The BIGS Hands-On
We step up to the plate for some hands-on time with 2K Sports' The BIGS.
Most nonbaseball fans, and even many baseball fans, cite the game's slow pace as their least favorite thing about the sport, both in real life and in video game form. Speeding up the national pastime is just one of the many ways 2K Sports is juicing up the game of baseball in The BIGS. Think of it like a baseball video game on steroi--err, flax seed oil. 2K Sports had the game on display at Sony's recent press event in San Diego, and we jumped at the chance to climb into the batter's box.
The first thing you notice when you see The BIGS is the unique visual style, where nearly everything is huge and exaggerated. The players are much larger than in MLB 2K7, and they're ripped. Though the body proportions might be exaggerated, player likenesses are closer than ever, thanks to the development team spending up to three days on each player's mug to make sure they're as accurate as possible. There are a host of animations that help give The BIGS its over-the-top feel, like hitters' bodies contorting themselves into painful positions after swinging and missing, big-time collisions at the plate, outrageous celebrations, and players dropping face first to the ground--Three Stooges-style--after getting beaned in the head. The stadiums also look bigger, but this is a little deceiving. Actual field dimensions are what they are in real life, but outfield walls have been heightened and other background features such as the soda bottle at AT&T Park and Shea's giant scoreboard are much larger than they are in person.
While the graphics might be the first thing to catch your eye, the gameplay is what 2K hopes will get you hooked. For starters, the controls are simplified when compared to MLB 2K7. Pitchers have an assortment of pitches available to them, each of which is assigned to a button. Yes, Dice-K has a gyroball...and it's sick. Once you pick your pitch type and location, you hold the button down until the pitch meter goes from red to green, for maximum accuracy. If you throw a strike, your turbo meter will fill up a bit (the more consecutive strikes you throw, the faster it fills), and when you've filled it to a certain point, you can activate turbo and put some extra oomph on the pitch, making it clock in as fast as, oh, about 150mph.
Hitting is just as simple. You've got one button for a contact swing and another for power. You can use the analog stick to aim for a particular part of the field, as well. While pitchers gain turbo by throwing strikes, hitters do so by taking balls. When a hitter's turbo meter reaches at least level one, he'll be able to dig deep for some extra power by holding down one of the shoulder buttons. Both hitters and pitchers have a big play meter, which for hitters is filled by getting base hits and for pitchers by getting outs. Once the meter is full and activated, hitters are guaranteed a home run if they make contact and pitchers are awarded with unlimited turbo for an entire at-bat. Runners and fielders can get into the turbo action, as well. We got to witness some souped-up fielding when the CPU's left fielder jumped about 20 feet into the air, hung there for a few seconds, and then robbed a homer.
The other game mode we were able to check out was home-run pinball--a home-run derby game with a number of twists. For starters, you'll be hitting baseballs in the heart of New York City's Times Square. A pitcher will serve up batting-practice fodder, and you must hit the balls not only as far as you can, but also as accurately as you can, since you get points for hitting certain objects like taxi cabs and neon signs. If you can hit each letter of the HOTEL sign, a score multiplier will appear on the side of a few buildings; if you can hit those, you'll get some big points. If you really catch on fire, you'll be able to temporarily power up your hitter and really hit some epic shots--even smashing the crystal New Year's Eve ball high atop Times Square isn't out of the question. As you get further into the round, the pitcher adds breaking balls to his repertoire and eventually begins to throw changeups, which will really mess up your home-run stroke. Once your round is over, your scores will be uploaded to an online leaderboard.
Not only will you be able to check for high scores online, but you'll also be able to play the regular game and home-run pinball online with two to four players. There won't be a season mode, but The BIGS does have a feature called rookie challenge. 2K wasn't ready to show off the mode just yet, but it did provide some details. You'll start with a rookie player in spring training, improve his skills by completing minigames and in-game scenarios, and your eventual goal is to lead your team to the World Series.
The show floor was incredibly loud, so we weren't able to hear much of the game, but we can tell you that Jon Miller and Joe Morgan won't be calling the action as they did in MLB 2K7. Handling the play-by-play will be Damon Bruce, a radio host for KNBR out of San Francisco.
There are certainly elements of The BIGS that are reminiscent of Midway's SlugFest series, but don't expect to see bench-clearing brawls or excessive violence; The BIGS seems to be more focused on taking highlight-reel-type plays and cranking them up a notch. We had a lot of fun with the game in the short amount of time we spent with it and are looking forward to bringing you more details as its June 25 release date draws nearer. You can also find out more about the game in our interview with The BIGS' lead designer.
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- GameSpot Score7.5good
Check Prices: $7.99 – 23.97
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