Is Brian Lara's any good on 360?

[villarich]

Well I finally got my mitts on the x box 360 version of Brian Lara's and after playing the first session (30 overs) of a test match this is my initial impression.

The game is certainly better than the demo that is on X Box Live.(which is only 90%)
The graphics are sharp enough although the 360 is capable of much much more. I am a test match fan more than a one dayer so I started a test match between England and Bermuda. There are four difficulty settings but I put it on the hardest. (test setting) Well obviously Bermuda aren't a test nation but I thought it would be good to see if the players actually differ in skill.

Well I won the toss and elected to bat as the pitch was hard and true. Bermuda's opening bowlers weren't particuarly quick to face at around 75 mph and I found the batting easy enough and started rattling off the runs.
After the 10th Over I was scoring at a scarily high 10 an over and was 62-1 having lost Cook to a bat pad catch while playing a defensive shot.
The Bermudans mae the strange decision to bring on a spinner after the 10th Over but it actually managed to strangle my run rate. After losing Vaughen Ian Bell came to the crease. At this point it is important to say that the test teams don't have licensed names like the one day teams so it's made up names like K. Paulsen for K. Petersen and so forth.

What I found during the remaining 20 overs was that the confidence graph for the batsmen has more bearing than in blic 2005. I struggled to get Bell scoring and as a result his confidence went to 0. When it hit 0 I found that timing the ball was very hard but also I couldn't do a very solid defensive shot anymore. Although no matter how much a top order batsmen is out of touch he could always block a ball I hear you cry! Well you're right but it did add that bit of pressure that I've not experienced in a cricket game. Like in Cricket 07 you could block forever and never be out! The satisfaction of riding the patch where I built up Bell's confidence was highly enjoyable. With Bell chugging aways at one end surviving lbw appeals and a dropped catch again from a defensive shot, Strauss was bashing away merrily on high confidence thus giving me much more time to smash the ball for four and for six! I lost Strauss two overs before the lunch interval with a lazy cover drive which edged to slip. It was good to see Strauss go back to the pavilion waving his bat for hitting 71 though.
So a lunch I am 183- 4 off 30 overs. Bearing in mind I'm facing poor bowlers I don't think the run rate is crazy although I musn't lose more wickets!
If you have any questions before you spend ?40 on this let me know and I'll try my best to answer them. I'll keep you posted on my exploits against mighty Bermuda! Here's my scorecard:

A.Strauss c Tiverton b Laycock 71 (53 balls)
A.Cook c Manners b Horton 14 (13 balls)
M.Vaughn c Hargreaves b Horton 2 (7 balls)
I.Bell not out 20 (71 balls)
K.Pieterson c Tiverton b Johnson 48 (28 balls)
A.Flintoff not out 24 (13 balls)


overs 30.1 extras 4
183-4

 

[ulukai]

can you confirm if any of the AI bugs found by gas, lazy_chesnut etc on the PC version are also there in the 360 version..i.e.

1. is the AI field placing messed up in tests and ODIs - AI puts 6 players on the boundary in tests and 1 in ODIs?

2. is batting too easy in general - what kind of run rates are you getting against quality opposition at the test difficulty level?

3. does the AI batting has a very limited no. of strokes (a lot of leg glances)..and that even in a test match (on test difficulty), does the AI tries to whack every ball out of the ground?

i suppose you'll a better idea as you play more..thanks

 

[villarich]

can you confirm if any of the AI bugs found by gas, lazy_chesnut etc on the PC version are also there in the 360 version..i.e.

1. is the AI field placing messed up in tests and ODIs - AI puts 6 players on the boundary in tests and 1 in ODIs?

2. is batting too easy in general - what kind of run rates are you getting against quality opposition at the test difficulty level?

