In a running trial the coach watches two athletes run the same time. One is lean, fit and has great technique; the other, carrying extra weight, less fit and making basic mistakes. Who do you choose to train??When I?ve written previous reviews of cricket games, I?ve speculated that maybe we?ll never see a game that feels like cricket. Maybe it?s just too hard to get right. Is International Cricket 10 the glass ceiling for what is possible?
Cricket gaming has had its iPhone moment. Don Bradman Cricket 14 does not feel like a polished game, it does not feel like it should have anywhere near as many bugs as it does, it does not feel like aspects such as AI have been got right yet but it does feel like cricket and it?s amazingly fun to play.
It would be impossible to start this review without paying tribute to what Big Ant have done with the control system. Changing something as fundamental as the ?watch pitch marker, choose shot, wait for ball for come? model was always going to be high risk. Not just because you have to find something better to replace it with but because cricket gamers are used to pitch-it-on-the-circle. For many that is cricket gaming. Don Bradman Cricket makes clever use of the two analogue sticks requiring shot placement to be about more than a button press. It?s hard, it requires concentration and there?s a steep learning curve but the level of satisfaction gained from getting it right is correspondingly higher.
For bowling too, accepting that most bowlers aren?t Glenn McGrath, DB14 does not allow you to place the ball on a sixpence, delivery after delivery. ?Once again the analogue controls determine the line bowled and the release point when previously all that bowling involved was making a button press before the no ball line. As someone who enjoys bowling more than batting in cricket games anyway I look forward to mastering this new system (which may take some time!). Ultimately the mechanics of the new system are more important than whether or not it?s too easy to get wickets (and it is at present) as that can be fixed and adjusted.
The second fundamental change made by Big Ant is the introduction of a first player career mode. As someone who has been personally pleading for such a mode for years it?s great to see it not only implemented but implemented well. Starting as a 16-year-old you gradually train your skills and improve your player until you?re good enough to be selected for your national side. All parts of the match not directly involving your player (including fielding) can be simulated, which speeds the process up considerably, and you can choose to work your way up through the Australian or English system. Or, thanks to the imaginative Cricket Academy any system you care to mention provided you or someone else has created the teams and players. This kind of depth will ensure longevity and hours of serious enjoyment.
This game has been in development for a long time and was initially scheduled for a 2013 release so it isn?t possible to give Big Ant a complete pass when it comes to bugs and other issues. There has been time to get things right and some aren?t. As I?ve said in the past issues such as AI pacing and field settings are hard to get spot on in a first iteration and tend to evolve organically as the franchise develops. Other issues though such as superhuman fielders, poor runouts and online play can really ruin the player experience. The latter in particular needs serious attention. Several of the games I?ve played, including ones against other players in the UK, have been laggy, unresponsive, almost impossible to follow what is actually happening and have fairly quickly crashed on me ? crashing my whole PS3 system. Many others players are reporting similar issues. Additionally with no on-screen overlay help available you can forfeit a match simply by being unable to work the complex bowling system. If the issues are eventually sorted this will be an excellent element of the game, with the option to save and continue online test matches offering capability previously undreamt of.
So does it feel like cricket? It does and it doesn?t. It could. A bugbear of mine in cricket games has always been modes of dismissal. If you break down test dismissals by type?you would see that about 16% are bowled, 17% lbw, 18% caught behind, 40% caught (non-keeper) and 3% runouts. Unfortunately I?ve not found any data on types of outfield catch but I would estimate about half to be slips catches. In a typical test innings you could expect 2 bowled, 2 lbw, 2 caught by the keeper, 2 caught in the slips and 2 caught elsewhere. Clearly this is a very inexact science and quality of bowling ingame also has a big effect on how batsmen are out but I, and I?m not alone on this, am yet to see a slips catch. Lots of plays and misses but very few edges. Dismissals tend to be leading edges to mid on, mid off and the bowler. This might be because the basic batting stroke is too aggressive but ultimately it takes away from the immersion of the game. Nor is it easy to fix. The design behind games is often finely balanced and changes can have knock-on effects. It is though important to note that real physics is at play in the bat and ball interactions in this game and that markedly reduces the predictability and increases the realism.
