Review Playtest Review/Preview(Review Links, Updated in First Post)

[lazy_chesnut]

Bowling
General
There is no power bar for bowling, only a 'goodness bar'. Basically, if you stop the meter near the top, the ball will be harder for the batsman to hit well. Simple really. Also, the location of the pitch-point marker is shown to be an easy or a hard ball to hit by the colour of your marker as you choose your aiming point.

Swing, seam, spin, etc.
You choose your delivery type by pressing one of the face buttons to stop the 'goodness bar'. There are different 'sets' of face buttons, too. For example, pace bowlers have a swing set (where left face button is outswing [RHB], bottom face button is no swing, and right face button is inswing), a cut set (right face button = cut right, etc.) and a 'reverse' set. The reverse options can only be chosen when the ball is old enough and the bowler is good enough. You can find out which deliveries are available by moving the right analogue stick south. This presents you with a menu which lets you look at bowler speeds, ratings, how old the ball is, how old it needs to be to reverse, etc. It's quite cool actually.

Bounce
The bounce still seems a bit too high. I kept getting wided for bowling what I thought were good bouncers. However, I was playing a Sydney which I believe is supposed to be very hard and bouncy, so maybe it was that.

Line and Length
As mentioned above, the bowling marker changes colour depending on whether you are aiming in a 'good' place or not. I was playing for ages on the assumption that green meant good for the bowler, and yellow bad for the bowler, but it was actually that green means good for the batsman! Also, it seems that the 'good' line and lengths given by the game are in fact far too full for real life cricket. I suspect that this has to do with the slightly-too-loopy bounce, and hope that this can be changed by someone before release. I suspect, however, that this would change too many other things like the AI batting grids etc, so we might just have to live with it.

Speed
Bowling speed is awesome. That comes with an important caveat, though. I was playing with England, and Harmison was bowling 90-ish mph which looked and felt good. Broad and Anderson (who are now arguably faster than Harmison) had their speeds set to around 75-ish, which was a little disappointing. Jamie (the producer) said that he was currently checking all the player speeds and stuff before it goes gold, so this may be fixed. Plus, we were not playing the latest available build.

When the speed of the bowler is correct though, it works really well. When you see replays of boundaries, wickets, etc., the ball speed looks absolutely smack on, unlike the EA games which always look like they are rocket propelled, and unlike BLIC 2007 which usually had everyone bowling at 65mph.



Can't think of anything else for bowling. Will type fielding up in a sec after I've had a cup of tea!

 

[UCC-WMH]

It sounds good, slightly dissapointed with some unrealistic stuff though.
Still insanely excited!

 

[khan31]

I hated the loopyness in 07 where yorkers from akhtar,lee etc went up before coming down onto the batsmens toes. Now, let the man enjoy his cuppa.

 

[pcfan123]

excellent review, the whole reverse system shows that they put new effort and thought into the game. I just hope that they do get the player speeds right. I would hate to have Anderson bowling in the 70's!

 

[UCC-WMH]

I hated the loopyness in 07 where yorkers from akhtar,lee etc went up before coming down onto the batsmens toes. Now, let the man enjoy his cuppa.

Is there any other way to show respect to a person?

 

[vishalsparadise]

oh my !
so now we are talking cricket.
the overall impression is a big THUMBS UP , right.

a decent cricket cricket game after a while.
excited !

 

[ganapati]

Its a pretty good review actually.... I liked what you talked about whole thing.

Thanks

 

[pcfan123]

who were the others that went? did you play the wii version?

 

[MrAnonymous]

Hey Lazy Chestnut, appreciate you taking the type to review the game for us. As you played a test match I'm assuming that you would have been looking to use the leave button ( If there is one.) Quick Question: Is there a leave button? and also does it affect the batsman's confidence. Thanks

 

[lazy_chesnut]

Answering some questions

OK I'm going to start on answering some of your questions now. Sorry I can't be bothered to quote them all, so you'll have to read the answers and see if they were in reply to your own question!! Should be going pretty much from top to bottom of this entire thread though....

What did you make of the bowling system? How exactly does it work? Would you say it is better or worse than the system from BLIC?
The bowling system is better than 2007

Is it a lot harder to bat?
It is miles harder to bat

Do the 90mph balls actually look like they're doing 90mph instead of 9mph this time?
Bowling is better paced

You didn't happen to see any promotional stuff wth a release date on did you?
Release dates are known but remain undisclosed

In 2-player (same side) mode, is the running between the wickets co-op or controlled by the batsman as in BLIC 2007? Overall what was your sense of running between the wickets - in previous versions I remember the BLIC series as one where the batsmen have always been on some sort of steroids - you could easily take 2 even when hitting straight to fine leg / third man etc.
Didn't try 2 player co-op. Running between wickets is great.

