Aditya
ICC Board Member
Sir Donald Bradman, one of cricketing gem's. A man who saw and conquered, with a near perfect average that touches the landmark of 100, Bradman is and will always be considered the iconic face of cricket - someone who has given this game a base on which it has developed over all these years. 
We have Brian Lara cricket, Shane Warne Cricket but there was the name of one legend missing from cricket game titles and that is - Sir Donald Bradman. BigAntStudios have given a fitting tribute to the maestro from down under, by titling their cricket game after this very genius of the game - Don Bradman Cricket 14.
The cricket gaming experience on consoles and PC has been somewhat incomplete and each title that has come along has left the cricket fans wanting more. Post 2007 and the release of EA's last cricket game, the speculations constantly rose around the next 'BIG' brand to set it's foot into developing a cricket game, companies like 2K sports and SEGA didn't see this genre of gaming as a profit source, Codemasters did - but we all discern how that went but there was one company that saw this genre of gaming as "passionate" and the way to go forward i.e. the BigAntStudios.
I'll be very frank, the first time I played cricket07 - I didn't like it. The game made me feel like I was trapped into a few shots which could hardly be called "cricket" - the freedom to express yourself as a batsmen and bowler was never there and yet after 6 years it was still the most played cricket game (till 2013). In the mid of 2013, BigAntStudios started getting more public with the developments of the DBC title and a great hype surrounded this game, more so for it's title.
Next followed the ultimate test for the BigAntStudios with the release of Nets beta, what they had lying ahead of them were cricket freaks who were desperate for a good game to come forward and with positive responses in their favor, the nets beta impressed every one - why you ask! For the wide array of shots, that's all that a cricket fan wants. Dil-scoop, reverse sweep, crispy straight drive, cut, pull, duck, defend - these array of shots made the nets beta the "ideal" platform for the full version to build on.
As I lay my hands on my controller and played the nets beta for the first time, the first few deliveries were genuinely quick - and I mean it. I couldn't understand the controls for the initial part of the beta but gradually it became easier and as I played a straight drive and my controller vibrated, I knew this was something special.
DBC 14 - PC : June 26, 2014, the big day of release. I opened PlanetCricket and there I saw Ross' post "the game is now live on Steam" ? amidst the rush to play it, several thoughts popped into my head - will the game deliver of my ridiculously high expectations? Will the career mode deliver on expectations and be interesting? Will the game be realistic or another *you know whose, cricket 13*.
I immediately lay my thoughts to a rest and played the game with modest expectations.
View of the MCG
To start off, I played a 5-5 Casual match between Australia and England at MCG.
As the camera in game rotated around the stadium, I sat on my couch speechless - wow! The model of the stadium looked perfect and then came the players for the toss - as expected, it went fine and my team (Australia) elected to bat.
At the end of the match, I knew that what I have on my laptop makes the earlier released cricket games seem like a ?piece of joke" because nothing stands even close to what the BigAntStudios have provided us with.
Next I headed over to the career mode to try my luck as opener for Somerset. First part was to create my player, make him look like me - in a game, as close as possible and the options provided by BAS (Big Ant Studios) made it easier to create a must closer version of me IN the game.
I was ready to try my hand at the Career Mode. My player entered the field to open the batting, so far so good. My opening partner took the strike and I could watch everything in progress from the non-striker end, on the very first ball he took a single and I went over to the striker's end. The choice to start my career was in my hands - will I be aggressive? Will I be Dravid? Who knew but me...
On my very first ball, I smashed the bowler for a four above the Mid-On fielder - ah, the sweet feeling of glory.
But as they say, the game of cricket is cruel. On the very next ball, the bowler replied back with a solid delivery, pitching in line and managing to hit my pads and they shouted "HOWZAT!" and there I was - GONE.
Those were 2 aspects of the game i.e. casual mode and career mode. I still felt something was missing so I went back to the casual mode and began another match with Australia and England. Only this time I had the opportunity to bowl.
