Cricket has had a turbid history in the field of gaming with the developers endeavouring for ages to perfect the art of getting cricket games right. That has always seemed to be a rather elusive task if history is anything to stand for. It is in light of these facts that we get our hands on yet another cricketing title namely, Don Bradman Cricket 2014.
Considering the present day IPs, Don Bradman doesn’t stand anywhere near in competition to any other game title of the day. But that is not what we are concerned with. The thing worthy of notice is that we finally got our hands on one decent cricket game for once. After a plethora of fiasco’s that were laid at our feet over the past years in heaps of rubbish and utter tripe, Don Bradman Cricket 2014 seems like looking at the sun from the hatchet of an oubliette. It’s a hopeful light, but still far away.
" But we can cut Big Ant Studios some slack as they have come up with something truly appreciable in a genre that has largely been abandoned, so to say. After the 2013 blunder of Ashes, DBC 2014 holds more than just a smidgen of promise to help cricket games 'revive' in the gaming industry. "
Don Bradman Cricket was released on the PS3, Xbox 360 and the PC and has received a rather variegated motley of reaction from cricket but fans of cricket have hailed it as one of the best cricket games of all times. Although the game has been assailed with an almost egregiously amount of resentment from critics, the game has managed to have a solid standing in the market as of yet. Of course, there’s a multitude of flaws plaguing the game but that’s also because the game is in a nascent state of release.
But we can cut Big Ant Studios some slack as they have come up with something truly appreciable in a genre that has largely been abandoned, so to say. After the 2013 blunder of Ashes, DBC 2014 holds more than just a smidgen of promise to help cricket games ‘revive’ in the gaming industry. Even though you can make an inventory of all the flaws and glitches that the game is blighted with, and categorise them under various heads besides, the game still manages to deliver on the cricketing experience that enthusiasts have been looking for for more than a little while.
Notwithstanding any of that, the game manages to fair well on the consoles. But we are more concerned with the graphical aspect of the game which is not much to talk about. The game looks like a PS2 title on the PS3. The graphics of the games on the consoles are merely functional. There isn’t any high end anti-aliasing in place which results in a lot of jaggies and the shadows just present a worse off facet of the game. The animations and physics of the game are quite stuttery and bungled. texture mapping of the field and the stadium itself is ridiculous but thankfully it is much better on the players themselves.
" The stadiums look decent - so to say in light of other effective builds of constructs - but the stoically made featureless crowd mars the little appreciation that the former offers. The pitches in the game often show glaring crevices as if a part of the pitch has been subjected to an earthquake of almost apocalyptic proportions. "
The PS3 and the Xbox 360 run the game nigh on identically. Anisotropic filtering is best left alone as there seems to be no sign of it whatsoever while ambient occlusion is emulated by employing soft shadows which are far from dynamic and hardly act to the changes in the environment. Shadow mapping hasn’t been ignored but isn’t what you’d expect from a game being published in the second decade of the 21st century.
The animations, as mentioned before, are all bungled but at least they don’t make the game unplayable. The skybox – thankfully – isn’t something you can really complain about. Even so, both the consoles experience a considerable amount of screen tearing and that coupled with the anti-aliasing make for a really bad combination.
The stadiums look decent – so to say in light of other effective builds of constructs – but the stoically made featureless crowd mars the little appreciation that the former offers. The pitches in the game often show glaring crevices as if a part of the pitch has been subjected to an earthquake of almost apocalyptic proportions. The physics of the game isn’t up to the mark either and neither is the fluidity of motion of objects. Even with all these apparent flaws, you may find the player builds to be satisfactory.
" Most simply put, the immediate difference in the PC version of the game vis-a-vis the console version that you will notice is that the game looks more sturdy. The graphics are right, the textures better, the polygons more defined with a definite improvement seen in the implementation of better anti-aliasing technique."
If you really wish to witness the game in all its ‘glory’, then PC is the way to go. The PC version of DBC 2014 is a port and the fact that the game is unplayable without a controller says it all as to how good a port it is. There are multiple bugs that render the game’s experience irritating but most have been fixed and further patches should be on their way to fix it properly.
Most simply put, the immediate difference in the PC version of the game vis-a-vis the console version that you will notice is that the game looks more sturdy. The graphics are right, the textures better, the polygons more defined with a definite improvement seen in the implementation of better anti-aliasing technique. Anisotropic is still missing and so is any sort of a mediocre lighting system, but it is enough to give better shadows.
The crowd and the stadium are lent a cleaner look as is the case with the field and the pitch. All in all, the PC version of Don Bradman Cricket is a polished version of the consoles that is bolstered by a better implementation of graphical techniques.
" Cricket fans who have had a hankering for laying their hands on a cricket game have something solid to look forward to in this title; if you're willing to spare more than just the occasional cash lying around for it. Those looking for eye candy best steer WAY clear of this game."
Don Bradman Cricket 2014 may still be miles away from being a serious contender in the sports genre of games of the day, but in hindsight of the cricketing games that have been offered to us, this game is as good a title as you’re like to get for some time. The game, with all its flaws and blunders, manages to remain playable and even fun.
The changes in gameplay have tried to associate the player more with the game of cricket and even though the batting and bowling may seem like a challenge to overcome, the efforts put in yield satisfactory results. While I acquiesce to the fact that it is hard to put this game in the category of graphically brilliant games, this game is still fun on the whole; although at the current price, this may not be the best deal.
Cricket fans who have had a hankering for laying their hands on a cricket game have something solid to look forward to in this title; if you’re willing to spare more than just the occasional cash lying around for it. Those looking for eye candy best steer WAY clear of this game.