How does the catching mechanism feel this time around? Did you get to try any catches to slip?
Catching is a million times better than 2007. Actually feels like you have control now, rather than being a lottery.

Does leaving a ball still negatively affect your confidence?
Leaving the ball does not adversely affect confidence - oooh I forgot confidence in my write-up thus far. Will add it on at the end.

How does the 3rd umpire replay look.is it the same weird system from BLIC07?
Looks good. miles better than 2007. actually some suspense this time around

How has running between wickets improved?
Running is good

How does the bowling system feel?
Bowling is good

Overall look of the game?
Graphics are nice. lighting is good. heads slightly too big!!

How does the AI react to the game you play ?
Not sure - didn't play long enough - more on this later

Does the bowler and wicket keeper try to run and take balls that go past them or are lying beside them (in BLIC07 the bowler and the keeper(occasionally) leaves the ball that goes past them)?
Keeper and bowler good. keeper uses one hand quite often though but that's mainly aesthetic

Is it the fully finished version of the game that you tested?
No

Ball movement any different from past games?
Yes. Better. Outfield not like glass. Bounce still a bit loopy on pitch

Catches?
Catches awesome

Overall was the gameplay enjoyable unlike the last installment in the series?
I enjoyed it. Only first few hours of a new cricket game though, so I was always likely to enjoy it

During a run is taken, does the umpire run and stand beside the crease to check for a runout chance. BLIC07 didn't have this very basic feature.
90% sure he does this time

Does the game look more fluid this time around?
Vastly

Does the umpire still nods his head downwards before raising his finger?? that was pretty weird last time around.
Who cares

How difficult is the Test difficulty level of the game?
Difficult

Does CPU alter field if you score consecutive boundaries through same area?
According to Jamie, yes. Didn't try this out though.

Does the shots animations have been changed or are exact copy of blic07? Can you post all the possible shots you were able to play and promised.
Some new ones.

Any news on Demo Or Game release date?WAs this build final build of the game or there are still a few things left?
Console demos likely to be around release date. PC demo probably earlier (to do with clearance with Sony/Microsoft)

Do we have more edges during first few overs of the match? Can the keeper come up the stumps to a medium fast bowler?
Seems so. No.

Can bowlers like Symonds and Sachin chose different type off bowling styles during match?
No.

Do the ball still has that loopy bounce?
Slightly

Is there a stamina bar for batsman and bowlers? If yes then how does it affects gameplay? Does this mean we can get batman retire hurt?
Yes stamina bar. Lower stamina players get worse in all facets I think. No retiring that I could tell

Are there new celebrations of 50 and 100? Do the commentators acknowledge a record breaking performance like hattrick or fastest 50?How good is commentary this time around?
No idea

Is there free hit rule in the game??
Yes

Does the game track Statistics match by match? How good is the match presentation of the game? Do they show players stats when they come on to bat during ashes?
Probably not. Presentation is really nice, especially main menus

Does the batsman get injured?
Gets hit by ball, loses confidence. no retiring i don't think

What about the free hit rule?
yes

Will it be available for Xbox 360 ntsc-j console?
98% certain it won't be.

This is kinda to do with gameplay, but did you get any info on the achievements for the 360 version?
There seemed to be a fair few things to unlock. Didn't really pay attention to it to be honest though.

For Bowling:How many different bowling action you saw?
Didn't really watch bowling actions - too busy playing

Sounds promising so far, just one quick question. How were the graphics? and what type of TV was it on. 1080 or 720 etc
Hmarkas - we played on a (roughly) 20ft projector screen, as well as some nice HD TVs.

Would it be possible to mistime your dive and fall short of the crease?
I think you can dive too early and muck up according to Jamie. Didn't happen to me though.

I think that's about it for now.

One more cool thing while I remember: top edging cut shots to the keeper. This was a pleasant surprise.

To whoever it was who said that I'd not mentioned any bad things yet.....there are some to come I'm afraid.

 

[max_dillon2007]

I wished i hadnt read this review. Now want this game even more ... Agony of waiting has just been increased. Plz codies release before ashes starts. Hey Lazy any news on Release date or Demo??? What bout pics??

 

[coolz_hari]

By looking at your review i feel that this game have qualities of becoming another BL99 . But,important aspect fielding. I was irritated by BL 2007 fielding type. Lets see how they did this time around.

 

[lazy_chesnut]

Just want to quell the idea that this game is absolutely amazing. It's not. It's pretty good. The batting doesn't quite feel 'right' except on some shots like the clip through the leg side and the sweep. The lofted shots go pretty high and perhaps a little too hard. I'll get onto the AI later. I have to say, the batting AI wasn't the best.

