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As with all sports titles, another year brings yet another tide of sequels. Not to be outdone by EA's own tsunami of digital athleticism, 2K Sports has released the next entry to The Bigs franchise. Unlike the unstoppable Madden or the ruefully accurate FIFA series, The Bigs takes a more laid back approach to its source material, providing gamers with an arcade experience that is hard to find in today's market, given that so many armchair coaches fill the majority of the target audience. And while it may not have flow charts showing the different pitching techniques of each player, The Bigs 2 picks up where the previous entry left off. By adding a new 'story' mode and a slew of additional mini-games, a surprising amount of depth is now present, which will surely help keep most of the user base content for quite some time.
Veterans of the franchise will dive right into the new Become a Legend mode, and to be fair the mode does add a lot of length and depth to the arcade formula. You take control of a player who has been gravely injured, and it is your job to resuscitate his career - starting with the Mexican circuit, and then hustling your way uphill from there. This is done mostly through your on-field performance, but the occasional mini-game does play a role in character progression. The most unusual trait about the Become a Legend mode, however, is the requirements needed to advance. Instead of a simple win/loss scenario, players are given certain goals to accomplish along the way, such as strike out five players using a certain pitch, or steal so many bases in a single game. This isn't so bad in the beginning, as the requirements are rather low, but later on it becomes more and more unpredictable in giving you the opportunity to even attempt the feat, much less actually pull it off. This is mostly due to the random nature of the AI, who is not very forthcoming about giving you what you want—and whether or not it is intentional, it brings a level of frustration to the new mode that it could have certainly done without.
Along for the ride is the new Season mode, which was mysteriously missing from the first iteration. This mode allows for the trading of your players, as well as some basic stat tracking, though the latter part won't really impress most enthusiasts, and those playing the game for the explosive arcade action won't really mind one way or another, but it is certainly a nod in the right direction. This is mostly due to the addictive gameplay and over-the-top showmanship that practically pours off of the game. The Bigs 2 is to baseball as NFL Blitz is to football—it isn't uncommon to see insane jumps, crazy slides, and balls aflame as they shoot through billboards. This isn't the baseball you found in the Field of Dreams. All this nearly chaotic action is complimented well by the mini-games, several of which are required to make the most powerful catches and saves in the game. Other mini-games, such as the profoundly entertaining Home Run Pinball, serve as fun distractions from the main game. Though the mini-games take the form of quick time events, and while that might seem a little strange at first, they do add a sense of dramatic flair to an already flashy venue, and end up becoming rather enjoyable after awhile.
This isn't to say that The Bigs 2 is all home-runs and bases loaded, as there are several flaws to be found while delving into the title. The most prominent problem is the announcer. While he is fairly entertaining at first, and many of his one-liners are truly golden, he quickly starts to sound like a broken record, repeating himself far too often. This obviously becomes a problem the longer you play, and surely some people won't mind or even notice it, but more material would have been appreciated, as the enjoyable parts of his performance are just that—very enjoyable. Gameplay wise the AI can be a little hit-or-miss, especially when base-running or playing the field, though players will be glad to know that the difficulty makes up for this to some degree. The lower settings are as easy as you’d expect, while the hard modes are extremely difficult and frustrating at times, therefore showing the overall lack of balance in difficulty. AI blunders become all the more evident on the higher difficulties as well, which certainly doesn’t do the overall experience any favors. Visually, though, the game looks almost identical to its prequel, with a just a tad bit more of polish and shine to make the game appear more realistic. Smaller areas like the field, grass, and crowd could use a little attention, but for the most part everything is in order. Personally I found the soundtrack rather forgettable, but given the motif, rock was probably the safest choice in terms of audio — the effects, however, are spot-on. Smashing a baseball through Tokyo skyscrapers never sounded so convincing.
The Bigs 2 is good, make no mistake. It is easily the best arcade-style baseball title available on the Xbox 360, and it keeps the framework of the growing series and adds enough for a new bit of flavor, but not enough to keep things completely fresh. The new modes are certainly fun and satisfying, but Become a Legend mode could have used a little more polish, and the Season mode a little more depth. Ultimately, though, it is all about performance, and with blistering pitches, explosive hits, and some of the best multiplayer action seen in a sports title, The Bigs 2 delivers when it counts.
