Review Demo impressions thread
- Thread starter barmyarmy
- Start date
MasterBlaster76
ICC Chairman
I believe it's the A button (the green one).
pingusten
Club Cricketer
Some positive stuff from the AI in regard to field placings. First 3 balls of the innings, they left cover wide open and bowled way outside off stump to Hughes - I promptly drove all 3 to the boundary. On the 4th delivery, a man was put in at cover point, and, without me realising, the 3rd man was ditched and a Gully put in.
The next ball was the most inviting of the lot; short, wide, and hittable. I'd noticed the field change at point, but my lack of vision of the man at gully meant I still thought I'd be able to get away with another smack through to the cover boundary. Sadly, a slight mistiming and overconfidence on my part saw the ball rocket straight to the man who'd been brought in at Gully, who gratefully took a magnificent diving catch.
I was impressed, and it screams of promise. This was on Normal difficulty, as I was familarising myself with the many keyboard controls required.
The next ball was the most inviting of the lot; short, wide, and hittable. I'd noticed the field change at point, but my lack of vision of the man at gully meant I still thought I'd be able to get away with another smack through to the cover boundary. Sadly, a slight mistiming and overconfidence on my part saw the ball rocket straight to the man who'd been brought in at Gully, who gratefully took a magnificent diving catch.
I was impressed, and it screams of promise. This was on Normal difficulty, as I was familarising myself with the many keyboard controls required.
How do you flight the ball? I was using the part time spinners that are my only option as Aus and stopped the meter early and around spot on and didn't see much difference. Also is there no way to vary the speeds for a spinner?
Error I saw tonight that I dont think has been reported. I hit a ball past mid-on ( i think)
The CPU had 2 fielders on the onside but none went for it, so i went to run as much asw I could, when i had run 4, the game stopped and the fielder appeared with the ball!
I'm sure I couldve run 6 before the CPU clocked on
The CPU had 2 fielders on the onside but none went for it, so i went to run as much asw I could, when i had run 4, the game stopped and the fielder appeared with the ball!
I'm sure I couldve run 6 before the CPU clocked on
MasterBlaster76
ICC Chairman
That's got me stumped as well. Also, when are you supposed to apply to spin/swing? During the run up, as the meter's filling, or after the ball's been released?
MasterBlaster76 added 3 Minutes and 45 Seconds later...
I'm getting bored. Three overs isn't enough to get into the game, especially on hard level. Oh well, only a week to go until the full game.
P
pcfan123
Guest
Ok so I have played the demo on a small lap top in 800x600 Resolution with all effects turned down.
Thus I will limit my review to gameplay and not graphics.
After playing about 15 games on easy mode I feel AC09 is a well rounded game that makes bowling just as enjoyable as batting.
The Bowling system is far more advanced than any other cricket game. You can choose to come wide of the crease or close to stumps, not just over or around.
While the length of what is considered a good ball is a bit too full, the line is spot on. A little bit outside of the off stump is good, too close to the stumps and you will get whipped through the on-side, too far outside and you will
be spanked through cover.
The ball physics are very good. I was bowling to Katich who played a cut shot, inside edge and it just bounced over the stumps. 2 balls later, tries same shot,but this time i had my timing perfect and a better line (too close to his body) and BOWLED!
When bowling with part timers, it is much harder to bowl a good ball. They have virtually no full yellow area, meaning they are easier to hit regardless of where they pitch it. When you bowl a really short delivery with someone like Ponting it just sits up to be hit instead of the weird but effective slow bouncer in EA.
You actually get the feel that your strategy helps you take wickets. I set up a batsman with a few juicy half volleys outside off stump from Swann, first was driven for 4, next one edged. Then I bowled a fuller arm ball on leg stump, it took the inside edge and hit the wicket as he tried to drive.
Batting is much more involved experience this time around. While deciding where to play, what foot to use and what type of shot to play, it feels satisfying when you do get a shot right.
There is a wide arrange of shots and not all batsman can play the same shots. I could not get Monty to play some of the more extravagant shots KP was playing.
The bowling AI was great fun. They were mixing the lengths up but it was usually either too full or too short.
There are plenty of moments of good cricket. I charged Mitch and hit the ball straight to him. I had not yet hit the return to crease button so he took a shy at the stumps, it went for overthrows.
