(rock music)
- [Commentator] He's on fire!
This is superb stuff!
- [Tristan] After a well intentioned,
yet ultimately disappointing detour into the
super-powered, swashbuckling of 2018's Big Bash Boom,
Big Ant Studios has made a confident return
to the more traditional cricket-game crease with Cricket 19.
- [Commentator] Oh, what a good shot!
- [Tristan] Using the core engine and feature set
of 2017's Ashes Cricket as a base,
Cricket 19 breathes life into its presentation,
smartens up its AI...
- [Commentator] Perfect technique.
- [Tristan] And bolts on a compelling new scenario mode,
helping it to look and feel more authentic
than a broken-in baggy green,
complete with a few frayed edges.
(rock music)
Although it's dropped the Ashes brand from its moniker,
Cricket 19 is still the officially-licensed game
of this year's contest between Australia and England
and thus all of the real men's and women's squads
from the two countries remain.
Joining the existing Australian grounds from Ashes Cricket
are the five English grounds to be featured
in the 2019 series,
each of them realized with convincing detail
from the vibrant red slab that is the point at Old Trafford,
right down to the Father Time wind vane
that's perched high above Lords.
There's been a clear effort to give matches played
in Cricket 19 a better sense of occasion,
elevating them above the slightly sterile affairs
found in Ashes Cricket.
International contests open with National Anthems...
(National Anthem of India - Jana Gana Mana)
Covers are wheeled off the pitch before play,
centuries are celebrated with more verve...
- [Commentator] This has been quite a good innings to watch.
- [Tristan] And captains console their bowlers
after they've been dispatched to the boundary.
Additionally the highlight reels that screen at the end
of the innings bring a new level of authenticity
to the broadcast presentation,
admittedly with a frame rate that often runs slower
than a Chris Gayle single.
(funky music)
The AI seems to have greatly improved match-awareness
in Cricket 19, although admittedly its most tangible
on the batting side of the equation.
Computer-controlled batsmen will take singles
off the last ball of an over to keep the strike
when they're out in the middle with a tail-ender,
and if the run-rate required during a chase
gets up over double figures, they're very much inclined
to hit the gas and swing for the fences.
- [Batsman] Yep. - [Bowler] Catch it!
- [Commentator] Shot!
- [Tristan] As a result it feels eminently more
gratifying to build up an over of dot balls against the AI
and then knock them over when they try an outlandish
shot in an attempt to manufacture a boundary.
- [Bowling Team] Yeah!
- [Commentator] She was playing all around that.
What a delivery!
- [Tristan] Improvements to the AI bowling however,
are more of a mixed bag.
- [Batsman] Yep, yep.
- [Commentator] Four, great shot!
- [Tristan] While the computer does seem to bowl
to a plan at times, sending down a series of out-swingers
before bowling a full one on your pads for example,
it can still get caught in a rut such as consistently
bowling short stuff despite being whacked repeatedly
to the boundary.
- [Commentator] Oh, nice shot!
- [Tristan] Still, on balance, Cricket 19's AI behavior
is certainly far more dynamic than the one-dimensional
computer-controlled opponents of previous games.
- [Commentator] And that's four!
(crowd cheering)
- [Tristan] A new perk system adds a deeper layer
to player customization in the career mode,
yet while the career mode itself lasts for
up to 20 in-game years,
the new scenario mode could potentially
last your actual lifetime.
Like everything else in the game,
scenarios can be created, tweaked,
and shared among the community,
and the possibilities are near endless,
whether you want to recreate a classic match from history
or come up with an entirely new challenge of your own.
The catch is that setting up these scenarios
is quite fiddly and time-consuming,
but like with any of the custom content in the game,
you can take advantage of the hard work of others...
- [Bowler] Catch it! (crowd roars)
- [Tristan] And pull in scenarios from the community
if you're feeling lazy.
I just wish it was a little easier to work out what
each community-created scenario was at a glance.
In the history of Big Ant's cricket game output,
Cricket 19 arrives as the most fully-formed
of the lot at launch, but that's not to say
it isn't entirely without its issues.
Player uniforms glitch,
Hot-Spot replays can be over-exposed,
out-swinging deliveries have the odd habit
of coming off inside edges,
and Michael Slater's commentary can be inaccurate at times.
- [Michael] That's a huge wicket!
Anderson.
Is a big scalp.
- [Tristan] Number 11, Jimmy Anderson, is a big scalp?
Really Slats?
(crowd roars)
But despite the fact Cricket 19's presentation
and gameplay may feature more distracting niggles
than an Australian slip cordon...
- [Commentator] Everyone getting behind that appeal!
- [Tristan] It's still the closest to the real thing
that a cricket game has ever been.
Scenario mode is a welcome inclusion in terms of the
almost limitless replayability it provides...
- [Commentator] Ooh!
- [Tristan] And substantial improvements to the AI
make games against the computer feel palpably exciting.
- [Commentator] What a delivery!
- [Tristan] With a bit more post-release polish,
Cricket 19 could really shine.
Here's hoping the developers use spit and not sandpaper.
For more Cricket 19 watch "40 Minutes of Gameplay"
and the trailer.
(stumps break) - [Bowling Team] Yeah!
- [Commentator] He's beaten all ends up by that.
(rock music)