Review Demo impressions thread

[freeshead]

i have few questions after paying a demo.

1) is there a rain delay in the full game? because commentator says at the start, it might rain later on.

2) Is there a custom replay in full game? like all other cricket game had that feature.

3) If you see the shadow of the player, its quite long in length (not like other cricket game) and normal shadow length is always long around morning time 1o to 11 am. So will change realistically with the time period goes on in game? (BLIC 99 had this features)

4) Why official pitch mate is of codemaster. Is it because of the DEMO?

 

[ajdude]

Found a glitch. Freddie bowled a bouncer/no ball, took Hughes' glove and helmet, fell on the stumps, I was given out run out by Prior, where Prior was 20 metres back.

 

[Aditya]

There's Jonathan Agnew, Shane Warne, Sir Ian Botham, Ian Bishop and Tony Greig.

Is it so then i will surely buy it downloading demo for now more 4 hours.

 

[10dulkar]

Found a glitch. Freddie bowled a bouncer/no ball, took Hughes' glove and helmet, fell on the stumps, I was given out run out by Prior, where Prior was 20 metres back.

I read in XBOX demo review, in the same instance it was given not out.
Now its been given as run out in PC Demo. :rtfl

 

[jmxx009]

Since there have numerous reviews posted already, i figured it would'nt be necessary to write in a detailled review. However here are some of the major pro's and con's according to me. ( i use a xbox 360 controller on my PC)

Pros :happy

1) I love the graphics. Its a lot better than the previous cricket games

2) The overall physics in the game is bloody brilliant. Everything from the bounce of the ball to the way the batsmen move ( not running between the wickets) is amazing.

3) The gameplay is the best in a cricket game so far. Its not a slog fest like BLIC 2007. Definitely a must buy for everyone who enjoys cricket.

4) A special mention to bowling. The bowling is superb and rewarding. For the first time in my life i enjoyed virtually bowling.

5) This might not be a big deal, but i find the umpire animations a lot more realistic than previous games. (Mind you.there are no red/green light for 3rd umpire decisions in the demo but hopefully it will be there in the actual game)

6) One of the best "catch taking" systems developed for a cricket game.


Cons :crying

1) The animation sucks. I find the entire animation to be horrible, everything from the bowling action to the batsman's reaction to certain bowls ( i dont mean the shot selection but the animation for a particular shot ) are medicore.

2) The commentary sucks. That's ok though, i mean there is so little you can do to improve the commentary in a virtual sports game (Well you can always do the commentary yourself i guess !!! )

3) The overall sound in the game is crap. I like the thuck sound when the bat hits the ball. Apart from that, the overall sound is crap. I dont think there are any crowd sounds at all !!! ( joking )

4) Eventhough the AI has improved considerably from the previous games. I still see a lot of silly running between the wickets, lack of intelligent bowling and defending the last ball when you need 2 runs of it to win done by the AI in the game.

5) Some of the players look horrible. However i am sure this can be fixed by some modder once the actual game releases.

6) The camera isnt the best either. I didnt like BLIC2007 but the camera in that game was a lot better than this game.

My Verdict

From the demo that i have played, Ashes 2009 is definitely one of the best cricket games that i have played. Its got one of the best bowling mechanisms in a cricket game ever.The batting and the fielding is totally awesome. Like i mentioned before. Two of the major negative aspects of the game is the animation and sound department. I am not going to be conclusive about the AI yet as this is only a demo . Eventhough the game has some shortcomings, i think the developers are on the right track here. Hopefully the next game in the series will be a lot better. I would give it an overall 8 out of 10

Overall 8/10

 

[bumba26]

Wow!! I have just one word WOW!! The opening scene where the game first does a round of Lords. Breath-taking. Everything looked fantastic. My friend who didn't know there was a demo available said, "Did u download this video?" The toss sequence was brilliant.

Anyways, I chose to bat first and played with England. Batting is hard as hell. Plus u have to hold the LT or LB (Talking about 360 controller here) makes it very hard to connect. If u don't select backfoot or frontfoot the batsman seems to be confused. I could only manage 7 runs in 3 overs at the loss of 4 wickets The timing bar is as short as hell. Invariably I always missed the timing ended up either edging the ball or missing it. :crying All in all I felt bating is really challenging and it is not a hit every ball for 6 game. Which is the best part. It will take a lot of practice to perfect timing the ball.

Bowling is a little disappointing, I think. They removed that screaming pace for fast bowlers that we had in 2005. That was very innovative I think. Missed that part. Another thing is catching, I have no clue how to catch it.

All in all, I am very happy. I would have been very disappointed if I had scored 50 in 3 overs. The game looks difficult as it should be and thereby lies the challenge, at least for me.

 

[10dulkar]

Bowling is a little disappointing,

Most of them said they loved the bowling, but you said differently.
BTW, did you played in hard mode?

 

[Sureshot]

I can't tell if the ball is swinging but it certainly isn't much if it is.

It varies. If it's overcast, and I'm bowling with Jimmy, it's more pronounced.

Still struggling to find how to flight the ball and how to bowl slower with a spinner. I hope I'm just missing the button for this as this is a major weapon for a spinner.

Pretty sure you can do this by just hitting the bowling meter earlier.

 

[zimrahil]

Pretty sure you can do this by just hitting the bowling meter earlier.

Not sure about that - hitting the bowling meter early means it's easier to hit for the batman. I tried this and made no obvious difference to spinner speed.

 

[Mad Snake]

dissapointing the setup wont start for me..

 

[Eon]

dissapointing there isnt a ps3 demo
oh well, i guess i will just enjoy the full game extremely... straight into it. might be better to not have the demo

 

[aussie1st]

It varies. If it's overcast, and I'm bowling with Jimmy, it's more pronounced.



Pretty sure you can do this by just hitting the bowling meter earlier.

I think I need to play with the English then. I have no swing bowlers to work with since they took out Hilfy.

And when I hit the bowling meter earlier it still darts into the batter and the speed is basically the same. From what the playtest guys said the bowling meter is used for the quality of the delivery rather than the speed like it usually is.

 

[Collingwood50]

I did indeed download it for PC, as I cant be bothered to wait for the joke that is the PS3 demo...

The only thing that is wrong is the atmosphere, or lack of.

 

[StormySteve]

First Impressions for me for Ashes Cricket 2009 is very promising indeed, the presentation is not only the best in any cricket game I've seen but any sports simulation, I like the scoreboard within the game itself and the stats sections are very tidy.

The action too is decent, although I'm in agreement with some of the comments above, the commentary is repetitive and if I'm not mistaken has been used before, there's a definite lack of atmosphere and the animation although not a disaster could be a little smoother.

Batting and bowling is fun, something that was definitly lacking in previous cricket games.

Demo version at the moment so difficult to really judge it either way but I think it's going to be the best cricket game by a country mile.... roll on next Friday :banana2

The area I will be keeping my eye on is the all important editor, need to change player names, batting hand, bowling arm & bowler type, face (at the very least colour) and although I maybe asking too much line ups.... we'll see.

9/10 from me!

Steve S.

 

[Swingers]

LOOK OUT - Umpires can give bad decisions it seems also. Was batting with Strauss and played at one too early hitting the front pad. Aussies were all up in arms appealing. Umpire raised the finger but hawkeye went on to show the ball swinging by and just missing off stump!

Never sworn so much at a game since pro evo, but really cool addition in the game cant wait to get a mate out LBW when the ball's missing the stumps:laugh