I'll post some stuff on fielding in a bit. Also, I forgot to mention confidence.

Still haven't had that cup of tea as I answered all those questions instead.

PS - can someone please tell max dillon how to use a forum. Thanks.

 

[kamy100]

Two years after Brian Lara 2007, which was widely regarded as a disappointing effort, Codemasters step up to the crease with Ashes 2009.

Prior to doing this preview and getting some hands on time I decided to spend a couple of days playing BLIC 2007 so that I remember the things that really annoyed me about that game, the unrealistic run rates, the poor AI tactics, the stand there and slog gameplay and the jerky animations.
Going into the playtest and despite the positive previews I still had low expectations and expected Ashes 2009 to be BLIC 2007 which a few graphical touches and minus the bugs that crippled the previous game. How wrong was I!!

The first things to report that the next gen versions (PS3, 360 and PC) look and play exactly the same, the PS3 build that we saw was more advanced but that was simply because Sony’s authentication process takes a lot longer than that of Microsoft.
The first thing talking to James Firth who is the producer is that he knows a lot about the game of cricket, and he has spent the last 2 years researching all facet so as to make this as authentic a experience as it can be, as well as making it easily accessible for beginners, therefore the games difficulty is layered, so if you want a pick up and play experience than the lower levels (Easy, Medium) are tailored for that, if you want more of a hardcore experience then the hard mode is tailored for you, this combined with the control system really helps Ashes 2009 achieve this aim. James also said numerous times during the playtest that the aim is to make Ashes 2009 the Pro Evo of cricketing games.

The game has a brand new engine which the development team have been working on for the last two and a half years, and has authentic teams and appearances for Australia and England, also contains 120 pieces of licensed bats, gloves etc. These are all locked to begin with but can be unlocked by getting different records such as fastest ever fifty etc.

The legends mode is superb, it is designed to give the player all the basics of playing the game, there are the basic elements which people from this forum will probably not need to look at, but than there are advanced training sections which will help people to master/explore the advanced elements of the gameplay.
Graphically the game looks gorgeous, it looks way better than BLIC 2007. The Australian and England team players look excellent and the player models have improved since the last version. The front is excellent and players are able to choose their own team based themes, so for example if you choose the Australian Theme than the menu music will Channel 9’s theme tune etc. The other themes will also have different music etc.
The game has 18 authentic stadiums, they look really good and each of then have their own unique characteristics, for example the conditions at Lords will be different to Karachi. Also the atmosphere will be different. The levels of detail within the stadiums are superb and even the crowds look better than previous versions.

The important part of any game particularly is the gameplay; you can have the most gorgeous looking, featured packed game but without a great gameplay experience all of that effort would be wasted. I am pleased to report that after 3 hours of hands on time with Ashes 2009 that the gameplay is the stand out feature and has improved in every aspect from BLIC 2007:

BATTING:
The batting is so much more an authentic experience in Ashes 2009. Whereas in BLIC 2007 you could stand and slog all over the place (even on the hardest difficulty level) and get unrealistic scores with batsman pulling of impossible shots, in Ashes 2009 this is no longer possible on the hard mode. The test matches that I played on hard mode against a human opponent were quite realistic, in terms of the way we scored runs, how we had to monvure the ball around the pitch and the way the realistic way the ball behaved when playing shots. The new batting control system works really well. You are given different types of shot options (Defensive, Attack and Lofted). As the bowler runs in you use the analogue stick to define the direction that you want the ball to go in, and when the ball is bowled you select the type of shot that you want to play (attacking, defence or lofted) and then there is a timing window, if you get the timing window correct the ball will go where you want it, but if you don’t then it could take the edge, flick of your bat and into your body/pads or go somewhere else on the field. The timing window is affected by the confidence of the batsman (there are six levels of confidence) and the ability of the batsman. This mechanism works really well, and the key thing was that you are on the hard level forced to play authentic cricketing shots. You can also choose to play a back foot shoot (by pressing L1), or front foot shoot (by pressing L2) or run down the pitch (L1 & L2 together) or leave it to the AI to choose for you, the better the batsman the better choices that the batsman will make when you leave it to AI to choose. If you decide to charge down the pitch and miss the ball then you will have to manually (by pressing a button) get your batsman back into the creases.
The running between wickets has also improved, you can scamper quick singles, you can choose to dive or slide your bat into the crease, and if you change your mind mid run the players are now much more responsive so it gives you a better and more realistic chance of getting back, unlike BLIC 2007 where batsman where like the titanic when trying to turn back.
The shots look really good and behave very realistic, when you time a shot properly it now really feels like you have hit a proper shot, I loved timing my leg glances or pushing shots into gaps to pick up singles. Also edges are now more realistic, they happen more frequently if you are getting your timing wrong etc. There are also edges off defensive shots. Also loved that mistimed shots also come of the bat and onto the pads or body, very much like in real cricket.

