Have played the demo to death!!! I played BLIC 07 to remind me how bad that was.
The verdict?
A tremendous step forward. For sure the animation and graphics aren't great but they are acceptable. It seems a bit easy to use the 6 hit button when batting but remember that BLIC 07 WAS shocking!!!!!
THe demo only gives you a brief glimpse but it is very encouraging.
Perhaps most importantly the AI seems to be much much better. I played on hard and the computer averaged 3 - 4 runs an over which is much better than the pacing issues in BLIC 07.
If you are a fan of cricket I think this is definately worth a purchase. It won't be perfect but it has enough about it to be a good first step.
Please Codemasters, give transmission games the rights to produce the next one, they are on the right track.
To conclude, I loved Brian Lara on PS1. So do the developers. It shows in the game even to the extent of having Jonathon Agnew back in the commentary. Excellent. Looking forward to getting the game and using reverse swing when the ball gets old! (yes, that does happen)