As I tried to control the bowler with my controller, he just wouldn't stop - kind of reminded me of Ishant Sharma's first over in test cricket, the pressure was intense, he just couldn't deliver the ball. Anyways back to the game, I looked around for the right bowling controls and then WHAT - bowled a wayward wide BUT the next ball was a short delivery which the right-handed batsman from England safely pulled for a single. This is fun I said.
A few more deliveries later I had my taste of luck - the left handed batsman from England was deceived and was clearly LBW but the umpire wouldn't give that OUT - here came the MOST INTERESTING part of the game - the DRS system. The Australian team gathered around and decided to review the decision, the Australian captain signaled for the review and I sat on my couch as confident as Broad in each one of his reviews - 'yea yea, that's out'...
The game replayed the delivery and the ball was pitching IN Line and hitting the top of leg-stump, the umpire gestured the overturning of the decisions and the Australians had a wicket.
Wide array of shots and variation in deliveries - complete package
After a few overs I grasped another wicket, this time the credit was well and truly to the fielder. I delivered the ball on the good length area, the left handed batsman tried to play a straight drive over the Mid-On fielder but mistimed it and as the ball went over the head of the Mid-On fielder, he ran backward and with me almost certain that it's too difficult a catch - he CAUGHT it - the Kapil Dev of the 1983 world cup, successfully grabbing the catch of Richards, yep that's the memory I was reminded of.
What I'm trying to say here is, DBC14 doesn't give you a "closed-box" cricket game where your hands are tied and you've very limited to explore. It instead gives you a cricket ground, with a pitch, 22 players and 2 umpires - where you're the one controlling the game. Realism of every sport game is the most integral part of it and when big brands failed to get it right, I had my hopes down but passion sees no challenges, it sees no obstacles.
The team at BigAntStudios should be applauded for the "near-perfect" cricket game that they've produced and in the very first attempt, they're just about on the finishing line of making this title turn into "perfect".
Special mention here to the BigAntStudious for the consistent updates that they bring for the betterment of this game which makes it even so closer to "perfect". You guys have produced the best cricket game that there has ever been and every person who purchases this game has every penny of his well spent. You guys have done justice to the cricket fans and most importantly - you've done justice to the title holder of this game, Sir Donald Bradman.
I wont call this a "complete review" because there's so much of the game that I've still to explore but this sure is a start. If any one else wants to submit their detailed reviews of the game, this is the thread for you.
PS : Some of the images used are not mine and belong to the members who posted them on this site. Cheers!
We have Brian Lara cricket, Shane Warne Cricket but there was the name of one legend missing from cricket game titles and that is - Sir Donald Bradman. BigAntStudios have given a fitting tribute to the maestro from down under, by titling their cricket game after this very genius of the game - Don Bradman Cricket 14.
The cricket gaming experience on consoles and PC has been somewhat incomplete and each title that has come along has left the cricket fans wanting more. Post 2007 and the release of EA's last cricket game, the speculations constantly rose around the next 'BIG' brand to set it's foot into developing a cricket game, companies like 2K sports and SEGA didn't see this genre of gaming as a profit source, Codemasters did - but we all discern how that went but there was one company that saw this genre of gaming as "passionate" and the way to go forward i.e. the BigAntStudios.
I'll be very frank, the first time I played cricket07 - I didn't like it. The game made me feel like I was trapped into a few shots which could hardly be called "cricket" - the freedom to express yourself as a batsmen and bowler was never there and yet after 6 years it was still the most played cricket game (till 2013). In the mid of 2013, BigAntStudios started getting more public with the developments of the DBC title and a great hype surrounded this game, more so for it's title.
As I lay my hands on my controller and played the nets beta for the first time, the first few deliveries were genuinely quick - and I mean it. I couldn't understand the controls for the initial part of the beta but gradually it became easier and as I played a straight drive and my controller vibrated, I knew this was something special.
DBC 14 - PC : June 26, 2014, the big day of release. I opened PlanetCricket and there I saw Ross' post "the game is now live on Steam" ? amidst the rush to play it, several thoughts popped into my head - will the game deliver of my ridiculously high expectations? Will the career mode deliver on expectations and be interesting? Will the game be realistic or another *you know whose, cricket 13*.
