|
Brian Lara Cricket
INFORMATION
Publisher: Codemasters
Sport: Cricket
Reviewed by: Salman
Siddiqui
INTRODUCTION
Cricket fans have been yearning for a good cricket game to come out for a few
years now. To fill there urges they encompassed themselves in brilliant cricket
simulation games as well as lackluster cricket games such as Cricket 97 or any
others such as Shane Warne Cricket 98. I can remember the exact day when I
heard there would be a new cricket game that would be released with great
graphics and things that would be up to par in modern day sports games. On
November 14 1997 I read a post on CricInfo by Jeremy Wellard mentioning to
everyone that Brian Lara Cricket would be the best cricket game so far (how
many times have we heard that). Finally, after a few delays, Brian Lara Cricket
arrived on the PC. I got the game, opened it as fast as I could (hey I had been
waiting for the game for about a year and 3 months) and went right to the World
Cup match!
GRAPHICS
There is no question. Brian Lara Cricket has the best graphics so far for any
cricket game available on the market, using a 3d card the player's look nicely
done. There are forty-six stadiums and each look amazingly realistic as their real
life counter parts. The motion captured player's react just like they are suppose
to be. If you are batting your batsmen looks all around the field looking for gaps
to hit the ball while he practices how to play an off side shot. Also, weather you hit
the ball or are bowling the players move in a fluid motion. For example, if you
select to play a power off side shot you will notice the batsmen get down on his
knee and try to swing powerfully. Just watching how well the action takes place is
quite a spectacle. The bad part about the graphics is that the players have a
blocky feel, quite robotic. The down side of the graphics is that they are not up to
par as they should be, not as good as FIFA 99 or Madden 99, but rather
acceptable.
Score- 80
INTERFACE AND CONTROL.
The interface and controls are very well done in Brian Lara Cricket. It is so easy
to navigate through the interface. You have five modes of play to choose from
they are quick start, world cup, knockout cup, world series, test season and
classic matches. Quick start is simply a ten over match in which the computer
randomly selects two teams. The problem with the controls is the fielding. If you
elect to manually field, then you are bound to have a tough time controlling the
fielder to go chase the ball. Unless, you can really master how to control your
fielders, I recommend leaving it on the automated fielding option.
Score- 90
GAMEPLAY
Brian Lara Cricket is an excellent representation of the sport of cricket. There is
a lot of long term gameplay in Brian Lara Cricket due to the number of modes of
play. All the squads and the rosters are somewhat accurate. The computer also
povides great statistical tracking of all the players in all the one day and test
matches.The weather and the type of pitch actually effect the gameplay in terms
of batting and bowling, because of this you must pay attention to the pitch type
and select your squad for the game accordingly, otherwise you could have some
trouble winning the game. So whats are some of the problems with the
gameplay? Well, first of all, there is lack of wide balls and no balls called in a
match. There is no player editor although there is a patch that may fix this. When
you bat the moves are all scripted. It takes a lot of practice to learn how to bat
successfully. In addition, I find bowling just too boring, probably because it takes
to long for the bowling run up to load. Also, there long load times after the ball is
hit and the bowler starts his run up. Another problem is the very questionable
LBW (Leg before wicket) calls. Oh yeah, there is no modem, LAN or internet
play.
Score- 92
AUDIO
The sound of the different crowds from all over the world are represented well in
Brian Lara Cricket. If you play in the West Indies you can hear the drums and
sounds of the horns. If you are in Pakistan or India, the crowd is loud and crazy
throughout the match. The downside of the audio is that the commentary is too
repetitive. I know cricket is not a fast paced action game but still Geoff Boycott
and Jonathan Agnew leave much to be desired in the commentary aspect. The
music is flat out annoying.
Score- 75
DIFFICULTY
Brian Lara Cricket offers three modes of difficulty. The average difficulty level is
challenging. You really need to practice how to bat and bowl; otherwise the
computer will beat you to a pulp. On the highest difficulty level, one should have a
proper strategy to play against the computer. The computer opponent is strong,
especially if the computer has a strong side such as South Africa.
Score- 95
OVERALL
This is flat out the best cricket game to come out for any platform. It's not perfect
but it will fill your appetite for cricket. Go out and shell out the money for this one,
it's a winner!
Score - 86%
Post comments on the message board
Return to www.coolinfo.com
|
System
Requirements:
Required:
Win.95/98
Intel 166mhz
16MB RAM
Recommended:
Intel 200mhz
32MB RAM
3D Accelerator
Cons:
-Lack of support
for non-Intel
chips.
-No modem,
LAN or internet
play
-No player
editor
-Not enough
wide and no
balls are called
Pros:
- Awesome
gameplay
- Great AI
- Interface
Coolinfo
Bottom Line:
- This is the
cricket game
most of you
have been
waiting for.
|
