Overview- Critic & User
Reviews - Videos &
Screenshots
News- Codes
& FAQs - Gameplay
Controls - Similar
Games
Answers
Bundles
Critic & User Reviews
IGN Review of The Bigs
Since its debut the Nintendo Wii has seen a huge number of both first-person shooters and sports titles arrive on store shelves. With the intuitive nature of pointing and clicking for an on-screen cursor, shooters were an obvious genre for the system. To an even greater extent, however, sports titles are now finding their home on Nintendo's motion console, as the very act of swinging a racquet, club, or bat is teamed with easy-to-use, "casual-friendly" control. As a bit of an oddity, however, we've yet to see a fully realized baseball game on the system, as fans of America's favorite pastime have had only Wii Sports Baseball to keep them company. So while 2K Sports' The Bigs may not be the greatest MLB game we've played - and it isn't - there's still a level of appeal that Wii owners may get hooked on, as the company is bringing arcade baseball as its premier title for Nintendo Wii.
The Bigs may not be sim-true MLB action, but it's certainly a step in the more mature direction for Wii-goers, as it takes the faster, more streamlined game of arcade baseball and combines it with the MLB franchise in a "MLB meets NFL Blitz" sort of way. All the necessary aspects of baseball are here - including batting, pitching, fielding, and coaching - but everything has a more in-your-face feel to it. Instead of worrying about player hot/cold spots when batting, it's all about timing. When pitching, a perfectly timed throw will send the ball literally burning by in a "perfect pitch" super-ball. The Bigs looks to smash the world of MLB with the more party-friendly, pick-up-and-play feel of the arcade, and for the most part it works.
On one side, The Bigs holds all the necessary elements to make a good arcade baseball game. You can play as any of your favorite teams, create an upstart rookie and follow him through the majors, or jump into a good old fashioned game of Home Run Derby and crack a few balls out the park. Along with the arcade nature of the game, however, comes a lack of true depth, and in every facet of The Bigs we were both entertained short-term, but also left wanting after a few hours of play. Home Run Derby is as simple as racing either computer or real-world players to 10 home runs, and after that you either start again, or give it a rest.
In the most in-depth section of the game - MLB Rookie Challenge - it's all about creating a baseball "zero" and turning him "hero." Unfortunately, this goes in the place of any season or franchise mode, and while Rookie Challenge will sustain some gamers for up to 15 solid hours it's still a challenge-by-challenge mode, and not really up to par with more mature baseball titles. If you lose a game or fail a training camp mission simply retry, complete it, and move on. Not a whole lot of risk involved.
When on the field, The Bigs is a mix of Wii done right, and corner-cutting "port-idge." The batting system itself acts as a perfect cross-section of the game, as it's interesting on one hand, and somewhat shallow on the other. Before a pitch, players can move the Wii remote from side to side or in circles, and their player will move the bat accordingly. It isn't quite a 1:1 movement (in the sense that it moves with every little motion), but it does a great job of tracking general motion, and it's a nice touch to the pre-pitch preliminary time. When it comes to actually swinging though, it's as simple as flicking the Wii remote to initiate an otherwise button-press action. Not too involving. In fact, swing lag - something you've heard plenty about if you've been reading our hands-on impressions - is still apparent in the final version, forcing players to swing about a half second early in order to compensate for slow motion recognition. It works, but it'll take a few innings to get used to, and it's not exactly intuitive.
The entirety of The Big's Wii-specific adaptation is like this, as things work, but they don't necessarily further the design in any way. It is, after all, a port, and at the end of the day it'll still feel like one. Pitching is nearly as perfect as it could be for a first-generation Wii game, as you hold specific buttons (like the grip of a ball, perhaps?) and throw with a combination of power and wrist movement. Depending on what motion you do, a different pitch is thrown. To counter that, fielding is pretty detached and underwhelming, as the Wii remote is used for flicking up, down, left, or right to throw to each base. It's an odd feeling at first, as throwing up is 2nd base (even if you're at the warning track and realistically throwing down on the screen to second), but it still technically works. In the end, it's less of a matter of "does it work," and more of an issue around what actually feels good. Some of it works, some of it doesn't.
Still, the game has a ton of style to it, and that "over the top" feel makes for some great baseball action whether you're playing through single player or rocking some four-player ball with friends. Perfect pitches send lighting-fast strikes, bullet time slows down gameplay during epic dives and catches, and would-be home runs are robbed by wall-jumping slow motion fielders. It's a faster, more intense experience all around. As you begin to pull off amazing catches, clutch strike-outs and playmaking hits you'll power up your Big Play Meter which can be cashed in to deliver home run power hits and burning fastballs that change the flow of the game instantly. The idea of a charge meter is nothing new (EA Big has been doing it in games like NBA Street for years), but the experience is compounded substantially from the addition of bullet time, perfect pitches, and "Big Plays," and it makes for a far more arcade-like experience.
