Review Completely unplayable

[Hants Ben]

I'm so frustrated with this game it's been a complete waste of money. I've given it a good go over the past couple of weeks, I really tried to like it but there are just too many issues rendering it unplayable.

1. The first thing I tried was training but some parts of the training you can't complete e.g. stopping a boundary when fielding but the batsmen keeps blocking. Fairly minor but this bad start set the tone for the rest of the game.
2. I played a few games using the new controls but the bowling doesn't work at all. When you press the button to bowl it doesn't register so it's impossible to bowl a good ball. I switched to classic controls...
3. I thought I'd have a go at career mode. Spent ages downloading all the English county teams and setting up my player. Then I realised the batting lineups were completely wrong. The Hants top 6 were all bowlers! There's no way to preview these lineups when downloading so I didn't find out till too late.
4. Fair enough I thought, these teams are provided by the community so maybe I should settle for the ashes mode which has all the proper players... I played the first test no problem, the second test I had a stupid first innings which was completely unrealistic, all of the England middle order got out for ducks and then Jimmy Anderson got a century.
5. Then it came to bowling in the second test using the classic controls and it suddenly stopped working. The right stick down part worked but I would move the stick up in the green and every single time it said I was late and a no ball was bowled. I didn't have any problems with these controls in the previous test. Once it broke then if I timed it stupidly early I could get it to perfect or good. I tried restarting the game but it didn't fix anything.
6. Finally I tried playing tonight and three times the game hung on the loading screen waiting for a game to load. I finally got in to play the test but the bowling problem was back and then it crashed. Now it seems this series is corrupted because it won't load at all!

These aren't just minor glitches that you can turn a blind eye to. It's fundamental game controls not working, failure to load, saves corrupting. I feel like Big Ant have fleeced me here. I don't understand how anyone can be enjoying this game as it's completely unplayable for me. I'm playing on PS4 so the hardware should be ok.

Maybe there will be an update that fixes all of this. I haven't even mentioned the less significant bugs like wrong commentary, crazy impossible fielding catches etc.

 

[passwordistaco]

In regards to 3, once you download the teams you can go into team manager and change the lineups yourself. Also it would depend on if you used Get Best or downloaded from a specific member of the community. The ones @Llewelynf have uploaded will have somewhat correct lineups. Though I agree there is a lot that needs to be rectified.

 

[Spoobir]

1. Fair enough I thought, these teams are provided by the community so maybe I should settle for the ashes mode which has all the proper players... I played the first test no problem, the second test I had a stupid first innings which was completely unrealistic, all of the England middle order got out for ducks and then Jimmy Anderson got a century.

You trying to disrespect the Burnley Lara mate?

 

[Bleddyn]

You trying to disrespect the Burnley Lara mate?

Love that nickname. Always makes me think of what they called Ray Parlour (ex-Arsenal player), the "Romford Pelé".

 

[Hants Ben]

For the teams I downloaded I tried get best and the ones recommended on here. In both cases the English county teams were a work in progress but to be fair they are much better now. I tried a later Hampshire team and the lineups were spot on this time.

The trouble is I don't want to spend ages sorting the teams out now if the bowling controls are broken or if the game will suddenly stop working part way through a career or series. The main gameplay is just too unreliable and broken. I really don't understand why the game is getting decent reviews at all.

 

[bazza]

how come we are getting bugs is it the dev or is it the software

 

[CaptainOZ]

I really don't understand why the game is getting decent reviews at all.

I don't understand this either. Doing a quick Google search I find reviewers giving it 8 out of 10 and 4 stars out of 5. Have people's standards slipped that much? The bar needs to be set much, much higher - i.e. to the "satisfactory" level.

 

[cricket_online]

For the teams I downloaded I tried get best and the ones recommended on here. In both cases the English county teams were a work in progress but to be fair they are much better now. I tried a later Hampshire team and the lineups were spot on this time.

The trouble is I don't want to spend ages sorting the teams out now if the bowling controls are broken or if the game will suddenly stop working part way through a career or series. The main gameplay is just too unreliable and broken. I really don't understand why the game is getting decent reviews at all.

I don't understand this either. Doing a quick Google search I find reviewers giving it 8 out of 10 and 4 stars out of 5. Have people's standards slipped that much? The bar needs to be set much, much higher - i.e. to the "satisfactory" level.

