Review Demo impressions thread

xvalerianx

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  1. Don Bradman Cricket 14 - PS3
to be honest I think that once the gloss of this being a new game has worn off, I think a lot of people will be pretty disappointed at yet another poor cricket game

I do not think many people will be considering this game as poor. Looking at the previews and the demo and stuff,everything looks really good compared to the previous cricket games,and am sure that it will turn out to be pretty good.
 

gudduthemaster

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Hopefully, but the same could be said of BLIC 2007, the online was really fun, but due to a lack of users and general problems it died about a month after release.

I fear the same will happen here, though hopefully a better online system will improve the situation, but ultimately I feel the lack of users for cricket games will always doom the online side.

Man Ac 2009 isnt That bad,My many friends has the demo and they said that it is Damn hard To beat CPu in hard Mode,I will Get my hands On the Demo tomorrow(in my friends house,i don't own a crapbox ;)),hope it turns out good
 

KP-Nuts

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Jun 17, 2009
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I purposely played a few games wrecklessly ..... playing inapropriate shots and poorly timed defensive shots, and I must say I was impressed. The ball physics were much better than BLIC07. Top edges, inside, outside, bottom edges, bat pad, pad bat, drag ons, even edged a few over the keeper for four!

I also really like the batting. I liked the sound of bat on ball, it's also not as easy as it was before to get boundaries.

I managed to get better with the bowling (on hard) and restrict the Aussies to about 9 runs from three overs. This was quite easily getable in return, but if you played that way in a longer game you wouldn't last very long nor get very many runs.

One thing that perplexed me for ages (due to a lack of a tutorial) was the bowling. I assumed that you had to stop it on the highest point of the dark green section of the bowling, but you have to stop it in the light green as close to the red sector as possible. Before that I was going for some serious runs, but when I figured this out there was alot more leaves, edges & defensive shots.

The bad things I could see was the exact same sodding commentary as from BLIC07, seriously Codies that's pretty lazy.

The replays were for the most part useless as you couldn't see the ball.

And Jimmy Anderson bowling at 75 MPH.

Other than that I love it, and can't wait to buy it.
 

tommymac

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Mar 10, 2007
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I do not think many people will be considering this game as poor. Looking at the previews and the demo and stuff,everything looks really good compared to the previous cricket games,and am sure that it will turn out to be pretty good.

Fair enough, I just can't get past how criminally high the runrate people are reporting is, and again the ease of taking wickets, people reporting chasing 30-40 runs and taking 4-5 wickets off 3 overs on the first morning of a test is ridiculous and will ruin any kind of longevity this game may of had.

Bar the numerous bugs and poor game mechanics, this was the main issue with BLIC 2007, ridiculously easy gameplay and unrealistic run rate.

I want to have to work for runs and wickets, and it seems already from a few hours of the demo being released people are finding it far too easy.
 
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brad352

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How can it be 'broken' but also 'playable'? Also, all deliveries are half volleys and too many AI runouts? Uh-oh, sounds like a patch will be needed very shortly after release...

Well on a decent length nothing would ever trouble the stumps, it's been worked around by having just about everything pitched at your toes. Obviously not working how it should be but you can still play shots to it. Not the kind of thing that's a quick fix in a patch either
 

srk121

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Hi Guys here comes my review for the demo.


My first impression is Game look stunning and animation are pretty good. Game plays very well. I will start with good stuff before i got to bad.

Good Points.

1. I have played demo for good 2 hours and i still find it pretty hard to score againt AI. I have tried smacking around but no matter what i was not able to score more than 5 runs an over. Really great to see that.

2. Running is amazing really good stuff by transmission.

3. Collision for the ball is pretty good. Not even one ball has past through the pads like BLIC07.

4. Catching system: WoW!!! amazing it will take time to get use to though. I have caught 3 catches out of 7 catches.

5. the bowling does feel real time on the game. Flintoff,anderson, broad, really fast stuff. No Loop.

6. animation are pretty good too. Some of them are really different and you will say ahh! something new.

7. Umpires are and decison making from umpires are so good. I was bowling with siddle and i bowled a yorker on the leg stump, it hit batsman toes and umpire gave it out, although the hawk eye showed that ball was clearly missing leg stuump.

8. The actual menus are so good as well. The game feels fresh, it will take time to get use to but let me tell you you will miss the ball while batting.

9. Ball physic is so good to not like glass mirror where ball keeps going like BLIC.

10. AI leave the ball too, defending as well nothing like blic where they keep going to hit the ball.

11. lords look stunning i have been to lord so i really did feel as if i am in lords once again watching a real match.

there is so many good things about the game. i have to say i am really impressed. I have managed to beat Ai once which shows that AI pacing is so good as well.

i have heard people saying camera angle are same as blic. Let me tell you they are not they are so much different it feels as if i am watching real cricket.