Bugs such as leaving the ball affecting confidence have now been eradicated. Overall the batting experience during the playtest was really positive and rewarding experience. The positive is that test matches on the harder level seem to be much more realistic, whereas the gameplay experience playing a T20 game is more open.

I didn't play against the AI as was playing a human all the time so can't comment on batting AI.

BOWLING:
The bowling has been complete overhauled and pretty much all of the changes are improvements on previous versions. As the bowler starts his run up you select the type of delivery you want to do, each bowler has different types of deliveries. As the bowler starts their run up you have a second or so to find a good area to ball your selected delivery. As the bowler runs up there is a balling metre, there is a poor delivery area, good delivery area, a very small perfect area and a red zone on the metre. The metre works really well, you can ball a good delivery quite easily but if you want to try and ball a perfect delivery than it is a risk/reward approach because it increases the chances of bowling a no ball, which in T20 is very effective because the free hit for overstepping has been implemented into Ashes 2009. Also factors such as bowler skill come into account when a perfect delivery is being bowled and it doesn’t mean that if you bowl a perfect delivery that it will result in a wicket, all it does is maximise the opportunity to get a wicket, other factors such as the shot the batsman is playing, the skills/confidence of the batsman, the pitch conditions all come into the equitation.
The bowling side of the game is now much more challenging and enjoyable experience, for example I was playing one of the PC members and saw that he was playing a certain way, I thought that an arm ball would cause him problems if he played the type of shot he was playing, I decided to ball the arm ball, which was pitched just short of a good length, he misread the ball and the length and tried to flick to the leg side and it caught the outside edge and was caught by the slip, it felt great that I could use realistic bowling tactics that actually worked.
Delivery types of reverse swing only become available, when the wear and tear gets to 75%, this and a whole host of other things can be accessed by the advanced bowling options (pressing L1).
The bowler speeds for people like Anderson (his maximum speed was 75MPH) were slightly off but we were told that these would be sorted for final version.

FIELDING:
Fielding has also been changed from the previous version.
The catching mechanic is now different. If the ball is skied, things slow down matrix film style, as the ball flies towards your fielder and a there is a ring around the ball, if you press the button when the ring is green the fielder catches the ball, if it is orange the fielder will still try and catch the ball but the fielding ability of the player comes into play, if it is red it will be dropped. This mechanic works very well. If the ball flies to the slip or wicketkeeper you have to have a much quicker reaction time, than say when someone mistimes a slog down the ground and skies it.

IT IS NOW POSSIBLE TO CATCH GROUND SHOTS!! This for me is huge, even if you get your timing prefect but hit the ball straight at the fielder, there is a chance you may get caught out.

You can now through the ball to either end by using the right analogue stick to choose or you can leave it to AI to decide where to throw. There are overthrows, for example there were a few occasions during the playtest where there was an increased chances of a run out batsman who were taking a quick single by throwing at the bowlers end, but the bowler hadn’t quite made it back over the stumps, so if I threw and the ball missed which resulted in overthrows. Again like in proper cricket that it the risk/reward choices that fielders are presented with.
Wicketkeeper animations are now very realistic and they no longer whizz the bails off all the time.
There are lots of different preset fields that you can set or you can have a fully customised field, all the time proper cricket terminology is used. Very minor gripe is that silly point does not wear a helmet.

Other stuff:
You can earn skill points and use them to improve skills of players, for example you play matches as India, you can earn skill points to improve skills of the Indian players, this will allow players to customise favourite teams, so that player abilities are represented accurately, when playing online the squads will revert to default squads.

Pitch wear and tear looks very realistic, e.g. we selected a 5th day pitch in Karachi and it looked dry, had marks and pronounced cracks.

Confidence can be linked to a situation, for example a player approaching a century may see confidence fluctuate, or when a team needs 15 off the last over to win, in other words the match situation is linked to confidence.

I think that I will finish here, I have lots more notes but this has gone on long enough. I hope people find this useful, and throughout I have tried to be as honest as possible. I will answer some of the specific questions that people sent me at some point tomorrow but at the moment I am ready for bed as it has been a very long day.

 

[coolz_hari]

My question :
How do wicket keeper catches the ball .In BLIC 2007.Keeper catches with one hand suddenly with a jerky fielding.That looked very odd. I hope they corrected that too