Overall I feel this is a massive improvement from previous games. I was pleasantly surprised
Thus I will limit my review to gameplay and not graphics.
After playing about 15 games on easy mode I feel AC09 is a well rounded game that makes bowling just as enjoyable as batting.
The Bowling system is far more advanced than any other cricket game. You can choose to come wide of the crease or close to stumps, not just over or around.
While the length of what is considered a good ball is a bit too full, the line is spot on. A little bit outside of the off stump is good, too close to the stumps and you will get whipped through the on-side, too far outside and you will
be spanked through cover.
The ball physics are very good. I was bowling to Katich who played a cut shot, inside edge and it just bounced over the stumps. 2 balls later, tries same shot,but this time i had my timing perfect and a better line (too close to his body) and BOWLED!
When bowling with part timers, it is much harder to bowl a good ball. They have virtually no full yellow area, meaning they are easier to hit regardless of where they pitch it. When you bowl a really short delivery with someone like Ponting it just sits up to be hit instead of the weird but effective slow bouncer in EA.
You actually get the feel that your strategy helps you take wickets. I set up a batsman with a few juicy half volleys outside off stump from Swann, first was driven for 4, next one edged. Then I bowled a fuller arm ball on leg stump, it took the inside edge and hit the wicket as he tried to drive.
Batting is much more involved experience this time around. While deciding where to play, what foot to use and what type of shot to play, it feels satisfying when you do get a shot right.
There is a wide arrange of shots and not all batsman can play the same shots. I could not get Monty to play some of the more extravagant shots KP was playing.
The bowling AI was great fun. They were mixing the lengths up but it was usually either too full or too short.
There are plenty of moments of good cricket. I charged Mitch and hit the ball straight to him. I had not yet hit the return to crease button so he took a shy at the stumps, it went for overthrows.
Overall I feel this is a massive improvement from previous games. I was pleasantly surprised
Think its during the run up as I could move the arrow just not very much.
CaptainOZ
Panel of Selectors
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2004
Ok so I have played the demo on a small lap top in 800x600 Resolution with all effects turned down.
Thus I will limit my review to gameplay and not graphics.
After playing about 15 games on easy mode I feel AC09 is a well rounded game that makes bowling just as enjoyable as batting.
The Bowling system is far more advanced than any other cricket game. You can choose to come wide of the crease or close to stumps, not just over or around.
While the length of what is considered a good ball is a bit too full, the line is spot on. A little bit outside of the off stump is good, too close to the stumps and you will get whipped through the on-side, too far outside and you will
be spanked through cover.
The ball physics are very good. I was bowling to Katich who played a cut shot, inside edge and it just bounced over the stumps. 2 balls later, tries same shot,but this time i had my timing perfect and a better line (too close to his body) and BOWLED!
When bowling with part timers, it is much harder to bowl a good ball. They have virtually no full yellow area, meaning they are easier to hit regardless of where they pitch it. When you bowl a really short delivery with someone like Ponting it just sits up to be hit instead of the weird but effective slow bouncer in EA.
You actually get the feel that your strategy helps you take wickets. I set up a batsman with a few juicy half volleys outside off stump from Swann, first was driven for 4, next one edged. Then I bowled a fuller arm ball on leg stump, it took the inside edge and hit the wicket as he tried to drive.
Batting is much more involved experience this time around. While deciding where to play, what foot to use and what type of shot to play, it feels satisfying when you do get a shot right.
There is a wide arrange of shots and not all batsman can play the same shots. I could not get Monty to play some of the more extravagant shots KP was playing.
The bowling AI was great fun. They were mixing the lengths up but it was usually either too full or too short.
There are plenty of moments of good cricket. I charged Mitch and hit the ball straight to him. I had not yet hit the return to crease button so he took a shy at the stumps, it went for overthrows.
Overall I feel this is a massive improvement from previous games. I was pleasantly surprised
Well that's a very promising start. I eagerly await your review of the full game when it comes out.
AngryPixel
Chairman of Selectors
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2009
- Location
- Mumbai, India
- Online Cricket Games Owned
- Don Bradman Cricket 14 - PS3
- Don Bradman Cricket 14 - Steam PC
Ahh, Finally got some time to give my impressions. So there you go.
