Xbox 360
Codemasters have known for a long time that the Ashes started 8th July, so the first disappointment is that they failed to release Ashes Cricket 2009 until 7th August. This would be by the by if they had used that time to hone the graphics and skills of the game in order to realistically simulate cricket. Yet it feels as if they spent the time actually watching the Ashes, or getting drunk with Freddie Flintoff, or generally doing anything other than work on this poor attempt at a cricket game.
Where to begin? The Ashes, if you care, is a series of five test matches, each of which last five days. In the game, the play becomes monotonous after around five minutes.
The batting is far too simplistic, even in advanced mode. There is the ability to play the various shots available to a cricketer. Back foot, front foot, even charging down the wicket playing spin. Yet it feels as if all the options present the exact same outcome. Playing the game on the Wii adds the spice of being able to swing the remote in some vague fashion, yet ultimately that’s all it is, it doesn’t appear to have any affect on the outcome of the shot.
The bowling is slightly trickier, which adds at least one dimension to the game, yet also a degree of unpredictability. You could spend a large chunk of time being smacked around the ground for fours and sixes, then in no time at all, you’ve taken eight wickets without them adding more than ten runs. A swing like this is too big to be realistic, unless it’s the English cricket team collapsing (snigger), and the three difficulties settings appear slightly arbitrary with regards to affecting this in any way.
What infuriates most in Ashes Cricket 2009 is the inane movement of the fielders. To give complete control would cause a variety of handling and controller issues, but to limit choice to which end to throw the ball while they stumble around makes you want to take the Wii remote strap off your wrist and use it to strangle the cricketers that barely looks human. Even when batting, it is stupidly annoying to think that if the ball isn’t directly aimed at a player, then the shot will probably go past the fielder for a boundary. This woodenness (it’s a word) only makes you want to play silly shots to see if they would catch it, which we’re fairly certain isn’t the point of cricket.
In terms of various modes, they have the aforementioned Ashes, which Codemasters tells us that they apparently got the “official license” for. They may have the proper player names, but they haven’t bothered to make the players look particularly like their human counterparts. The other modes are painfully lacking, both of licenses and point. The commentary from Beefy and Shane Warne is probably the only redeeming feature of this game, although you can imagine that after 5 tests of Cricket, they’ve pretty much run out of things to say, and just decide to start all over again.
Overall the game feels clunky and rushed, with very few features that would entice anyone other than diehard cricket fans to purchase the game. Although thankfully for Codemasters there are plenty of the ‘Barmy Army’ that will.