Graphically The BIGS charged out of the gate impressing me from the beginning. The player models themselves look very close to their real life counterparts and are done with a fantastic amount of detail. Each player looks as though they have spent the last month in the gym with steroids coursing through their blood but I imagine that is what 2K Sports was going for. All of the animations are fluid and look both life-like and cartoon-like at the same time, which is a feat unto itself. Because of these great looking character models something must suffer graphically and that is the crowd. Looking like something straight out of the NES version of Tecmo Bowl the textures and long-view effects leave a lot to be desired. All of the stadiums are modeled from the real-life ones down to how many hot dog stands or bathrooms there are inside. The developers made a smart decision and decided to include famous city landmarks in the background to add a little home-town spirit to each baseball stadium (huge arch in St. Louis, etc.). There are also other little graphical touches in The BIGS such as fireworks, damaged scoreboards, flaming balls, and lighted trails off the ball that make this game feel more like an arcade title than any baseball game I have played before.
2K Sports has gone with a new announcer this year and it does a decent job, although I did notice him repeat a few lines over and over again like his tape was stuck. Other sound features such as the musical soundtrack and the sound effects themselves are just fine. Nothing to make them stand out from the slew of other baseball games, but they hold their own just fine. The BIGS is one of those games that kind of flew under the radar for me but was quite a pleasant surprise once I popped it in my Xbox 360. The controls were simple enough, the single-player kept me busy for long enough, and the amazing multi-player/mini-games were a sweet bonus to an already good game. Rounded off with good graphics as a whole and a decent soundtrack The BIGS turned out to be one hell of a fun game that quickly moved towards the top of my list for sports games out in stores right now. I was not expecting to enjoy this game so much. While I would not recommend it to everyone if you are a baseball fan this is a must-buy for you, it has just the right balance of simulation gameplay and arcade fun to truly turn baseball into a fun sport.