Recent cricket games, despite the strides and improvements they have made have been fundamentally superficial. Don Bradman Cricket is certainly not. The sheer amount of depth and thought in this game is in itself an excuse for the game not feeling totally polished. There is just so much in this game that it would be impossible for everything to have been fully tested and stretched. In the past new cricket releases have felt like little more than a cynical attempt to get our money with a glorified roster update usually brought out to coincide with one licensed event or other. Either that or they have fallen down at the sheer scale of the task of creating a playable and enjoyable game. The ?best cricket game ever? clich? doesn?t even feel like a fair fight. Don Bradman Cricket is a serious heavyweight product and will continue to stand up well long after other games have been forgotten.
Big Ant haven?t so much raised the bar with this game as changed the sport. This title is ground-breaking for the way in which it has introduced new control systems and created a first person career mode. Nothing will ever be the same again. Just as importantly Big Ant Studios are not EA Sports. Issues will be resolved by the developers, bugs will be patched and they will take what they?ve learnt to turn their athlete into a lean, mean run-machine: a real world-beater; a Bradman.
Gameplay ? 85. Better than anything before it but still room for improvement
Longevity ? 90. Excellent with career mode and massive customisation of tours and tournaments available through Cricket Academy
Patching ? 80. Not totally applicable for the console versions. Players and teams can be edited to your heart?s content. Real logos, bats and kits cannot. Score may change after PC version release.
Graphics ? 78. Fluid animations make up for slightly under par graphics.
Overall ? 86. So much potential. A great debut and hopefully more to come in the future.
Note: the above review and scores are based on the unpatched version of Don Bradman Cricket 14 for PS3. Planetcricket.net may revise the above review and scores in light of changes in the game as a result of released patches. Overall score is not an average and different categories carry different weighting.
Article by barmyarmy - Read More...
Cricket gaming has had its iPhone moment. Don Bradman Cricket 14 does not feel like a polished game, it does not feel like it should have anywhere near as many bugs as it does, it does not feel like aspects such as AI have been got right yet but it does feel like cricket and it?s amazingly fun to play.
It would be impossible to start this review without paying tribute to what Big Ant have done with the control system. Changing something as fundamental as the ?watch pitch marker, choose shot, wait for ball for come? model was always going to be high risk. Not just because you have to find something better to replace it with but because cricket gamers are used to pitch-it-on-the-circle. For many that is cricket gaming. Don Bradman Cricket makes clever use of the two analogue sticks requiring shot placement to be about more than a button press. It?s hard, it requires concentration and there?s a steep learning curve but the level of satisfaction gained from getting it right is correspondingly higher.
For bowling too, accepting that most bowlers aren?t Glenn McGrath, DB14 does not allow you to place the ball on a sixpence, delivery after delivery. ?Once again the analogue controls determine the line bowled and the release point when previously all that bowling involved was making a button press before the no ball line. As someone who enjoys bowling more than batting in cricket games anyway I look forward to mastering this new system (which may take some time!). Ultimately the mechanics of the new system are more important than whether or not it?s too easy to get wickets (and it is at present) as that can be fixed and adjusted.
The second fundamental change made by Big Ant is the introduction of a first player career mode. As someone who has been personally pleading for such a mode for years it?s great to see it not only implemented but implemented well. Starting as a 16-year-old you gradually train your skills and improve your player until you?re good enough to be selected for your national side. All parts of the match not directly involving your player (including fielding) can be simulated, which speeds the process up considerably, and you can choose to work your way up through the Australian or English system. Or, thanks to the imaginative Cricket Academy any system you care to mention provided you or someone else has created the teams and players. This kind of depth will ensure longevity and hours of serious enjoyment.