Right after installation, i dived into Hard mode without playing a match in easy or normal. Result? A spanking by AI. Played some matches in easy then normal and then a lot in Hard.
Graphics: 7.5/10
Although graphics are not the strongest point of this game but they do their job. Infact there are some mocaps(read: motion capture) which look absolutely terrific. For example keeper diving forward to take low catch,running backwards to take skier, ponitg diving in point to take spectacular catches of cover drives. Although i was expecting a polished BLIC 07 with good gameplay but same animations but believe me the demo has shattered my that believe. Baring some shots, none of them look anything like BLIC 07. I'll talk bout this in a separate section below. Apart from bowling actions other mocaps looks good. Although it might be he case that to reduce the size they have used just one generic action in demo. Shadows are really good, infact i would dare to say that this game has graphics on the level on PES 09.
Audio/Ambient/Commentary: 6/10.
Nothing to write home bout, even big sports game like fifa had this problem. No matter how much commentary lines developers put in the game, we would have heard all of them by the months end. Moreover, commentary of a game cannot be judged by its demo. Demo commentary was just to give a taste otherwise how could Commentator miss to mention anything when Freddie was busy taking 4 wicket on 4 balls against me.
Crowd chants are nice and so are the ambient sounds.
Presentation: 10/10
It is better than FIFA. Yeah you heard me right. I dare say that the presentation of AC 09 is better than that LAME FIFA 09. Infact it is far far better than any other sports game in the market. Great translucent menu over slow mo video with a song which gives a feeling that something great is bout to happen. Perfect setting for a game like AC09. Scorecard is over the screen line which shows players score and then bowlers speed after the ball is delivered. First time we can select between wicket/score and score/wicket type scorecard. Great addition. The hawkeye and ball tracker are awesome and feel really like live broadcast.
Shots Available:
This time around there are far more shots then any other cricket game ever had. You would argue why is that as AC09's batting control scheme is almost same as EA Cricket 07? Well you would see the change when you play a batman with higher level of confidence and skill. What happens when you try to play a lofted hook of a fullish ball in EA?? You either miss the ball or get bowled. But in AC09 batsman walks across his crees and whip it on the leg side in a calypso style.(Similar shot which bloke named Rohit Sharma used to play in IPL). Same thing happens with sweep shot, if the ball is full enough you play sweep, but if the ball is slightly shorter then you play paddle sweep. There would be a lot of shots like this in the game ,its up to you to discover. I guess we all would be spending a lot of time in the nets.
Gameplay: 9/10
.I wont bore you now with the explanation of batting controls as it has already been discussed to death. In simple words batting is hard and very very realistic. Only perfectly timed shots or top edges would have any chance to reach the boundary. Sometimes even perfectly timed shot wont reach the boundary. Due to this, even a 4 feels as if we have earned it and hitting 6 is like bulls eye(is have played 20 Hard level matches but just 3 sixes). This introduce running quick singles and stealing runs using dive. I was disappointed to see that we cannot take more that 4 runs on foot as in real life it is possible in big grounds like MCG. Hate it or love it but the skills of players in the game are dynamic. They change based on performance. I Saw Pietersen had skill reduced to 77 after 4 matches in which i played him badly. In next few matches i played good and his skill was back up to 80. I checked this again and again with him and Bopara. Here are my findings: In the match if you perform well then your skill improve very quickly. Pieterson reached a level like 92 while batting once. But this 92 skill isnt carried. Computer calculates something and add a very small part to his standard skill level. Thus if he was 80 before match,92 while batting then in next match he would be 81 or 82. Same thing works with bowler. Swann had a rating of 69. Thus he cannot bowl a doosra which require 70. Bowl a double wicket maiden(thats what worked for me) to increase his stats and in next over you could bowl doosra. This function would work like charm in real game. Like if you wanna prevent Harbhajan from bowling doosra then attack him when he start his spell and decrease his skill. Even in real life he wouldnt think bout bowling doosra while he is being smacked all over the park.
AI:
AI is really strong while batting. I won some matches but i was never able to take more than 1 or 2 wickets. This should make those test match purist who wanna play the match all day while spilling beer all over the keyboard. If you have a problem with certain bowl then AI would continuously bowl you there. Grrrr! Freddie bowled me when i was late on his yorker, thus he kept bowling that and got a hattrick against me.
