It's amazing what avoiding an annual release can do for a sports game.
It's been two years since The BIGS took a shot at making an arcade baseball game that was more light hearted than regular baseball but still true to the spirit of the game. We think they succeeded the first time. The BIGS 2 arrives promising improvements and additions - like full seasons, stat tracking and more glorious dingers.
The larger-than-life stadiums are back, the larger-than-life players are back and, oh boy, the homers do even more damage than before. If you're new to The BIGS, the identity of the game is clear from the first game. It's about taking the most exciting aspects of baseball and amplifying them without fundamentally changing the game. The players are bigger, stronger and faster. The stadiums are exaggerated recreations of the real thing. The homers bust up those stadiums like a remake of The Natural, and pitches and throws scream across the field like missiles.
But, just like in the first game, the rules of baseball still apply. Good pitching overcomes good hitting, outs are precious, and a double to the gap is a double to the gap. The differences between the two games are, obviously, the new rosters (which are fine, and 2k has mentioned there will be updates online), new graphics, which look fantastic, and some new features.
Some of those features are welcome additions, like being able to play a full season and have continuous statistics. For a season, you'll pick your team and be presented with a full 162 game schedule. Stats will be tracked and while they're not as extensive as baseball simulations, they do have the basics - average, homers, runs batted in and stolen bases. Trades are possible, but only after you've played enough live games to have what the game calls "trade power."
Over the course of a season, batter stats were a little high, but better than most sims (too many players had averages over .250, but very rarely did one get to .400). Pitcher stats were skewed very high, mostly because pitching staffs in The BIGS are simplified down to three starters and three in the bullpen. That made wins and losses way too high for the real world. Compared to baseball sims, the season mode would be fairly considered bare. But this isn't a sim, and for The BIGS it's just enough stat sustenance to make the season interesting. It's the extra layer of depth that was missing from the first game.
This year's Rookie mode is all about creating a legend and going to the hall of fame. Your created player is nursing an injury in the Mexican leagues when the game starts. Soon you're off on a schedule similar to the original - stops in different cities for games, stat challenges and mini games. Instead of earning points toward abilities, your increases are pre-determined. This time you're trying to make your mark on hall of fame voters by making great plays while you improve.
In The BIGS 2, great plays are a lot harder than they used to be. Instead of just diving toward a line drive or deep fly, each great play requires a quick mini game. It can be hitting a button combination timed just so or lining up a button with a moving target. They vary depending on the position but the point is they aren't gimmes until you get some practice. The coolest of them all is for the catcher, who can jump up onto the dugout to catch a foul ball.
A new mechanic for the pitcher vs. batter challenge is the batter's Wheelhouse. Each batter has a hot zone, or wheelhouse, in the strike zone that represents the spot they like to see the ball. If they hit a pitch in that zone, it will have more power than usual. If the pitcher puts a ball past them in the zone, the pitcher gets more turbo than usual. Some players have huge wheelhouses and some are small. If the batter misses a ball in his wheelhouse, it will shrink over the course of the game. It's a great risk-reward mechanic, and at its heart it's very faithful to how batters see the game in the real world.
Some players have Legendary ratings or power-ups, which is also new. Beyond the usual five stars in a category for contact, power, speed, glove and arm, some players will simply have the word Legendary. It means they'll either have the opportunity to perform catches other players can't, or they hit a lot better, or they have some kind of special power-up like Ichiro's bonus turbo for coming to the plate or David Ortiz's uncatchable home run. Every team has at least one player with legendary abilities, and that makes stealing players in Legend mode more interesting. It also gives the player someone to look out for during games.
One of the most original modes in a sports game in years is back, too. Home run pinball is better than ever, with two new venues and a lot more targets. Retro Times Square and Las Vegas are new and this is one feature that doesn't get old. In all, The BIGS 2 comes through huge. It's still the game that it was meant to be, it's got a season mode and it's still baseball as opposed to a sideshow. The new version is deeper and a little more polished, and that's more than can be said about most sports games.