On the audio/visual side of things, The Bigs weighs in higher than the PS2 version, but most certainly under Xbox 360. Character models look pretty solid, as do the effects animations, but catch a few big plays in slow motion and you'll start to see the lack of polish. Fly balls seem to suck to player gloves, and animations clip from time to time - especially noticeable during slow motion. The track list is fairly strong, made up of Stone Temple Pilots, White Zombie, Motorhead, Primus, and the like. And while there's nothing better than knocking homers out of the park with Ace of Spades playing in the background, the track list isn't exactly made up of "recent" hits (Jerry Was a Racecar Driver was a song in the original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, for example). It's a decent set of tunes, but it's a bit short (14 songs) and somewhat dated at times.
©2007, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The Bigs may not be sim-true MLB action, but it's certainly a step in the more mature direction for Wii-goers, as it takes the faster, more streamlined game of arcade baseball and combines it with the MLB franchise in a "MLB meets NFL Blitz" sort of way. All the necessary aspects of baseball are here - including batting, pitching, fielding, and coaching - but everything has a more in-your-face feel to it. Instead of worrying about player hot/cold spots when batting, it's all about timing. When pitching, a perfectly timed throw will send the ball literally burning by in a "perfect pitch" super-ball. The Bigs looks to smash the world of MLB with the more party-friendly, pick-up-and-play feel of the arcade, and for the most part it works.
On one side, The Bigs holds all the necessary elements to make a good arcade baseball game. You can play as any of your favorite teams, create an upstart rookie and follow him through the majors, or jump into a good old fashioned game of Home Run Derby and crack a few balls out the park. Along with the arcade nature of the game, however, comes a lack of true depth, and in every facet of The Bigs we were both entertained short-term, but also left wanting after a few hours of play. Home Run Derby is as simple as racing either computer or real-world players to 10 home runs, and after that you either start again, or give it a rest.
In the most in-depth section of the game - MLB Rookie Challenge - it's all about creating a baseball "zero" and turning him "hero." Unfortunately, this goes in the place of any season or franchise mode, and while Rookie Challenge will sustain some gamers for up to 15 solid hours it's still a challenge-by-challenge mode, and not really up to par with more mature baseball titles. If you lose a game or fail a training camp mission simply retry, complete it, and move on. Not a whole lot of risk involved.
When on the field, The Bigs is a mix of Wii done right, and corner-cutting "port-idge." The batting system itself acts as a perfect cross-section of the game, as it's interesting on one hand, and somewhat shallow on the other. Before a pitch, players can move the Wii remote from side to side or in circles, and their player will move the bat accordingly. It isn't quite a 1:1 movement (in the sense that it moves with every little motion), but it does a great job of tracking general motion, and it's a nice touch to the pre-pitch preliminary time. When it comes to actually swinging though, it's as simple as flicking the Wii remote to initiate an otherwise button-press action. Not too involving. In fact, swing lag - something you've heard plenty about if you've been reading our hands-on impressions - is still apparent in the final version, forcing players to swing about a half second early in order to compensate for slow motion recognition. It works, but it'll take a few innings to get used to, and it's not exactly intuitive.
The entirety of The Big's Wii-specific adaptation is like this, as things work, but they don't necessarily further the design in any way. It is, after all, a port, and at the end of the day it'll still feel like one. Pitching is nearly as perfect as it could be for a first-generation Wii game, as you hold specific buttons (like the grip of a ball, perhaps?) and throw with a combination of power and wrist movement. Depending on what motion you do, a different pitch is thrown. To counter that, fielding is pretty detached and underwhelming, as the Wii remote is used for flicking up, down, left, or right to throw to each base. It's an odd feeling at first, as throwing up is 2nd base (even if you're at the warning track and realistically throwing down on the screen to second), but it still technically works. In the end, it's less of a matter of "does it work," and more of an issue around what actually feels good. Some of it works, some of it doesn't.
Still, the game has a ton of style to it, and that "over the top" feel makes for some great baseball action whether you're playing through single player or rocking some four-player ball with friends. Perfect pitches send lighting-fast strikes, bullet time slows down gameplay during epic dives and catches, and would-be home runs are robbed by wall-jumping slow motion fielders. It's a faster, more intense experience all around. As you begin to pull off amazing catches, clutch strike-outs and playmaking hits you'll power up your Big Play Meter which can be cashed in to deliver home run power hits and burning fastballs that change the flow of the game instantly. The idea of a charge meter is nothing new (EA Big has been doing it in games like NBA Street for years), but the experience is compounded substantially from the addition of bullet time, perfect pitches, and "Big Plays," and it makes for a far more arcade-like experience.
On the audio/visual side of things, The Bigs weighs in higher than the PS2 version, but most certainly under Xbox 360. Character models look pretty solid, as do the effects animations, but catch a few big plays in slow motion and you'll start to see the lack of polish. Fly balls seem to suck to player gloves, and animations clip from time to time - especially noticeable during slow motion. The track list is fairly strong, made up of Stone Temple Pilots, White Zombie, Motorhead, Primus, and the like. And while there's nothing better than knocking homers out of the park with Ace of Spades playing in the background, the track list isn't exactly made up of "recent" hits (Jerry Was a Racecar Driver was a song in the original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, for example). It's a decent set of tunes, but it's a bit short (14 songs) and somewhat dated at times.
©2007, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved