The Bottom Line
Pros
- The Bigs brings fun back to baseball games
- While gameplay is exaggerated, it is not as absurd as Slugfest
- Pitching and batting systems are simple and accessible
- Deciding when to use power-ups adds an unexpected layer of strategy
Cons
- Pitching and batting systems are may be too simple for some
- X is mapped to too many commands, you will throw home unintentionally
- Base running is unnecessarily complicated
- Career mode seems about 5 years behind the times
Description
- Graphics: 3.5 Fun character design and good stadiums, but I am still waiting for a next gen looking team sports game
- Sound: 3.5 Decent announcers and satisfying bat cracks, but dialog gets repeated alot
- Control: 2.0 Pitching and batting work, but fielding and base running need a new control scheme
- Difficulty: 2.0 It’s an easy game to get into, you never are left scratching your head
- Gameplay: 3.5 If baseball were only about pitching and batting it’d be a 5
- Multiplayer: 3 The four player games may not have many options, but make for a great party game experience
- Online: 3.5 Online co-op and versus matches are easy enough to drop into, and you can play them ranked or unranked
- Documentation: 4 The manual and tutorials are more than enough to explain a straightforward game
- Rated: E for mild violence. The MLB seems far more seedy these days than it’s videogame counterparts
- All scores are out of 5. Final score is not an average of the individual score
Guide Review - The Bigs Review (PS3)
The Bigs nails simple hitting and pitching mechanics that are both easy to learn and satisfying. You won’t be knocking them out of the park at each at bat, but you will savor each hit. Both pitching and hitting are one button affairs with an added strategic twist. You will earn a limited about of “turbo” during the game, deciding when to use it will have a major influence on the at bat, and the overall score.
Fielding and base running both, however could use some tweaking. Between getting stuck between bases and constantly throwing home, both lack the precision and the joy of pitching or batting. And while you can use your turbo to help steal bases or make big catches, it’s best saved for the plate.
Missing from the game is any sort of season or dynasty mode, instead you have a rookie mode. Build a rookie, take him for a baseball journey. It’s fun, but doesn’t replace the missing modes.
The Bigs is a game that makes a great first impression. Once they work out some of the gameplay kinks, and add more play modes, this could easily become a baseball standard.