Physics: I dont know if they are using Physx or Havok but whatever they had used for ball physics and collision etc is a bloody gem. No more ball going right through the pads. Thus we get a lot of inside edges. Bal physics is awesome. Edges fly a little faster now.
Some Physics Magic Moments:
*Strauss was batting, Siddle bowled a good length shortish ball wide of off stump. I tried to pull it on the leg side but got a inside edge on to the left foot of Strauss. In a second strasuss was hopping in pain. Ridiculously realistic.
*Defending a short ball on the backfoot, ball came higher than expected and thus hit the top of the gloves and then helmet. Un-flippingly-believable.
*Needed 3 runs of last ball. Swann was on strike against lee. Lee bowled a fullish ball. I stepped out to whack it but got a thick inside edge just left to the keeper. Keeper dived full length to his left but couldnt reach and i got valuable 4 runs. I was like WTF just happened. WAs i playing a game or was it a real match. I saw the replay and it was really classic.Not only this as a inside edge but it has gone between batsman and leg stump.
*Everyones fav, Hit a perfect straight drive straight to cook who got hit on arm, Rubs it in pain.
*This isnt a Physics moment but is great one thus i would write. AI needed 4 runs of last 3 balls. Ponting came to bat. He defended first ball, then second ball. I thought i got the match in my hand. Then bang 6 on the last ball.
Cons:
Evil Camera angles just after hitting the shot.:doh
No Antialiasing
No streakers
No Cheerleader:banana2
As you can see i am struggling to find any con besides some cosmetic one which would surely be fixed in final build. Thus this is a must buy game of the summer
Overall Verdict: 9/10
I have a lot more to write bout but havta stop now. Would write more later.
Cheers
Right after installation, i dived into Hard mode without playing a match in easy or normal. Result? A spanking by AI. Played some matches in easy then normal and then a lot in Hard.
Graphics: 7.5/10
Although graphics are not the strongest point of this game but they do their job. Infact there are some mocaps(read: motion capture) which look absolutely terrific. For example keeper diving forward to take low catch,running backwards to take skier, ponitg diving in point to take spectacular catches of cover drives. Although i was expecting a polished BLIC 07 with good gameplay but same animations but believe me the demo has shattered my that believe. Baring some shots, none of them look anything like BLIC 07. I'll talk bout this in a separate section below. Apart from bowling actions other mocaps looks good. Although it might be he case that to reduce the size they have used just one generic action in demo. Shadows are really good, infact i would dare to say that this game has graphics on the level on PES 09.
Audio/Ambient/Commentary: 6/10.
Nothing to write home bout, even big sports game like fifa had this problem. No matter how much commentary lines developers put in the game, we would have heard all of them by the months end. Moreover, commentary of a game cannot be judged by its demo. Demo commentary was just to give a taste otherwise how could Commentator miss to mention anything when Freddie was busy taking 4 wicket on 4 balls against me.
Crowd chants are nice and so are the ambient sounds.
Presentation: 10/10
It is better than FIFA. Yeah you heard me right. I dare say that the presentation of AC 09 is better than that LAME FIFA 09. Infact it is far far better than any other sports game in the market. Great translucent menu over slow mo video with a song which gives a feeling that something great is bout to happen. Perfect setting for a game like AC09. Scorecard is over the screen line which shows players score and then bowlers speed after the ball is delivered. First time we can select between wicket/score and score/wicket type scorecard. Great addition. The hawkeye and ball tracker are awesome and feel really like live broadcast.
Shots Available:
This time around there are far more shots then any other cricket game ever had. You would argue why is that as AC09's batting control scheme is almost same as EA Cricket 07? Well you would see the change when you play a batman with higher level of confidence and skill. What happens when you try to play a lofted hook of a fullish ball in EA?? You either miss the ball or get bowled. But in AC09 batsman walks across his crees and whip it on the leg side in a calypso style.(Similar shot which bloke named Rohit Sharma used to play in IPL). Same thing happens with sweep shot, if the ball is full enough you play sweep, but if the ball is slightly shorter then you play paddle sweep. There would be a lot of shots like this in the game ,its up to you to discover. I guess we all would be spending a lot of time in the nets.
