The official blockerdave review...

[kasabian21]

But come on lads, surely being able to bowl 25mph bouncers with spinners makes the purchase worthwhile?!

 

[Wealey]

I've been quietly watching the demo releases roll out and I have wondered similar things, especially regarding the academy. I said a long time ago I would be a quiet spectator during this release because I feel like my investment early on with DBC14 clouded my judgement upon release. As Blocker said, where DBC14 ended up after a month or so was a totally different game, when it hit PC things moved even faster and was a totally different experience and a vastly better one at that. I did buy it day one on PS3 and haven't touched it since the PC release. I get the impression reading from the literate posts that have been made, that there's just not enough of DBC14 in the background holding things together...

Can't make an assessment until I play it and that won't be any time soon. As a touchstone point, I would lean on Blockerdave more than anyone else at the moment, seems to be an influx of chipped shoulders showing up as happened around this time last year.

More than happy to wait for the PC release, as I really should've when DBC14 hit.

Bang on. Again, I need to give it a good going over.

But the whole 'not enough 14 in the background' pretty much sums it up perfectly.

I also know the boys at BA will do whatever they can to rectify things.

 

[cricket_online]

Fair enough. Sad to hear. Wonder why the urge to go 'arcadey'. DBC 14 with a few tweaks (the hack) and a few additions like the bowling marker thing would have been ideal.

Your thoughts and Blockers are now views from respected people who know the game inside out.

But the plus side is that if Big Ant can sort out the batting part and add shots all around the field, DBC 17 has the potential to be a great game. I'm more of a batting connoisseur and the person who generally simulates bowling just to bat in the game and that's why the regression in batting hits hard. I didn't have access to the DBC Academy demos as I didn't have a PC to run the academy so can't comment on the difference between the academy demos and the final product but surely some of these batting issues should've been caught a lot earlier. I mean take a look at the wagon wheel I posted in the "DBC 17 Batting" thread... it looks as if you can hit the ball in only 4 areas and majority of the field is off limits.

 

[Biggs]

I also know the boys at BA will do whatever they can to rectify things.

This.

...and also the stuff I'm reading (other than the UI changes) are all things that initially were problems when DBC14 arrived and fixed reasonably promptly. Strange that after all the work done to fix fielding and batting in the last game, there's once again issues around shots being unable to be played to specific areas. That's a reoccurring problem from '14 that was patched out. ...as well as the slow moving fielders.

Haven't seen anything about the online experience yet, but that was a masterstroke (other than the still persistent game crashes) and a lot of fun from day one.

 

[Wealey]

But the plus side is that if Big Ant can sort out the batting part and add shots all around the field, DBC 17 has the potential to be a great game. I'm more of a batting connoisseur and the person who generally simulates bowling just to bat in the game and that's why the regression in batting hits hard. I didn't have access to the DBC Academy demos as I didn't have a PC to run the academy so can't comment on the difference between the academy demos and the final product but surely some of these batting issues should've been caught a lot earlier. I mean take a look at the wagon wheel I posted in the "DBC 17 Batting" thread... it looks as if you can hit the ball in only 4 areas and majority of the field is off limits.

That's the bit that I cant get my head around.

The drive through extra cover and forward point was added in DBC 14. How could 17 not start with it.

The animations for cut etc... should be better 3 years down the line. But their worse?

I just wonder if they guys at BA were working with some kind of restrictions this time around.

@Biggs you beat me too it. Stuff that was fixed. Seems to have been reverted back to default

 

[MrCricket1991]

Anyone noticed your player stats after playing a game on causal match are not kep?.

 

[ratesaread]

If I had to sum up DBC17 in a short pithy phrase, I'd say @BigAntStudios have fixed what was broke about DBC14, and broke what was fixed.

That is of course using poetic license, as I don't believe either game is "broken", though the UX/Navigation in DBC17 is close to broken. It's certainly not fit for purpose, and I'm struggling for a term that is not emotive but can describe just how bad it is. I make no apology for starting a review talking about something that seems not related to gameplay, but actually it's that bad it affects gameplay too.

I have been busy over the summer / autumn, and that coupled with the fact I had issues with all the big updates meant I didn't get as involved in the academy as I'd have liked. I wish I'd had more time - I would have fought that UX until @Ross changed it or stuck me on the ignore list forever. It's terrible. It's hard to navigate, forces you into unnecessary scrolling and clicks. In DBC14 you could use a hotkey to download a player from the academy list (1 click): in DBC17 you have to enter the player, go the download bit, and click to download (2 clicks and a scroll). multiply that by a minimum of 12 (for a team roster), and you've gone from 12 button presses to 36. FOR EVERY TEAM YOU CREATE!

