Link has 52 chronicles

1. The BIGS
   

   Player Chronicle -- Posted on Mar 15 2009

   The BIGS is an arcade-style baseball game that puts the focus on pure hitting and nasty pitching rather than the tedious stat tracking and complex controls that you find in simulation baseball games these days. The result is an enjoyable, although shallow, game of fast paced baseball that hardcore fans and casual sports fans alike will enjoy. It isn’t without some issues, but the hitting is extremely satisfying, and that really is what The BIGS is all about.
   
   The BIGS is a fully licensed MLB game and features all of the teams, stadiums, and players you’d expect. It doesn’t have a traditional season mode, and instead has a Rookie Challenge where you create a player and then take them through spring training, into the season, and eventually onto the playoffs and World Series. In addition to playing standard games (which are only 5 innings in The BIGS), you also do stat challenges such as hitting and fielding drills or having to get a certain number of hits or home runs in a game in order to earn points to upgrade your player. You can also play in games that allow you to steal a player from your opponent if you win in order to build up your ultimate fantasy team. Unfortunately, the same handful of scenarios and tasks are repeated throughout Rookie Challenge, so after the first hour or so you have seen pretty much everything the game has to offer. Also disappointing is that there is no stat tracking. This is a bummer because it would have been fun to see the insane home run and RBI numbers you could accumulate over a season.
   
   Other modes include a Home Run Derby and exhibition games. There is also a mode called Home Run Pinball where you play in a version of New York’s Times Square and earn points for knocking out signs and tagging buildings. These are cool, certainly, but a season mode would have been better.
   Gameplay
   The gameplay in The BIGS is fast paced, easy to get into, and pretty darn fun. When hitting, you have two swings – a contact swing and a power swing – and using the right swing and putting it in the right spot (you can aim your hits with the left stick) will produce a lot more runs than just trying to hit a home run every at bat. Hitting is easy, and very satisfying and fun. Pitching is also pretty easy, but just as fun. Different pitches are assigned to the face buttons, and the power and location of a pitch is determined by holding the button for the pitch you want until a little meter gets up into the sweet spot. Then you release. If you hold it too long, or not long enough, the pitch won’t go where you want it and it will also tip the batter to where it will be located. If you do get hit, that particular pitch loses some “health”, and if you fail at a particular pitch too often, you’ll lose it entirely.
   
   Fielding isn’t quite so hot, unfortunately, due mostly to the extremely fast pace of the game. When the ball is hit, you are switched to control of the player closest to the ball, but oftentimes the ball moves so fast you don’t really have much of a chance to make a play. At the same time, the CPU fielders have an uncanny ability to make crazy plays and get to balls that you can’t, which can be rather frustrating when you are trying to hit. Baserunning isn’t all that much better as your runners move rather slowly and don’t always do what you want.
   
   Governing all of this is a turbo meter and power-up meter. For each strike you throw, or ball you take while batting, your turbo meter fills. There are five bars that gradually fill up, and you can use one of them whenever you want to put some extra zip on your next pitch, get some extra power or control while hitting, or need some extra speed when you are trying to make a play in the field or while running the bases. Strategic use of your turbo meter is vitally important. The power-up meter is a score on top of the screen that adds up whenever you get a hit, make a spectacular catch, or strike someone out. When the meter fills, you can either go into a super effective pitching mode, or hit a guaranteed home run. Again, clever use of the power-up meter is important. It takes long enough to fill that you can’t really abuse it, and it adds a nice bit of drama to the game.
   
   Graphically, The BIGS looks nice. The stadiums look nice, and while some artistic freedom was taken with landmarks and recognizable features inside the stadiums, they are fairly accurate to real life. The players, on the other hand, are pretty over the top. The faces are detailed and look pretty realistic, but the bodies are huge, hulking roided-up freaks. It fits the overall look and feel of the game, but for some guys it is just odd to see them so big.
   
   The sound is also pretty good. Not really all that spectacular, but the crowd noise and commentary fit the feel of the game perfectly. The music, which plays on the menus and over the PA in the stadium occasionally while you are playing, is a lot of grunge and rock and the soundtrack overall is pretty good.
   
   In the end, The BIGS is a very fun game of arcade-style baseball that both casual and hardcore fans of Major League Baseball will enjoy. It features solid gameplay and graphics, and is very entertaining overall. The features list suffers a little bit, and while online play can add some longevity, the lack of a traditional season mode is a real letdown. The gameplay is fun, particularly the hitting and pitching, but the fielding and baserunning (your inability to do them affectively and the AI’s unbelievable skill at both) will frustrate you after a while. Rob me of a home run once, shame on me, rob me of a home run 7-10 times a game, shame on you AI. Because of the features and gameplay issues, I can’t give it a solid recommendation for a purchase, but I do highly suggest you give it a rental and check it out for yourself and decide on a purchase from there. It is a very fun game, just maybe not worth the full asking price for most people.

   
   

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Link has 1 comment on this chronicle.

1. BEN
   Posted On Mar 15 2009

   Very nice game review of this sports title that I, who am not a fan of baseball at all, find very enjoyable and somewhat addicting!
   
   I admire your attention to detail for an arcade game that only feels like it was made for fun and laughs. The Rookie Challenge Mode is something different, but I enjoy it and find myself connected to wanting my Rookie to do well, so I think it works as well. I need to try out the pinball mode soon.
   
   I also admire you intentionally leaving out details from our little battle a few days ago...12-1 and 3-2 ring a bell? lol, just kidding man, but it was a lot of fun though and we'll have to rematch it up some time soon