The Bigs Hands-On

We've seen 2K Sports' The Bigs quite often lately, clocking in some quality time with the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game. This week we spent some time with the Wii version of the game at Nintendo's summer preview event. 2K and developer Blue Castle Games are taking the core content from the other console games and dropping it on the Wii. The big hook for this version is the control scheme, which takes smart advantage of the Wii controller, adding a visceral level of fun to the already appealing game.

If you aren't familiar with The Bigs, here's a quick primer: It's a fast-paced baseball game that's big on over-the-top action. Instead of calling it an "arcade" baseball game, producers behind The Bigs like to refer to it as a "heroic" baseball game--a term that emphasizes the stars of the sport and the big-play nature inherent in the game. Unlike the longer, more-drawn-out matches in a typical baseball game, the five-inning matchups in The Bigs were intentionally designed to help you quickly get through a game and move on (think 20 minutes for an average game length).

The control scheme takes a bit of getting used to, but once you spend some time with it, it seems pretty solid. The various configurations for batting, pitching, fielding, and baserunning worked out fairly well. Given our limited amount of time with the game, we couldn't totally dig in to it, but from what we tried, the Wii-centric scheme is working out. We ran into a few odd hiccups with recognition here and there, but given that the game isn't finished yet, we're not too worried. Overall, the game made a good impression with us, which should bode well for the final version.

The presentation is close to what we've seen before. The graphics aren't as showy as in the other console games, lacking some of the detail packed in to ensure the game pops at higher resolutions, but they are certainly respectable. More importantly, the game runs well even in its work-in-progress state, so we're hopeful about the final game. The audio is solid and hits all the right notes in terms of ambiance and sound effects.

Based on what we played, The Bigs is shaping up to be a good fit for the Wii. The control scheme is coming along well, and though it could use a bit of tightening up in a few places, it appears to be well on its way toward offering the responsiveness you'd want. The visuals may not be quite as shiny as in the other console versions, but they're certainly not ugly. Wii owners looking to graduate from Wii Sports baseball will want to keep an eye out for The Bigs when it ships for the Wii this summer. Look for more on the game in the coming weeks.