Ashes Cricket 2009 Review Continued

06 Aug 2009 at 13:04:06 by Andy Alderson
Systems used to review this title: (PS3, 360, PC)

Obviously, if it were too easy to bowl out the opposition, the game would be unrealistic but it feels as if Transmission has gone too far in the other direction. As it stands, most of the wickets you'll take in Ashes will be from catches or run-outs and, while the developer has done a good job of making the batting feel authentic, the bowling does not. Although you have a wide array of ball choices to attack them with, the batsmen rarely leave their stumps undefended or are tricked into an LBW decision. However, an unexpected ball choice can cause the batsman to gift away a cheap catch, and varying the length and swing of your fastballs can reap dividends. But, after you're four matches into the Ashes series and you look back on the stats to discover you haven't taken a single LBW or straight-bowled wicket, it's clear that there's room for improvement.

In fact, while on some levels Ashes feels like an authentic, classy sport title elsewhere it feels patchy and unfinished. Although the visuals are a step-up from the last Brian Lara games, some of the player likenesses lean towards the laughable. It seems as if Transmission wasn't keen on modelling all of the real life players and so there are repeated player models, meaning Flintoff and Siddle are apparently twins and there are about eight Ricky Pontings on the field at any one time. The player animations aren't particularly good and while the batting strokes look nice, the players all move a little stiffly, especially when running. It feels as if some corners were cut on the commentary too. The sound quality is crackly and there isn't a lot of variety in the comments – you'll soon get tired of hearing how the Bodyline Tour changed the face of cricket. Venture into the tutorial sections and you'll suspect that Beefy and Shane Warne must have fallen asleep in the voiceover booth as they only voice half of the text that you'll see on screen.

It's a shame that the game is missing a degree of polish, because there are some good ideas at work. While the bowling may feel too much like a slog (pun 100% intended), the batting mechanic in the game is well-realised and, when combined with the tension added by the confidence meter, it's a satisfying feeling when you score that first test century. Also, the bowling becomes less of an issue when you play against a human opponent locally or online as they are more likely to make a mistake than the AI. However, for those wanting to recreate the Ashes against the CPU, you might find that it feels a little too mechanical and... well, a little dated. It's hard to look at Ashes Cricket 2009 in the context of the great sport games we've seen over the last couple of years and not feel a little shortchanged.

Comment