Let's say you search for @Munkeymomo brilliant teams - you get a list of 19 teams - to download 1, there's 3 button presses (instead of 1), then another to go back to the search, and the search takes you back to the top of the list, meaning you have to a)remember which team you just did, and b)scroll all the way down to them. This x 19 teams.

I've still not found out how to create a "League" for my created teams - in DBC14 I had lists (which I presume are analagous to leagues) for rebel tour teams, for England's worst xi ashes tour, for teams for online... here any teams I create (which may never get past the 2 I've done so far, given making them is such a ball ache) get lumbered in custom.

Why is roster management split between "add" or "remove" player? If I want to add a player, but can't remember who is in the roster already, I have to actually check the "remove" list.

If I link a player, once it's done it immediately kicks you back out to the main menu, so you have to re-select link player again to do another.

If you manage to find the field editor (yes yes i know there's a shortcut), there's a choice of more fields than Mike Brearley used in his whole career, and no attempt to pre-filter them to your bowler, match type, or game situation.

In DBC14, press pause and you got a nice shot of the scoreboard. In DBC17 you get Windows 8 Red-headed stepchild. 2012 called - it wants its tiles back (and it's bloody welcome to them).

10 paragraphs in, and i'm still not on to gameplay. That is how bad the UX is. I am torn between admiration for @Llewelynf @SnowyCasanova @Fissionmailed @Munkeymomo and how they have overcome how bad the academy UX is to make their stuff (and I'm certainly grateful!), and a little bit annoyed they and others who have used the demo academy a lot haven't called out that navigation. It's worse in the game because there's more there, but all this unnecessary clicks and scrolling is in the academy too and we've been lax as a community for not calling it out.

Graphically it's a bit of a mishmash. There's certainly an upgrade, but there is an arcadey quality that jars a bit. The bright colours, that logo that pops up every replay, the slightly too wiry player models - it all has me wondering where to deposit my quarters. Which is a shame, because the stadia, grass, faces etc. are definitely an upgrade on DBC14. The biggest graphical letdown for me was the lighting, as in I played a game where dusk should fall - this was beautiful in DBC14. Here, apart from the floodlights coming on, there were no other clues that the sky was changing. You could see it when you checked the field, but never felt it in game, where it was forever noon.

But to the gameplay. At times it feels like an unhappy marriage between an arcadey bash-along and a deep cricketing simulation.

Bowling was (until @francobaldo1 came along) the great big letdown in DBC14, with an AI that batted in a different game to the human player. That has been unequivocally fixed. Bowling in DBC17 is excellent. AI edges are in the game and the edge physics look good too. I've seen lovely inside edges and top edges etc. as well as outside edges getting the keeper and slips interested. I like the reflex catching mechanic, having been very sceptical when I first heard about it.

The bowling control system is an excellent evolution of the DBC17 and especially for spin. It's really really good. My only criticisms of the bowling are: 1) i don't like the sidestep when changing angle of approach. I accept it's a visual clue you're doing it right that DBC14 lacked, but it's unrealistic and doesn't look great. It's another arcadey touch in the game. 2)if you're using auto or semi-assisted fielding, the fielders run like they are ploughing through knee-high porridge. i've not been able to find the tile / sub-menu to make them sprint...

There are 2 great things about batting: 1) the ability to move around the crease, and 2) being able to nail straight drives off seamers. (The spinners appear as godlike as all bowlers were in DBC14 - I certainly haven't got one past a tweaker.)

BUT, and it's a big but, batting is spoiled, as others have said, by large swathes of the field being impossible to hit to. Cover being the most obvious. Some of the animations are pretty ugly too, the front-foot square drive/cut being the worst.

A few other things also spoil the batting, which are mostly related to the fielders. Basically, they are appalling when the ball is on the ground, and supermen when the ball is in the air. There are easy 1s, 2's and 3's every where. Hit the ball along the ground and you get a run. Again, very arcadey. Hit the ball in the air, and the landing circle needs to be at least 25m away from a fielder or they will catch it.

The keeper reactions are like when DBC14 first released - the ball hits him and is immediately on its way to the stumps. That and a pre-cog gully to the spinner are particularly annoying.

Finally, a word about the cameras. They seem radically different and nowhere near as good as DBC14. It may be a question of getting used to them, but I am struggling to think why change something nobody I ever saw complained about? Again, these cameras with their additional movement feels more arcadey. Was there publisher pressure for this type of approach (hence the logo), or was it a BA choice?

Sense of perspective, this game is better and in a better state than DBC14 when it was relased, and I'd hope it gets improved. Lets be honest how DBC14 finished and how it released were practically 2 different games. There is enough here to build on that a similar improvement will give an excellent cricket game.