Now lets get to bad stuff.

1. I was batting and ball hit my pads the opposition appeal for lbw, ball rolled over to the stump and knock the bail off but i was given not out!

2. Commentry is a let down, i switched it off after two games.

here you go guys. I think game is great lot more pro's than cons. I am sure you all will enjoy the game to the fullest.

If you are a silver memeber please download the demo as it is working for few of my mates. they have downloded and playing.
 

Stephen Bailey

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If the batting is the same as this in the final game then it's going to be too easy, yet again (on the hardest difficulty). As others have suggested, the AI seem to bowl either bowl too full or too short and there is just no need to play defensive shots. Sure, you can play defensive if you want to, but there really is no need. Getting aerial strokes absolutely right isn't easy, I haven't hit a six yet.

Bowling is difficult. Having said that, I'm not entirely sure what is better on the indicator, light green or dark green. Why not use green, yellow and red? Either way it doesn't seem to matter much! Up until my last go I'd only picked up wickets through silly run outs or with the spinners.

The way bowlers pace varies from one match to another is "interesting". I thought this might've been to do with conditions, but then you see Johnson and Siddle bowling 90 MPH+ when you're only low 80's with Flintoff I guess not. Play another match and it can be the other way round.

Initially struggled with the catching but its something you get use to.

If the difficulty levels in the final version are the same as this then only patching or online play will keep it alive for long periods of time.

It's still miles better than BLIC 2007 though and a definite step in the right direction.

Final thing, what the hell is going on with the cameras when following the ball around the outfield?! They are just awful. Too zoomed in to start with and then they zoom out so you can't see anything.

Final positive/negative list based purely on the demo
Positives:
- Bowling is far more difficult.
- The AI batsmen are aggressive BUT don't just miss straight ones, like in BLIC 2005 & 2007
- The AI batsmen play defensive strokes and leave the ball.
- Batting is more difficult than BLIC 2007, not easy to hit sixes.
- Ease of use. The only time you need to go into a menu whilst you're playing is to manually edit field positions.
- Presentation - I really do like the way the game looks in general. Some people mention it looks quite dark. I'd rather that than the god awful bloom effects that we see in most games now.

Negatives:
- REALLY stupid AI run outs.
- AI batsmen possibly too aggressive (on hard at least), playing too many shots. Perhaps down to it only being a 3 over match and not a proper test match?
- AI bowling is poor. No real variation in where (or what) they bowl during an over.
- Bounce of the ball.
- AWFUL outfield cameras.
- Batting still too easy (when playing along the ground), perhaps related to poor AI bowling.
- Inconsistent bowling speeds from match to match for each side for no apparent reason.
- Too easy to position bowling cursor.

I'll keep playing and may report back for a my second post in what seems like years. :p
 

KP-Nuts

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7. Umpires are and decison making from umpires are so good. I was bowling with siddle and i bowled a yorker on the leg stump, it hit batsman toes and umpire gave it out, although the hawk eye showed that ball was clearly missing leg stuump.

I forgot to mention that I was batting and the Aussies had an LBW shout and I ws given not out .... when it showed the hawkeye view it showed the umpire got it wrong!

I was very impressed with that ...... as long as it doesnt happen to often.
 

srk121

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I forgot to mention that I was batting and the Aussies had an LBW shout and I ws given not out .... when it showed the hawkeye view it showed the umpire got it wrong!

I was very impressed with that ...... as long as it doesnt happen to often.

I have played about 10 matches and it only happend to me once.
 

KP-Nuts

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Thanks for your opinion, but 7 sounds bad, not good.

The time it happened to me it wasn't a glaring umpire mistake that would have you pulling your hair out .... it's a very marginal decision that you see given or not all the time in real life.

I like it.
 

TRF

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The batting is naturally aggressive because it's a very short limited over match. It doesn't give an indication as to how thoughtful a full test match needs to be played.
 

UCC-WMH

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Ok, I just went round to my mates and played the demo, I have to say.. XD.

Pros:
1. I edged alot thanks to bad shot selection.
2. I timed one 'perfectly' (in the timing meter) and it went for four.
3. Ricky Ponting caught an aboslutely blinder off me in mid off, something I haven't seen before.
4. I have seen a difficult edge chance been dropped, which is good for realism, and some drop short aswell.
I only played 1 game so I didn't really get a decent chance, but
Cons:
1. It was pitched quite full, I only faced one short ball.
2. Catching, despite being realistic, is extremely hard (on my account).

I was playing on hard mode. :)
 

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