I think there are a few reasons for the same...

1. Most reviewers are more "pick n play" folks from cricketing perspective. I doubt you'll find a reviewer who's a hard-core cricket gamer. For them playing a quick 5 or 10 over match would be fun.

2. Some of the issues such as incorrect shots based on input (i.e. lofted cut shot going to Wide Off, cut shot shooting to square leg after passing through the bat etc.), incorrect stats, arcadey batting, no difference in pitches, pitch deterioration and change in conditions not taking effect, no dropped catches, poor AI field sets, poor AI, batsman caught off the pad without ball hitting the bat, DRS/BARS of no practical use for dismissals other than LBW, inability for a spinner to bowl a no-ball etc. won't show up in a one hour review gameplay, especially for a casual cricket gamer.

3. Who knows which version of the game was reviewed? I see most of the reviews with high scores from mid November so they may have reviewed the mythical "Day 1" patch version.

But it's more than clear the game has basic fundamental flaws that weren't fixed since DBC 17 and a few additional ones have made it to Ashes Cricket. If I had to rate the game I would give it 4 or 5 out of 10 - maybe 4.5/10 would be the compromise.

And the worst part is that the game still has issues which were highlighted in DBC 17 and which were supposed to be fixed by a patch in DBC 17 but weren't. take the example of stats. I recall there being a big discussion about stats during DBC 17 days. I remember @Dutch (hope you recall that discussion Dutch) had a thread about what stats would we like to see etc. and we listed what enhanced stats would be and which stats need to be fixed. This was before the DBC 17 Patch 4. Then the Patch 4 comes out and with Patch notes claiming the stats were fixed and lo and behold they were not. Then we were told they can't push out another patch coz Tru Blu were the publishers and owned rights to DBC 17. And that things would be different if Big Ant owned the rights coz "they back their products".

Finally Ashes Cricket comes along and what do you get? Same freaking issues and bugs. They took the DBC 17 game, put scanned faces/animations and literally sold the same game! Stats issues still persist. The AI fields took a step back from DBC 17 coz at least Patch 4 in DBC 17 had fixed the shorter format field where the max fielders stayed out of the fielding circle. Ashes Cricket somehow went backwards.

I get Big Ant are not a big developer and may not have the resources at their disposal which bigger devs/publishers might. I understand they may not be able to compete with FIFA or Madden but how can you not get something like stats right across two iterations of the game?! I've played cricket games from the days of BLC and the only two cricket games with incorrect stats are DBC 17 and Ashes cricket. I mean yes you have issues with AI, with gameplay etc. but stats! How in freaking hell you can't get stats right when you are pitching a career mode and the career mode is built on having correct stats.

Sorry for the rant but how do you expect a developer to get AI and gameplay right when they can't even get stats right in the game whereas a user on this forum ( @Rhone ) has nailed the stats in a spreadsheet? If they can't get the stats correct across two iterations of the game what hope is for them to nail the things that are actually complex? I purchased DBC 17 and Ashes Cricket mostly to play career mode and at the moment I feel cheated coz i can't play the one mode I want to due to incorrect stats. And this time there's no Tru Blu to shoulder the blame.

 

[bazza]

I think there are a few reasons for the same...

1. Most reviewers are more "pick n play" folks from cricketing perspective. I doubt you'll find a reviewer who's a hard-core cricket gamer. For them playing a quick 5 or 10 over match would be fun.

2. Some of the issues such as incorrect shots based on input (i.e. lofted cut shot going to Wide Off, cut shot shooting to square leg after passing through the bat etc.), incorrect stats, arcadey batting, no difference in pitches, pitch deterioration and change in conditions not taking effect, no dropped catches, poor AI field sets, poor AI, batsman caught off the pad without ball hitting the bat, DRS/BARS of no practical use for dismissals other than LBW, inability for a spinner to bowl a no-ball etc. won't show up in a one hour review gameplay, especially for a casual cricket gamer.

3. Who knows which version of the game was reviewed? I see most of the reviews with high scores from mid November so they may have reviewed the mythical "Day 1" patch version.

But it's more than clear the game has basic fundamental flaws that weren't fixed since DBC 17 and a few additional ones have made it to Ashes Cricket. If I had to rate the game I would give it 4 or 5 out of 10 - maybe 4.5/10 would be the compromise.