Is it better than DBC14? In some areas, certainly bowling, it's much better. In some areas, like batting, it's probably not. In the UX, it's a worse by a huge margin. Gameplay wise, it's maybe ahead: better bowling + less pre-meditation in batting - less areas to hit to, still put it marginally ahead of good batting - lots of pre-meditation - poor bowling experience.

Is it better than DBC14 + franco's hack? Probably not at this stage.

3.25 out of 5 at it's current, post-day one patch level for me.

A really nice writeup. I am personally very disappointed with the AI shot selection. The AI batsmen are obsessed with back-foot play and end up playing some of the most ungainly—nay downright egregious—shots you could ever imagine off the back foot. The most hideous shots are those back-foot lobs that can often go all the way to the boundary. Now I don't know about you, but I personally don't recall seeing too many batsmen in real life send the ball flying to the boundary on a consistent basis with a straight bat while still on the back foot.

 

[Wealey]

But come on lads, surely being able to bowl 25mph bouncers with spinners makes the purchase worthwhile?!

Mate for me the purchase will always be worthwhile.

@BigAntStudios gave us a cricket game that I truely had been waiting for for years! I could play 14 till the cows came home and with the academy it would never be out of date.

They interact all year round and they listen and support and fix whenever they can.

So sure, at the moment my 50 quid has been spent on something that at three moment isn't quite how I'd like to be.

But hey it may suit many others. I'm not entitled to have the game the exact way I want it.

But I'll support these guys. I spent hours on 14 messing with skill points to get the perfect game. And I'm pretty confident I'll do the same with this.

 

[Biggs]

Question: Those that have the game on either platform, any animations (bowling, fielding or batting) that have survived from DBC14? 80% of those animations were absolutely spectacular.

 

[cricket_online]

That's the bit that I cant get my head around.

The drive through extra cover and forward point was added in DBC 14. How could 17 not start with it.

The animations for cut etc... should be better 3 years down the line. But their worse?

I just wonder if they guys at BA were working with some kind of restrictions this time around.

@Biggs you beat me too it. Stuff that was fixed. Seems to have been reverted back to default

That's all water under the bridge now. But to Big Ant's credit they did add two main features which will take this game beyond DBC 14 when batting's all sorted... i) Ball marker so you don't have to pre-meditate, and ii) Gameplay modifiers so you can tailor the gameplay experience as you deem fit. Big Ant has shown they listen to users and address gameplay concerns - the two new features are a testament to the same. I'm sure Big Ant will do the same with DBC 17 batting.

 

[Wealey]

Question: Those that have the game on either platform, any animations (bowling, fielding or batting) that have survived from DBC14? 80% of those animations were absolutely spectacular.

Yes and some are lovely. I particularly like the little pinch off the back foot that kinda looks like it's defensive as well.

There's just some absolute mingers in there where the toe guard of the bat ends up pointing towards the clouds!

 

[kasabian21]

@wealey88 I was being sarcastic mate. But in a way I mean it....have you set spin bowling flight and bounce to zero and ball bounce to 100, then bowled a yorker or full length delivery with extra bounce added using the analogue stick? It is worth it just for watching the ball fly 30 feet up in the air before landing in front of the batsman and bouncing over his head. The sliders are genius. Pure genius.[DOUBLEPOST=1482013298][/DOUBLEPOST]@Biggs don't let daddy Ross catch you commenting on the game before you've played it - he'll spank you.

 

[cricket_online]

Question: Those that have the game on either platform, any animations (bowling, fielding or batting) that have survived from DBC14? 80% of those animations were absolutely spectacular.

Biggsy there are some which remain the same... for example the aggressive off drive (with R2/L2 pressed) but majority of the new animations can be improved upon, especially the backfoot drives and the front foot cut shot.

 

[Wealey]

@wealey88 I was being sarcastic mate. But in a way I mean it....have you set spin bowling flight and bounce to zero and ball bounce to 100, then bowled a yorker or full length delivery with extra bounce added using the analogue stick? It is worth it just for watching the ball fly 30 feet up in the air before landing in front of the batsman and bouncing over his head. The sliders are genius. Pure genius.

Haha fair enough. There is so much good. Hence why it's not more like DBC 14 plus the so much good.

 

[blockerdave]

Family emergency has kept me from playing this weekend. Excellent review @blockerdave slightly worrying aswell.

If you had 17 and 14+hack in front of you. Which are you choosing to play each day?

In the short half hour I did get play, I did wonder why 14 wasn't used more as a base? This game does feel like it's completely new with nothing having come before it. Which is a little strange. 14 had a cover drive, 17 doesn't. Bits like that confuse me.

I just bought a ps4 and the game over my wife's protests. If she caught me playing the old one she'd have my balls for breakfast. I'm playing 17