3. does the AI batting has a very limited no. of strokes (a lot of leg glances)..and that even in a test match (on test difficulty), does the AI tries to whack every ball out of the ground?

i suppose you'll a better idea as you play more..thanks

Here's my 1st impression to the 3 questions,

1 I've only played test matches to date but the computer did assign 2 fielders to the leg side and then bowled around leg stump to restrict the run rate.
2. Again I'm only batting against the Bermudans but I have found that I've very rarely edged the ball when playing an attacking shot. However when I play a defensive shot all too often the ball will shoot up in the air to a fielder which in a test match forces you to keep whacknig the ball. As a result I was all out after just 47.3 overs but scored 378! However I am playing a test against a 'proper' nation with my mates later today so I'll see what the differences are.
3. The Bermudan batting ratings are terrible so as a result they were all over the place. The catching system is tricky as you have to press the green button at the right time to cath the ball. I had two attempts, one at slip and one for the wicket keeper. I dropped both as it is not easy to time the button press easily. The opening pair were quite restrained and the run rate averaged 3 an over. The score is 30-3 off 10 overs. They have hit quite a few through the off side and not just glancing away to the leg side all the time.
I'll see if in a one day setting the computer just tries to clear the ground with every shot.

 

[khan31]

What are the faces like in Test Matches? Do they at all resemble the players?

Also do we have lisenced exhibition ODI matches?

 

[Stephen Bailey]

What are the faces like in Test Matches? Do they at all resemble the players?

Also do we have lisenced exhibition ODI matches?

1. No. They hardly resemble the majority of players in the licenced modes. Just as an example, Lou Vincent has bright blond hair in the licenced modes.

2. Effectively, as you can play them as WC warm up matches, but you have to do this through the WC mode.

 

[khan31]

I see. Ok thanks for answering my questions. So seems like a poor release? That's what happens when you hype something up so much guys.

 

[Grant165]

Hi there Villarich,

Still making my mind up weather to buy for the 360 or not, what is your overall opinion on the game?

Just a small question, the names are obviously not correct but I was wondering if it is possible to edit the names like in the last BLIC?

 

[villarich]

Hi there Villarich,

Still making my mind up weather to buy for the 360 or not, what is your overall opinion on the game?

Just a small question, the names are obviously not correct but I was wondering if it is possible to edit the names like in the last BLIC?

No you can't. Apparently you can on the pc but not on the 360.

My honest answer to the game is it feels like a lazy release that hasn't had much development time. The previous code ( BLIC 2005) has essentially been added and tweeked a bit to give us this. The game is a challenge on Test difficulty but the teams tend to score quite heavily averaging at times 8-10 runs an over in a 5 day test.
If you've got a PS2 you might want to get Cricket 07 by EA although that has flaws too.
If you want top play a cricket game on your 360 then get it but be prepared for nothing more than an update of Brian Lara 2005!

I am playing a test match tonight at 6.30pm with two of my mates so I'll keep you informed if I have better experiences tonight.

 

[villarich]

Well the AI on the test matches was stupid. Codemasters have obviously spent no time on changing the way the computer bats in a 5 day test. The computer reguarly scored at 10-15 runs an over. Eventually the only thing I could do was position a fielder at every part of the boundary and restrict them to 6 an over! STUPID!!!!!!!

However the computer bowls nicely and with god variety against you. I play a lot of cricket games and this is a good test to bat against the computer.
You do have to change some of the visual aids to make batting harder so take off the bowlers confidence (so you don't know when they can bowl a special delivery) take off the bowlers marker ( so it appears at the last minute before he bowls)
If you do that it is challenging enough especially if you're batsmen has low confidence it is hard to get your confidence back up. (until your confidence is above half your batsmen plays like a 8 year old)

TO SUM UP AT LONG LAST

YOU CAN'T PLAY AGAINST THE COMPUTER IN A TEST MATCH AS HE'LL BELT THE BALL EVERYWHERE LIKE IT'S A 20-20 MATCH AND BE ALL OUT AFTER AROUND 35-40 OVERS FOR ABOUT 350.