And the worst part is that the game still has issues which were highlighted in DBC 17 and which were supposed to be fixed by a patch in DBC 17 but weren't. take the example of stats. I recall there being a big discussion about stats during DBC 17 days. I remember @Dutch (hope you recall that discussion Dutch) had a thread about what stats would we like to see etc. and we listed what enhanced stats would be and which stats need to be fixed. This was before the DBC 17 Patch 4. Then the Patch 4 comes out and with Patch notes claiming the stats were fixed and lo and behold they were not. Then we were told they can't push out another patch coz Tru Blu were the publishers and owned rights to DBC 17. And that things would be different if Big Ant owned the rights coz "they back their products".

Finally Ashes Cricket comes along and what do you get? Same freaking issues and bugs. They took the DBC 17 game, put scanned faces/animations and literally sold the same game! Stats issues still persist. The AI fields took a step back from DBC 17 coz at least Patch 4 in DBC 17 had fixed the shorter format field where the max fielders stayed out of the fielding circle. Ashes Cricket somehow went backwards.

I get Big Ant are not a big developer and may not have the resources at their disposal which bigger devs/publishers might. I understand they may not be able to compete with FIFA or Madden but how can you not get something like stats right across two iterations of the game?! I've played cricket games from the days of BLC and the only two cricket games with incorrect stats are DBC 17 and Ashes cricket. I mean yes you have issues with AI, with gameplay etc. but stats! How in freaking hell you can't get stats right when you are pitching a career mode and the career mode is built on having correct stats.

Sorry for the rant but how do you expect a developer to get AI and gameplay right when they can't even get stats right in the game whereas a user on this forum ( @Rhone ) has nailed the stats in a spreadsheet? If they can't get the stats correct across two iterations of the game what hope is for them to nail the things that are actually complex? I purchased DBC 17 and Ashes Cricket mostly to play career mode and at the moment I feel cheated coz i can't play the one mode I want to due to incorrect stats. And this time there's no Tru Blu to shoulder the blame.

well said mate its all about the money

 

[LittleBigPlanet]

Ffs what's with all the hyperbole these days?! Unplayable.. Haha nah mate, that's just your retarded opinion, and usually most people would tell you to keep it to yourself... But I guess thread titles like this do have one positive! ...it really does expose the chronic whingers.

Some people are just never happy!!


... and I wonder why!

 

[Swervin]

118 hours played and I haven't had any of these problems on pc, guess I got the playable version

 

[Master Khan]

To be honest I play this game almost everyday and I don't encounter any problem???
I guess some people are expecting a lot but I know this game isn't prefect but to say it's completely unplayable is just ridiculous....are yo sure you talking about Big Ant Ashes cricket and not Trickster Games Ashes Cricket 2013...and that was completely unplayable lol.

 

[Mr Snrub]

Ffs what's with all the hyperbole these days?! Unplayable.. Haha nah mate, that's just your retarded opinion, and usually most people would tell you to keep it to yourself... But I guess thread titles like this do have one positive! ...it really does expose the chronic whingers.

Some people are just never happy!!


... and I wonder why!

There's as much hyperbole in your post. Calling other people's opinions retarded? Saying most people would tell him to keep it to yourself? Calling everyone with a different opinion of the game, chronic whingers?

Hants Ben finds it completely unplayable, which sounds over the top, hasn't been my findings of the game, but his experience has been different to most people. He's taken to time to post his reasons, some seem a little debatable, some are valid. He's had an Ashes Series (which takes a lot of time), crash and/or corrupt for no reason. Is that playable or unplayable? How do you manage to play corrupted/crashed game saves? I'm guessing he has a right to say unplayable... for him.

You are right, some people are never happy. In your case it's with people who are being honest about their experiences and them being different to yours.

 

[SibiNaayagam]

This seems more like the stuff that needs to go in the report bug section than being review? If you haven't already, report the crashing and controller issues in the bug report thread if you would like to have it resolved.

 

[fanirama]

I agree about the Training bug. I even opened a bug report here (it's in my comment history if you want details). There's flaws in the game for sure but it is a video game. Not reality and can simulate reality tbh.
Completely unplayable? Don't agree.
The game is playable and is moderately fun. There's issues for sure but it is not bad at all. In fact, I enjoyed playing the game quite a bit