Gameplay: 9/10
.I wont bore you now with the explanation of batting controls as it has already been discussed to death. In simple words batting is hard and very very realistic. Only perfectly timed shots or top edges would have any chance to reach the boundary. Sometimes even perfectly timed shot wont reach the boundary. Due to this, even a 4 feels as if we have earned it and hitting 6 is like bulls eye(is have played 20 Hard level matches but just 3 sixes). This introduce running quick singles and stealing runs using dive. I was disappointed to see that we cannot take more that 4 runs on foot as in real life it is possible in big grounds like MCG. Hate it or love it but the skills of players in the game are dynamic. They change based on performance. I Saw Pietersen had skill reduced to 77 after 4 matches in which i played him badly. In next few matches i played good and his skill was back up to 80. I checked this again and again with him and Bopara. Here are my findings: In the match if you perform well then your skill improve very quickly. Pieterson reached a level like 92 while batting once. But this 92 skill isnt carried. Computer calculates something and add a very small part to his standard skill level. Thus if he was 80 before match,92 while batting then in next match he would be 81 or 82. Same thing works with bowler. Swann had a rating of 69. Thus he cannot bowl a doosra which require 70. Bowl a double wicket maiden(thats what worked for me) to increase his stats and in next over you could bowl doosra. This function would work like charm in real game. Like if you wanna prevent Harbhajan from bowling doosra then attack him when he start his spell and decrease his skill. Even in real life he wouldnt think bout bowling doosra while he is being smacked all over the park.
AI:
AI is really strong while batting. I won some matches but i was never able to take more than 1 or 2 wickets. This should make those test match purist who wanna play the match all day while spilling beer all over the keyboard. If you have a problem with certain bowl then AI would continuously bowl you there. Grrrr! Freddie bowled me when i was late on his yorker, thus he kept bowling that and got a hattrick against me.
Physics: I dont know if they are using Physx or Havok but whatever they had used for ball physics and collision etc is a bloody gem. No more ball going right through the pads. Thus we get a lot of inside edges. Bal physics is awesome. Edges fly a little faster now.
Some Physics Magic Moments:
*Strauss was batting, Siddle bowled a good length shortish ball wide of off stump. I tried to pull it on the leg side but got a inside edge on to the left foot of Strauss. In a second strasuss was hopping in pain. Ridiculously realistic.
*Defending a short ball on the backfoot, ball came higher than expected and thus hit the top of the gloves and then helmet. Un-flippingly-believable.
*Needed 3 runs of last ball. Swann was on strike against lee. Lee bowled a fullish ball. I stepped out to whack it but got a thick inside edge just left to the keeper. Keeper dived full length to his left but couldnt reach and i got valuable 4 runs. I was like WTF just happened. WAs i playing a game or was it a real match. I saw the replay and it was really classic.Not only this as a inside edge but it has gone between batsman and leg stump.
*Everyones fav, Hit a perfect straight drive straight to cook who got hit on arm, Rubs it in pain.
*This isnt a Physics moment but is great one thus i would write. AI needed 4 runs of last 3 balls. Ponting came to bat. He defended first ball, then second ball. I thought i got the match in my hand. Then bang 6 on the last ball.
Cons:
Evil Camera angles just after hitting the shot.:doh
No Antialiasing
No streakers
No Cheerleader:banana2
As you can see i am struggling to find any con besides some cosmetic one which would surely be fixed in final build. Thus this is a must buy game of the summer
Overall Verdict: 9/10
I have a lot more to write bout but havta stop now. Would write more later.
Cheers
Last edited:
MasterBlaster76
ICC Chairman
Bit of a negative:
Bouncers don't seem to work as they should. Most of the time, they either go too high, resulting in a wide, or they're defended with a backfoot defensive! You don't play a straight bat to a bouncer, you either get the hell outta the way, or try to hit it, surely?
Bouncers don't seem to work as they should. Most of the time, they either go too high, resulting in a wide, or they're defended with a backfoot defensive! You don't play a straight bat to a bouncer, you either get the hell outta the way, or try to hit it, surely?
MasterBlaster76
ICC Chairman
P
pcfan123
Guest
They had monty at deep leg, so I just kept lofting the ball in that direction. He dropped about 3 catches and I could take an extra run on his throw! Finally he caught me though.
Is the PC demo build different to that of 360? I didn't see Brett Lee in my starting line up..
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