The BIGS is an over the top good time on a baseball field. Once you start playing The BIGS you will se a lot of similarities with 2k sports other franchise baseball game MLB 2k7, but don’t get disappointed and think it is the same game as the visual similarities quickly fade away and you see that this game stands alone in many ways. Definitely fast paced and geared for quick pick up games. (standard games are set to 5 innings in The BIGS)

Presentation and Graphics: Visually this game is impressive and looks really crisp in HD, same style as MLB 2k7, but it does tend to steer a bit more to the cartoonish side at least in the character models. The characters themselves all look pretty buff, but what I do like are all the unique batting stances and the options that are available in the create a rookie section. You can customize your player very nicely with add-ons like what bat they use, shades, height, size, glove, nickname, etc. I also like the animations when you hit homeruns off the scoreboards and sparks go flying all over just like in The Natural. 4 of 5

Sound and Music: This game has a solid soundtrack, and really goes big with the songs that are available. The songs are so good that at times I will leave the game running and just listen to the soundtrack while I look stuff up on my computer. 4 of 5

Gameplay: The gameplay was surprisingly intuitive to grasp, but very difficult to master. I had to put the game to Easy in order to not get whooped by the computer in the early onset, if not the computer would jump all over me and score a ton of runs. The gameplay strays away from MLB 2k7 and really tries to go for a more arcade feeling, which works nicely. The pitches are based off of timing a pitch meter and the hitting is broken into a power and a contact swing, so sluggers like Giambi go exclusively for the long ball while Ichiro is a doubles hitting machine.

The game takes a large turn away from MLB 2k7 and into the arcade side with the power ups. You gain turbo and a score for the more offense you put up or conversely for the better your pitching, i.e. striking people out and shutting them down is good. You can then use your turbo to hit harder, run faster or throw harder. Once you reach a certain score you get a “Big Play” opportunity, which if you use it when your hitting is an automatic homerun or if your pitching is a big boost to the speed or break of your pitches. Aside from the big play the game exaggerates the play, but does not take it too far, so pitches break a bit more than normal and you can hit a bit harder, but still within reason.

The different modes are nice and help keep things feeling fresh. You can play Homerun Pinball, which has you pick one player and you hit as many pitches as you can on the streets of Times Square NYC. The more destruction you cause the more points you get and if you break certain signs you can get power ups and extra points, it is pretty fast paced and fun.

The rookie challenge has you make a new rook and put him on a team. I chose to make myself the starting first baseman for the Yankees and have been building up nicely. You play games and depending on what you do you can earn upgrade points, so the more singles, doubles, triples, homeruns, rbi’s, runs, stolen bases or great plays you make the more points you get a the end of the game. You will also unlock mini games that you can play to earn more upgrade points as you play different teams.

My biggest gripe with the game is when you hit a homerun and the A.I. makes a death defying leap 30 feet in the air to steal it form you. Stealing homeruns is actually pretty easy and equates to a mini-game of Simon where you need to match the buttons flashed on the screen.

All in all it is solid. 5 of 5

Online: The online play was is pretty basic and can get a bit laggy but overall fun. You can also play Homerun Pinball and post your score on the leader boards to see how you compare to all the others hitting baseballs in Times Square. 4 of 5

Lasting Appeal: The BIGS is a keeper. There are enough modes in the game to keep you interested, between the Rookie Challenge where you take an NL or AL rookie to stardom, Homerun Derby, Homerun Pinball, Online play and onscreen versus, you will get in hours of The BIGS. 4 of 5

Final Word: The BIGS is good arcade fun, if you have some buddies or would like to jump online for a solid baseball game with a bit of exaggeration then The BIGS is for you. If you don’t want to invest a lot of time into a baseball game and just want some quick games, look no further.

Overall: 4 of 5

1 = Not worth the bandwidth.

2= Demo is enough, not worth your money.

3= Game is good, depending on the price, seriously consider picking it up.

4= Worth your money. Should provide some good times for quite awhile.

5= Buy the game. Lock your door. Pick up a case of beer. This could take all night.