once you achieve different levels (like jumping so high they land on the dugout), it's just seriously, seriously fun. And, when the players get home runs, all the fireworks and sirens go off just like they do at the real games. They get to play in the minor leagues, even the mexican league when players are injured, as well as the Hall of Fame games, as well as the World Series. What makes this game a true treasure too, are the announcers. You get to hear quotes like, "If they used a bigger cow to make that glove, he might have caught that!" Golly, have we laughed a ton over these one-liners! It's very easy to see why there is a portion in Cooperstown for the announcers to be in the Hall of Fame. Great stuff.Buy this game only if you're not minding that the players have super human strength at times. It really is quite the blast playing like that imagine someone actually being able to catch one of Pujols' super high home runs (they're not always home runs here as a result). It's a great game for the boys they can get the players to do things that the wish they could REALLY do at the ballparks. Highly, highly recommend!
Honest reviews on The Bigs 2 - Xbox 360
This game is pretty darned good. A great take on baseball in an arcade setting. Up front you need to know that this is NOT a simulation baseball game, this is an arcade game. the things the players can do in this game are beyond ridiculous. Incredible wall jumps, dives across the outfield, leaping 30 feet into the air for a foul ball and landing on the dugout are among just a few, but that's the charm of the game.The pitching mechanic is actually very good in this game. You aim the reticule where you want the pitch to land then hold a button coensiding with the pitch you want. When you release, you try to release at the top of the accuracy bar that fills up when you hold the button down. The higher up it is, the better and if it's too low you will "tip" your pitch and the batter will know exactly where the ball is going to land. Your only hope then is that they misguess the pitch type and whiff.
Batting is very simple. Bunt, regular swing, power swing and with your left stick you aim where you would LIKE the ball to go. Unlike other baseball games you are not trying to guess where the ball will be pitched. Aim where on the field you want the ball to land. It won't always go there, but with a tipped pitch it is very likely.
What drags this game down is the poor baserunning mechanic. It is extremely frustrating at times like when you choose to control a player and they always stop when you take control of them even if you are holding the direction you want them to go ahead of time. Then they have to start running all over again. You WILL get thrown out baserunning because of this. Another annoyance is the Big Slam! When the computer gets Big Slam! you throw the first pitch and that's it. The computer throws the rest for you so you better hope the first one is great because the rest will be just as good. Vice versa when YOU get big slam and the computer pitches a tipped pitch, they can still pitch better pitches for the remainder of the Big Slam! For some reason the computer always has the edge in Big Slam! mode.
This game is a lot of fun, though. Once you get used to the game, and there is a learning curve so start out on EASY, the game becomes a lot of fun. If you see this game for $30, it's worth it. Grab it!
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