Brian Lara Cricket

The Good
Shane Warne/Brian Lara cricket had great graphics and good gameplay. It also ventured where other cricket games had not been. This was characterised by the inclusion of classic matches, actual days and sessions, keeping averages of how well you had been going. It did everything well except for a few minor things below.

The Bad
Firstly, many of the shots looked unrealistic. Ie the off drive, hook, 'square' drive, and all the defensive strokes. Not to mension the bowling....

You could not charge the bowling, and all the pace bowlers look like pea shooters, and the spinners all had quirky actions like Murali or Harbajhan Singh.

But then again, most of the batting strokes were pretty good.

However, it was far too easy to score runs, and hit sixes. It was not out of the question to score at a strike rate of two to three hundred consistantly. Otherwise..,.. it was great.

The Bottom Line
A cricket game that plays well but a little unrealistically.

The Good
Here are some features for this game.............

FULL 3D ENVIRONMENT The action takes place in a full 3D environment enabling a true tv-style presentation. Using up to 16 fixed camera angles and many more 'director' selected ones you can tailor the view to find the ideal personal angle to play from or to watch the action replays. Includes the dynamic 'Helmet Cam' for first person play.

MOTION CAPTURED PLAYERS Motion capture technology is used to recreate the perfect movement of the human body and particularly the unique techniques found in cricket. Flowing cover drives, flashing square cuts and deft late cuts are just a few of the batting strokes superbly recreated using this technology. All shots seen in a cricket match have been included. The distinctive differences between the various bowlers also become glaringly apparent when motion capture is used

CONTROL SYSTEM Batting enables you to select from a variety of shots in an aggressive or standard manner. Your shot selection and timing are important and become crucial on the hardest level. There are defensive shot shortcuts and a 'leave ball', pad up and duck option if you are on the defensive.

A VARIETY OF TOURNAMENTS World cup - using the 1996 tournament format Test series - play a 1,2,3,4,5 or 6 match series Test season - steer your team through between 1 and 7 seasons of test cricket. Play test series all around the world in a schedule closely mapped to the real thing. Knockout tournament - a straight one day knockout tournament involving 8 teams World series - play in a tournament of day / night matches Friendlies - customise your match type. Change the format (1 day or unlimited overs), number of days, number of overs, number of innings, pitch type, weather, location and white or colour kits.

CLASSIC MATCHES 10 matches from cricket history - take control at a crucial point of the game and see if you can recreate or change history. Matches include - · Leeds 1981 - Botham's match - take control as Dilley joins Botham in England's 2nd innings at 135 for 7 after following on. · World cup final 1996 - Sri Lanka are 23 for 2 · England v Australia - the Oval 1997 - bowl the Australians out for less than 126 to win the match · Pakistan v Sri Lanka - record 1 day score, 1996 - chase a mammoth 371

COMMENTARY FROM GEOFF BOYCOTT AND JONATHAN AGNEW A vast database of comments provides excellent supporting commentary to the game. All players names, team scores, player scores etc.. are included plus pitch reports, team assessments, comments on the shots, wickets, bowling, fielding, umpiring and so on. It's probably the most innovative commentary system yet seen in a sports game

IN GAME SOUNDS A huge store of sounds recorded from matches all around the world provide a superb atmosphere for each game. The crowd's excitement level changes according to the match status. Again, this area of the game is a massive feature.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTER OPPONENT The computer's batting and bowling AI are highly detailed. In a one day match the batsmen will respond to the current situation realistically, attacking when they should and defending when they should. The computer bowlers will attempt to bowl a good line and length to you and their ability to do so will vary according to the ability of the bowler. They will also slip in the odd bit of variety with bouncers, slower balls, googlies, flippers and arm balls amongst the various bowlers weapons. The computer captains will respond to the match situation with their field and bowling changes. In test matches the captains will apply the pressure when they deem it necessary and defend when the need arises.

VARYING PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS As you tour around the world of cricket you will come across a variety of conditions under which matches will be played. Try to master the techniques needed to successfully compete on the parched pitches of the sub-continent or the green wickets of England. Face the swinging ball when there is cloud cover or revel in the perfect batting conditions of a fine sunny day and a flat wicket. The weather could change as the day progresses and effect the display, gameplay and tactics accordingly. Also, the pitch will wear as the days pass in a Test Match as will the ball condition during an innings.

DAY / NIGHT MATCHES Play under the floodlights in a limited overs match in those stadiums that actually have the lights in real life.

REAL PLAYER STATISTICS Squads of 20 players from the 9 test playing nations and teams from 6 minnow nations - Scotland, Ireland, Bangladesh, UAE, Kenya and Holland. All stats provided by the internet based cricinfo - the home of cricket on the internet.

PLAYER PERFORMANCE TRACKING PlayStation - track up to 20 players throughout the game in 1 day and test matches. Keeps a record of each players performance (matches played, not outs, top score, total runs / wickets etc..) PC - likewise but for every player in the game (over 240 of them)

FULL PRACTICE FACILITY Fine tune your skills in the relaxed setting of the practice nets.

ACTION REPLAYS Full action replay from 16 different camera angles, some dynamic and some static. The third umpire is called on for those really close run-out decisions.

RESULT GENERATION An immensely detailed system simulates the real cricket environment and tactics to generate match scores in all forms of cricket.

STATS DISPLAYS a variety of graphs and displays showing the progress of a team or player innings.

The Bad
I didnt some of the stadiums in this game , they were a bit badly designed

The Bottom Line
Cool game!.........Love cricket.....Love Brian lara