First off, I'd like to say that those calling this an 'arcade game' are talking out of their back end - this is one of the best sports simulations I've ever played, not just the best
cricket game, made by basically a small gaming company without the clout of EA and the like, yet they have nailed the feel of cricket for me. This game does everything short of sticking a bat or ball in your hand and dropping you in the middle at Lords. It makes all other cricket games, especially EA's efforts and even the venerable Brian Lara 99 look like coin op arcade games. Sure, some shots do go in the air too much and that needs looking at, but to say it's impossible to play the ball along the ground is BS. I have been playing some peaches of straight drives and leg glances in my session just now. Bowling, traditionally the most boring part of a cricket game is fun, and filled with strategy so when you get that nick you feel as though you earned it and it wasn't some random behind the scenes number crunching responsible for your 'success'.
Considering this is a game by a small company, I don't think they've done a bad job with the graphics. The crowd aren't the cardboard cutouts they could have been - they even move! The player models aren't too bad albeit they have a touch too much muscle definition for your average cricketer ha ha! Sure, there are some glitches like the way the ball spawns right out of the bowler's hand after delivery and things like that but overall, the game is pleasant to look at - we even have proper dynamic lighting! The rain looks extremely weird though ha ha!
I have to give special mention to the ball. Time and again, EA and the like release a game with a bright red thing that looks more like a snooker ball with a seam than a cricket ball - they could never even get the colour right, but once again, Big Ant have nailed it. It is without a doubt the most beautifully realistic cricket ball I've seen in any game - the colour is perfect and the way the ball ages is brilliant. It looks so realistic you could pluck it out of the screen and bowl a few overs in your back garden!
The sound overall is excellent - I love that you can finally appeal manually and you can actually hear it as a big shout and not the afterthought that gets drowned out by the crowd in EA's games. The thwack of leather on willow can't be faulted although some work could have been done on the sounds used for certain shots. A defensive shot should never echo throughout the ground like a perfectly timed square cut and sometimes the latter sounds like a paddled sweep, robbing it of the powerful sound it should have. The perfectly timed sound should be reserved for those shots that come right out of the meat of the bat. The snick when you edge the ball is near on perfect as are the small details like the sound of the bowler's delivery stride, the tapping of the bat on the ground and the sound when the stumps are hit. The difference in atmosphere at a tiny little ground and a big stadium is clear.
The Career Mode is a brilliant addition and is where I can see myself playing the majority of the game. It has its rough edges of course, but the fact it's even there at all is a massive step forwards and please do not dream of ever dropping it for future editions, Big Ant!
Things missed/things to work on - I am disappointed that once again things like scoreboards are hidden in the menus - it would be cool if the scoreboard and bowling figures etc were put on screen every now and then. The commentary is bland and repetitive; it fails to mention things like when I took a wicket with my very first ball as a professional cricketer in one career, and the fact that it's just started pissing down! There is no variation in the winning or losing commentary. Some sort of reward for slogging your way through a five day test would be a good thing but we have to remember this is the first game in hopefully a successful franchise, where gameplay had to be king above all else - presentation cosmetics like award ceremonies can be added later on. Having said all that, Big Ant have worked hard on the presentation of things like the review system so not to have some sort of token award ceremony is a bit odd.
The fielding editing screen is a clunky disaster. It's worse than EA's Fifa efforts that we've been stuck with for ten years, and the fact that cricket is a far more complex sport merely exacerbates the problem. Some sort of drag and drop system is imperative in future editions or expansions, or even patches. Due to the terrible editing system, I don't ever bother changing the field and that's a sort of important part of cricket Big Ant, so please take a look at it.
Why can't we see the pitch report prior to picking the team? Again, that is important - if the pitch is a green seamer, you might not bother with a spinner at all or just pick one, whereas if it's dry, dusty and crumbly you might go with two spinners. A bewildering omission by Big Ant for me.
The AI batsmen are way too fond of the late cut shot - I don't see many batsmen in real life playing the late cut to a fast bowler, especially when the ball is a leg stump yorker... The AI batsmen are also far too fond of hitting the ball in the air when cutting. Perhaps this aggression can be lowered by playing around with the game's files at some point in the future?
OK - this has turned into a sort of review - sorry I didn't meant to hijack the thread! I can post it in another thread if necessary where I can elaborate further.
Edit: Has anyone seen a nick behind dropped?
