The antithesis of "simulation," The Bigs 2 will never be confused with deep, die-hard sports sims like Madden football or Pro Evolution soccer, nor even baseball sims like MLB The Show or 2K's recent ball game fiasco, Major League Baseball 2K9.
Throwing realism to the wind, The Bigs 2 features the likes of tracers on well-hurled and well-smacked balls, smoke and flaming-rocket homerun blasts, super-ultra-fast fastballs, and more highlight fan gratification than Fox's techno wizardry in this year's All-Star Game on television.
The Bigs 2 will also throw some quick-time events your way so as to make your fielders jump 15 feet in the air to a suck a homerun hit out of the sky, or give you the jump on a steal.
Basically, it's all about "in your dreams" baseball with the occasional turbo charger thrown in for good measure.
Points are awarded for spectacular feats, which you then use to "power-up" your batter or pitcher to hit those massive homeruns or throw that insanely super-ultra fastball.
Another clever reward system is found in each batter's strike zone, which displays a red splotch "hot spot" of preferred smackage. Hit a ball in there and it's a likely homer. Pitch a strike in that area, on the other hand, and you'll net more points (good for the pitcher) while the splotch spot shrinks (bad for the batter). But if the batter hits a pitch to the sweet spot then you're talking fail. The lot of it adds a level of risk/reward subterfuge in what is otherwise a straight up slug fest.
The easiest way to earn points with little risk is through the various mini-games of The Bigs 2. Like training or practice, these little self-contained swing, toss, and snag ball modes will culminate in better batters, more ludicrously adroit fielders, faster and more accurate pitchers. What's more, the mini-games are just plain old fun, quickie style.
There is a career mode should you choose to sink your teeth into it, and it's similar to what you would find in other sports games - i.e., create a player, start in the minors, work up to the majors, then to a regular spot in the line-up, maybe the Hall of Fame if you're lucky - and great. It's a mode that bogs the game down with tedious criteria, requiring this many hits, that many strikes, and so on.
However, unlike sports simulations, Career Mode is not the marquee feature of The Bigs 2. This is o'er-the-top baseball, after all, a game of lightspeed speedballs and rocket powered homers, sky-high leaps and bulldozer dives home.
Forget the career, The Bigs 2 lets you play baseball pinball in downtown Las Vegas. It's fun like that, and as simulated as that isn't.
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