I immediately lay my thoughts to a rest and played the game with modest expectations.
View of the MCG
To start off, I played a 5-5 Casual match between Australia and England at MCG.
As the camera in game rotated around the stadium, I sat on my couch speechless - wow! The model of the stadium looked perfect and then came the players for the toss - as expected, it went fine and my team (Australia) elected to bat.
At the end of the match, I knew that what I have on my laptop makes the earlier released cricket games seem like a ?piece of joke" because nothing stands even close to what the BigAntStudios have provided us with.
Next I headed over to the career mode to try my luck as opener for Somerset. First part was to create my player, make him look like me - in a game, as close as possible and the options provided by BAS (Big Ant Studios) made it easier to create a must closer version of me IN the game.
I was ready to try my hand at the Career Mode. My player entered the field to open the batting, so far so good. My opening partner took the strike and I could watch everything in progress from the non-striker end, on the very first ball he took a single and I went over to the striker's end. The choice to start my career was in my hands - will I be aggressive? Will I be Dravid? Who knew but me...
On my very first ball, I smashed the bowler for a four above the Mid-On fielder - ah, the sweet feeling of glory.
But as they say, the game of cricket is cruel. On the very next ball, the bowler replied back with a solid delivery, pitching in line and managing to hit my pads and they shouted "HOWZAT!" and there I was - GONE. Those were 2 aspects of the game i.e. casual mode and career mode. I still felt something was missing so I went back to the casual mode and began another match with Australia and England. Only this time I had the opportunity to bowl.
As I tried to control the bowler with my controller, he just wouldn't stop - kind of reminded me of Ishant Sharma's first over in test cricket, the pressure was intense, he just couldn't deliver the ball. Anyways back to the game, I looked around for the right bowling controls and then WHAT - bowled a wayward wide BUT the next ball was a short delivery which the right-handed batsman from England safely pulled for a single. This is fun I said.
A few more deliveries later I had my taste of luck - the left handed batsman from England was deceived and was clearly LBW but the umpire wouldn't give that OUT - here came the MOST INTERESTING part of the game - the DRS system. The Australian team gathered around and decided to review the decision, the Australian captain signaled for the review and I sat on my couch as confident as Broad in each one of his reviews - 'yea yea, that's out'...
The game replayed the delivery and the ball was pitching IN Line and hitting the top of leg-stump, the umpire gestured the overturning of the decisions and the Australians had a wicket.
Wide array of shots and variation in deliveries - complete package
After a few overs I grasped another wicket, this time the credit was well and truly to the fielder. I delivered the ball on the good length area, the left handed batsman tried to play a straight drive over the Mid-On fielder but mistimed it and as the ball went over the head of the Mid-On fielder, he ran backward and with me almost certain that it's too difficult a catch - he CAUGHT it - the Kapil Dev of the 1983 world cup, successfully grabbing the catch of Richards, yep that's the memory I was reminded of.
What I'm trying to say here is, DBC14 doesn't give you a "closed-box" cricket game where your hands are tied and you've very limited to explore. It instead gives you a cricket ground, with a pitch, 22 players and 2 umpires - where you're the one controlling the game. Realism of every sport game is the most integral part of it and when big brands failed to get it right, I had my hopes down but passion sees no challenges, it sees no obstacles.
The team at BigAntStudios should be applauded for the "near-perfect" cricket game that they've produced and in the very first attempt, they're just about on the finishing line of making this title turn into "perfect".
Special mention here to the BigAntStudious for the consistent updates that they bring for the betterment of this game which makes it even so closer to "perfect". You guys have produced the best cricket game that there has ever been and every person who purchases this game has every penny of his well spent. You guys have done justice to the cricket fans and most importantly - you've done justice to the title holder of this game, Sir Donald Bradman.
I wont call this a "complete review" because there's so much of the game that I've still to explore but this sure is a start. If any one else wants to submit their detailed reviews of the game, this is the thread for you.
PS : Some of the images used are not mine and belong to the members who posted them on this site. Cheers!
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