Ashes Cricket 2009 Review

Written by: Darren Cartledge Posted: 18th August 2009

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I hit this review for six.

Ashes Cricket 2009 Details:

	Sports
	PC/PlayStation 3/Xbox 360/Nintendo Wii
	Transmission Games
	Codemasters

Out Now

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If I'm honest I don't really understand cricket, and have absolutely no interest at all in the sport. But I do know what makes a good sports game and with the Ashes series reaching a dramatic climax I decided it's about time I stepped up to the crease and looked at Codemasters latest cricket game, Ashes Cricket 2009.

As you would expect Ashes Crocket 2009 allows you to play through the entire test series, as well as including several other game types such as one day internationals, 20twenty and single test matches. The games title may be a little misleading as it not only features the two nations competing for the ashes, but several other major cricketing nations have all been included in the game such as India, the West Indies and Pakistan.

So the game has all the ingredients of any major sports title, but most importantly does it play like one? Well for the most part yes, Ashes Cricket 2009 gives a good account of the sport and on the whole I found the game very enjoyable to play. This surprised me as I can barely stand to watch the sport when it’s on TV, so cricket fans should get a lot more from the title. The game offers a variety of options for both bowling and batting. The bowling aspect can be slightly frustrating especially when you come face to face with a stubborn batsman. The games batting aspect however, is far more satisfying allowing you to play a range of shots to overcome you oppositions bowling and fielding tactics. Also it’s extremely satisfying when such shots head for the boundary.

Despite the game being solid overall there are however some problems that stop it being a perfect sports game. The main bug point for me is the difference between the normal difficulty setting and the easy setting. The gap between the two is simply too steep. The games normal setting provides pretty tough AI to play against offering very little opportunity to score runs whilst the bowlers dismiss you with very little fuss. The easy setting on the other hand is just that too easy, with very little effort I found myself hitting boundary after boundary racking up huge scores in the process whilst also finding it very easy to dismiss my opposition. This of course makes the game some what unchallenging on easy and some what inaccessible for new comers when playing on normal.

Other bugs in the game tend to pop–up from time to time too, whilst batting only one batsman will run when instructed to resulting in one being run out. This of course is extremely annoying, especially the way the offending batsman stands there in a relaxed state without a care in the world. Bowling also isn’t bug free, as sometimes a bowler can bowl the ball only for the game to pause for a while then reset to before the ball was bowled. This seems to be less common then the batsman issue but is just as annoying when it occurs, especially if the preceding ball is knocked for six.

The graphics in Ashes Cricket 2009 are of a very high standard! Pitches feature an excellent level of detail that portray realism. Such as worn grass, cracked pitches and so on. The cricket grounds also feature a nice level of detail although the sprites used for the crowd look seriously out of date and would have looked poor on the last generation of consoles. Animation for the most part is top notch as are player models. Likeness wise, most players look like their real world counterparts, however some really standout as being spitting images such as Ricky Ponting.

The games audio is in keeping with the graphics having being done to a very high standard. Commentary is spot on, providing informative insight into the game. Sounds from the crowd are thankfully better then the visuals used whilst general sounds have all been done well, most notably the striking of the ball which gives a very satisfying clonk!

Ashes Cricket 2009 overall provides an excellent rendition of the much love game, and despite its flaws, offers a very good playing experience for both cricket fans and newcomers to the sport.