The Bigs 2

From the excellent blend of both arcade and pro-accurate MLB components, to the strength of the audio and graphics, The Bigs 2 is a player.

While we’ve got a small list of complaints – you get no instant replays, pitches are tough to pick up in Home Run pinball, and the commentary gets repetitive really quickly – they don’t really impact the overall awesomeness that is The BIGS 2. In fact, it’s our favorite baseball game of the season, even if it’s really just an action game dressed up in pinstripes.

Bottom line, The Bigs 2 is everything a sequel should be, a game that adds to the previous edition while retaining its magic. Unless you despise unrealistic and arcade style sports, we highly recommend it.

With easy to learn controls, great arcade gameplay and some fantastic catches, this game should be played by any baseball fan.

The Bigs 2 offers an enjoyable and arcadish take on baseball. It may not offer enough depth for purists, but for players like me, that like a little bit of arcade fun mixed in, it delivers in spades. A worthy sequel this game is indeed.

The baseball lovers shouldn't think twice about buying this game: it gets everything people like about this sport and makes it even more spectacular. Too bad for the online multiplayer, made of too few play modes and plagued by serious technical problems.

It's never easy to mix arcade and simulation in a good sport game. The Bigs 2 makes it and is another high level-game from 2K Sports. Singleplayer is funny with the Become a Legend and in multiplayer the game reaches the maximum of his quality. If you like baseball and are not a maniac for the simulations, this is a must buy.

The Bigs 2, like its predecessor, is bringing fans an action-packed experience with the same over-the-top gameplay that made the first so enjoyable - and it's doing it with far less glitches.

There’s no doubt that The Bigs 2 is an improvement over the original with bigger and louder mechanics built into the gameplay that help enhance things on the field.

The excitement of arcade-style supermoves, combined with the deep mechanics of the real sport, makes The Bigs 2 a thrilling baseball game.

Enjoyable arcade-style baseball that is just deep enough to keep you interested and not overwhelmed in the minutia of management.

Fun for everyone, fans or not. [Issue#49, p.91]

Even being unfamiliar with the sport, we still found The Bigs 2 an entertaining distraction. [Oct 2009, p.79]

More options, tighter defense, gameplay sliders, and added variety across play modes would spell the difference between a big leaguer and a candidate for Cooperstown.

Crass, bombastic, ridiculous? Perhaps. Fun? Definitely.

The BIGS 2 won’t have the longevity to last the rest of the summer. The lack of fresh gameplay improvements and additions keeps The BIGS 2 as a rental.

A more rounded approach would have been welcome and perhaps a lesser emphasis on giving the computer dozens of legendary catches a game would let some players just enjoy the Bigs 2 and play baseball for fun, which is how it should be.

Though the game does feel a bit unpolished and unbalanced, there's still a lot to enjoy. This franchise has a ton of potential, and we'll be interested to see how it evolves in the coming years.

Overall The Bigs 2 is fun in short doses for those who prefer an arcade-style baseball game, and very over-the-top arcade play at that.

Doesn't make any earth-shattering changes to its predecessor, but it also doesn't break anything, either. [Aug 2009, p.76]

If you’re willing to play the game of “try, try again,” you can have fun with The Bigs 2’s career mode. However, if you’re looking for a multiplayer game or an experience based on skill, the unbalanced run scoring and Big Slam will drive you crazy.

It's not a simulation but it is the only semi-serious baseball game with a chance of appealing to non-fans.

In the end, The BIGS 2 is just a logical sequel to The BIGS. It complements the game with a variety of modes like Become a Legend and Season. Although both are fun to play, they aren't really fleshed out. Even the addition of minigames and new gameplay-elements can't change that. This doesn't change the fact that, despite some quicktime events, the game plays surprisingly well. Both veteran and novice baseball-players will be surprised about the combination of accessibility and depth.

Great fun but over-the-top style can wear thin. [Oct 2009, p.93]

It's not the game it could have been. Fans of The BIGS 1 will come to this game with high expectations, and unless those expectations are as simple as the addition of a season mode (or something equally minor), they're going to be deeply disappointed.

The BIGS 2 is a fine looking game which is fun to play for a while. However, the single player mode will get boring too fast and it's very frustrating to keep doing the same thing over and over again. The multiplayer mode compensates a lot, but it's not enough to collect a great score.

An unfocused baseball game that neither excels as an arcade experience nor as a baseball game -- it's only an average player in the bigs.

Enjoyable for a bunch of afternoons. That's all: and old style arcade game; easy to play, but without dept and far away the thrill of simulation.

Effects-laden baseball that's a bit of a solo slog but a big hit with two players. [Oct 2009, p.93]