YOU CAN HAVE FUN WITH YOUR MATES PLAYING AGAINST EACH OTHER IN A 20-20 MATCH OR BAT AGAINST THE COMPUTER AND IT'S OK

ALL IN ALL STILL NOWHERE NEAR THE TITLE IT SHOULD BE AFTER 2 YEARS DEVELOPMENT! C'MON CODEMASTERS AND EA LISTEN TO THE COMPLAINTS, CHANGE YOUR GAMES, TEST THEM BEFORE RELEASING THEM AND DO BETTER!

MUCH MUCH BETTER IS REQUIRED FOR THE NEXT INSTALLMENT OF LARA, THERE IS OF COURSE 'The Art Of Cricket' MADE BY REAL FANS WHICH LOOKS QUALITY.

UNLESS YOU HAVE MATES THAT WILL PLAY YOU DON'T GET THIS GAME!!!!!!!!!

(Rant over)

 

[madmattg]

Ok, just to add something here.

I also started playing the 360 version and as with everyone hammering the bowling at the fact that the AI pushed at around 10+ an over. IT IS YOUR BOWLING !!!!!!!!

Ok as for me the AI scores at around 4-5 an over if they are lucky. Yes on TEST level.

If you let your bowling slip they give you a bit of stick.

Now as for your scoring I turned all reticules etc of and played the ICC on TEST level.

As Australia first game against Scotland as Australia I was cruzing at 0/56 of 5. So I could still score easily. Now whether it was because I was watching TV, or just trying different shots, I collapsed to be all out for 95 in 10.2. Very poor i know.

However I then turned it around crushed Scotland to have them all out for 45 in 8.2.

Lee got hammered in a couple of over and took 5/34 of 4.2 and Mcrath had a great spell taking 5/11 of his 4.

I know it doesnt change the fact that now you just win by hyge margins because they cant score, but hey you dont have to go for over 10 an over either.

 

[The_gas]

So many caps

 

[madmattg]

Yes so many angry people yelling at the screen.

 

[barmyarmy]

Ok as for me the AI scores at around 4-5 an over if they are lucky. Yes on TEST level.

If you let your bowling slip they give you a bit of stick.

That suprises me. I was always pretty good at bowling in 05.
Are you beating the bat, are they playing defensive strokes or are they just not beating the infield?

 

[Stephen Bailey]

I've been trying a few things in test matches and I've been keeping the AI scoring down occasionally.

I've been using attacking field 3, which I also used a lot on BLIC 2005 because of the AI's obsession with playing to 3rd man and fine leg.

Select Colombo or Auckland to play on so you're playing on a damp pitch, which means ball doesn't bounce quite as like it does on the hard pitches that litter the game.

To right handers, start the ball on a fullish length on off stump and swing it away. Because the ball moves in every time you select a normal delivery the AI tends to miss the ball and it goes back through the gate, or thuds into the pads.

There is a problem with this though, the AI now tries to drive absolutely everything, no matter if you've got your line wrong and bowl it slightly down the leg side. Anything it does play to leg seems to be mistimed. :

To add to that, I've just bowled the West Indies out for 40 in 6.3 overs doing what I described.

"Flintoff" 3-0-10-3
"Hoggard" 3.3-0-30-3

4 run outs.

 

[madmattg]

That suprises me. I was always pretty good at bowling in 05.
Are you beating the bat, are they playing defensive strokes or are they just not beating the infield?

Beating the bat occasionally but mostly they cant get past my field. When they do they run 1,2 and the occasional 3.

Yes I have overs when they hit a 4, which then produces confidence and they start giving me stick then wicket drops and I have them tied up again.

Second match i bowled netherland all out for 55, the tail end racket 20 runs on me before I got the break through.

Lee took 8/29 and Mcgrath 2/26.

I however pounded the batting with 0/57 of 3.5

Oh it it didnt help that I had 4 dropped catched by the slips and wicket keeper. (thats me as the bowler of course, so there total of 55 could have been alot worse)