This game has been in development for a long time and was initially scheduled for a 2013 release so it isn?t possible to give Big Ant a complete pass when it comes to bugs and other issues. There has been time to get things right and some aren?t. As I?ve said in the past issues such as AI pacing and field settings are hard to get spot on in a first iteration and tend to evolve organically as the franchise develops. Other issues though such as superhuman fielders, poor runouts and online play can really ruin the player experience. The latter in particular needs serious attention. Several of the games I?ve played, including ones against other players in the UK, have been laggy, unresponsive, almost impossible to follow what is actually happening and have fairly quickly crashed on me ? crashing my whole PS3 system. Many others players are reporting similar issues. Additionally with no on-screen overlay help available you can forfeit a match simply by being unable to work the complex bowling system. If the issues are eventually sorted this will be an excellent element of the game, with the option to save and continue online test matches offering capability previously undreamt of.
So does it feel like cricket? It does and it doesn?t. It could. A bugbear of mine in cricket games has always been modes of dismissal. If you break down test dismissals by type?you would see that about 16% are bowled, 17% lbw, 18% caught behind, 40% caught (non-keeper) and 3% runouts. Unfortunately I?ve not found any data on types of outfield catch but I would estimate about half to be slips catches. In a typical test innings you could expect 2 bowled, 2 lbw, 2 caught by the keeper, 2 caught in the slips and 2 caught elsewhere. Clearly this is a very inexact science and quality of bowling ingame also has a big effect on how batsmen are out but I, and I?m not alone on this, am yet to see a slips catch. Lots of plays and misses but very few edges. Dismissals tend to be leading edges to mid on, mid off and the bowler. This might be because the basic batting stroke is too aggressive but ultimately it takes away from the immersion of the game. Nor is it easy to fix. The design behind games is often finely balanced and changes can have knock-on effects. It is though important to note that real physics is at play in the bat and ball interactions in this game and that markedly reduces the predictability and increases the realism.
Recent cricket games, despite the strides and improvements they have made have been fundamentally superficial. Don Bradman Cricket is certainly not. The sheer amount of depth and thought in this game is in itself an excuse for the game not feeling totally polished. There is just so much in this game that it would be impossible for everything to have been fully tested and stretched. In the past new cricket releases have felt like little more than a cynical attempt to get our money with a glorified roster update usually brought out to coincide with one licensed event or other. Either that or they have fallen down at the sheer scale of the task of creating a playable and enjoyable game. The ?best cricket game ever? clich? doesn?t even feel like a fair fight. Don Bradman Cricket is a serious heavyweight product and will continue to stand up well long after other games have been forgotten.
Big Ant haven?t so much raised the bar with this game as changed the sport. This title is ground-breaking for the way in which it has introduced new control systems and created a first person career mode. Nothing will ever be the same again. Just as importantly Big Ant Studios are not EA Sports. Issues will be resolved by the developers, bugs will be patched and they will take what they?ve learnt to turn their athlete into a lean, mean run-machine: a real world-beater; a Bradman.
Summary
-ve Controls hard to pick up even with tutorial and manual
-ve AI pacing and field settings
-ve Fielder speed and runouts
-ve Lack of behind the wicket catches
-ve Online
+ve Control system
+ve Physics system
+ve Career mode
+ve Practice mode
+ve Replace all teams
-ve Controls hard to pick up even with tutorial and manual
-ve AI pacing and field settings
-ve Fielder speed and runouts
-ve Lack of behind the wicket catches
-ve Online
+ve Control system
+ve Physics system
+ve Career mode
+ve Practice mode
+ve Replace all teams
Gameplay ? 85. Better than anything before it but still room for improvement
Longevity ? 90. Excellent with career mode and massive customisation of tours and tournaments available through Cricket Academy
Patching ? 80. Not totally applicable for the console versions. Players and teams can be edited to your heart?s content. Real logos, bats and kits cannot. Score may change after PC version release.
Graphics ? 78. Fluid animations make up for slightly under par graphics.
Overall ? 86. So much potential. A great debut and hopefully more to come in the future.
Note: the above review and scores are based on the unpatched version of Don Bradman Cricket 14 for PS3. Planetcricket.net may revise the above review and scores in light of changes in the game as a result of released patches. Overall score is not an average and different categories carry different weighting.
Article by barmyarmy - Read More...
