With the advent of the Cricket World Cup in mid-May this year, one
can expect a few mediocre cricket games to be released in due
course. However, as I stated in a previous cricket review, the
interest in cricket games is not too high with gamers, therefore
their quality lacks as there is not enough funding. Fortunately,
Brian Lara Cricket does not suffer from this same plight. It is ported
from the Playstation so we PC-using cricket fans have a chance to
play a good cricket game. The quality of Brian Lara Cricket is not
as high as one might hope for, but can be easily said to be the best
cricket game so far.
Right off the bat, (no pun intended) I would like to say that this
game does not lack that much in the graphics department, but
when one is so used to the sporting masterpieces that are Fifa 99
and NHL 99, it can only look unclassy. Brian Lara Cricket has
support for Glide, Direct3D and software modes. At first, this gave
me great hope, a cricket game with 3D acceleration! Alas, upon
loading my first game, I was moderately disappointed. The 3D
models of the players and umpires were poorly done and lacked
greatly in detail. On the positive side, the capturing of the player's
movement was extremely realistic and true to life. The field is
rather plain and does not have much texture. In fact, my general
opinion on graphics is that the 3D acceleration is a favorable
factor, but does not save it from many downfalls. These downfalls
all result from a lack of attention to detail. The crowd and stadiums
suffer too from a rough feel, so does the sky backdrops which
seem unprofessionally done. I did notice however that the skeletal
design of the stadiums matched those of real-life stadiums. My
home stadium of St. George's Park was almost replicated to a tee.
We now come to the sound aspect of Brian Lara Cricket. The game
starts off with a jingly little introduction tune and the usual menu
sound effects. The actual game's sound was at most times average
to above average. My main gripes were that the crowd's cheering
and ambient sounds were muffled and it didn't come across as a
passionate, convincing group of supporters. The commentary was
accurate and professionally recorded, but was boring and
uninspiring.
The gameplay in most aspects is where this game really shines.
Never has the game of cricket been so realistically recreated than
in Brian Lara Cricket. You have the choice to play friendlies or you
can jump into the World Cup or World series. This is not strictly a
one-day game only, as you have the option to play test matches
too. The gameplay is very good and I can hardly moan at
anything. The realism of the motion capturing, the way the
batsmen hit their shots, the manner in which the fielder fields the
ball and so forth all make up the factors which add to the superb
gameplay. Many different batting shots are available and timing is
crucial for a successful shot. However, when it comes to bowling
there are a few problems as there is not much depth. You have the
chance to place your delivery, but you cannot choose a type of
delivery, such as in-swinger, out-swinger, etc. The gameplay is
technically good, but as you will read in my next paragraph,
everything just doesn't fall in place in regards to the playing
experience.
You can have the best graphics and sound with water-tight
gameplay, but what makes someone come back to play a game
again is fun. Initially, when I first played Brian Lara Cricket on
Playstation with a friend, we enjoyed the game greatly, but as
time moved on things became tedious. Watching the animation of
the batsman practicing his shots while waiting for the bowler to
walk his run-up became increasingly irritating and everything just
felt like it had hit a snail's pace. This was two months ago and
when I got Brian Lara Cricket for PC, I was ready to play with
rekindled spirit. Unfortunately, the same happened and the fun
factor went on a downward spiral into hell after about twenty
minutes. For some reason, the game cannot keep the momentum
going and this is a major push factor.
The only way to play any form of multiplayer is two players on one
keyboard. There is no support for IPX, modem or Internet play.
Playing two player on the keyboard works the same way as
playing against the computer.
My overall impression of Brian Lara Cricket was one of mixed
feelings. I feel there is a lot of potential for this game that hasn't
been exploited. I imagine this will be a good seller in
cricket-playing nations when the World Cup dawns upon us. This,
however, is due to there being no alternative cricket game. This is
in no circumstances a bad game, and cricket fans should enjoy it
immensely. I hope this whets your appetite for EA Sport's Cricket
World Cup 99.