The Bigs 2 is 2K Sports’ second baseball game released this year. It is also the baseball counterpart to titles like NFL Blitz and NBA Jam. The only question is does the world of baseball need a game like this, or are big hits better left on the football field?
At its core, The Bigs 2 is a decent baseball game. There are four game modes included: Exhibition, Season, Become a Legend, Home Run Pinball, plus four different mini-games to choose from. The exhibition mode is pretty straight forward: select a team, an opponent, the number of innings, and then play. You also can select your starting pitcher and starting lineup, but that’s about it.
If you’re looking for more depth, the season mode is for you. Take your favorite team through the regular season and attempt to win the World Series. But say you have dreams of making it to the Hall of Fame. If this is the case, then your best option is try out Become a Legend and create your very own ball player. After creating a player, the story begins on a journey to Mexico. In Mexico, your player will be going to rehab after an almost career-ending injury.
Once you get into the Majors, it is your goal to make it to the Hall of Fame. In order to do this, you will play games and mini-games to increase your stats and open challenges up in Cooperstown. When you compete in challenges at Cooperstown you will gain Hall of Fame votes, and it takes 500 votes to get in. The best part about this mode is that your player will be facing some of the greatest baseball legends of all time.
Perhaps you prefer big hits and smashing things, then the Home Run Pinball is the mode for you. Set in one of four locations it is your goal to get as many points as possible; by hitting signs, cars and lights. The round is over when you swing and miss three pitches.
Now besides those four game modes there are also for mini games. These mini games will test your skills in power, contact, glove and speed. Each mini game will have you facing off against one other opponent in order to gain the most points. Once on the field the core game play is like any other baseball game. When your at bat you hit X for normal swing, circle for power and square to bunt. You also can direct your swing by pressing the left analogue stick in the direction you want to go.
Defense is also just like other baseball games. Each pitcher has four pitches to choose from and is mapped to a different face button. Simply hold the designated face button until the meter reaches the top then let go to throw the pitch. This is the first area that can cause problems since if you’re not perfect you can give up quite a lot of easy hits. Playing the field is also simple X is used to dive or jump and each face button represents a different base.
