Brian Lara International Cricket 2005

"Not a sticky wicket"

The Brian Lara cricket franchise has been dormant for the last few years but recently Codemasters decided to resurrect it. The Brian Lara cricket games were always about hitting boundaries without having to worrying about the more anal aspects of the sport and in that it succeeded. So what does this new version have to offer us?

GAMEPLAY
Brian Lara has retained its gung ho approach to batting allowing you to whack boundaries to your heart's content. Don't be fooled into thinking that this makes for a lightweight game, far from it. On the higher difficulty settings the timing and placement of shots becomes hard without becoming too demanding. Shots consist of three types – defensive, normal or lofted. Unlike Cricket 2005 from EA Sports there is no double step button. The amount of shots available is impressive in comparison to Cricket 2005. Depending on your timing, batsman confidence and skill you can pull off a wide variety of shots.

On the bowling side you get four normal deliveries and once your bowler's confidence meter has been filled you get an additional two special deliveries. It does take a bit of time and practice to get batsmen out but once you have the knack you should find it easy enough.

A good addition to Brian Lara's gameplay is that whenever a ball gets hit to one of your fielders their throws' accuracy and catches gets determined by you stopping a meter at the correct point. This does a good job of involving you in all aspects of the game while at the same time adding a bit of tension to catches which seem a bit too random in Cricket 2005.

The selection of matches and modes on offer is quite good. In addition to the normal test and ODI games you can also play the officially licensed ICC world cup and trophy tournaments as well as double wicket matches and classic games. Only in the ICC tournaments are players and teams accurately licensed with the correct names and uniforms, in all other modes its Smythe instead of Smith etc.

SOUND
On the sound front Codemasters have done a good job with good crowd effects and some decent commentary. Codemasters have managed to snap up a team of 5 commentators from around the world. The commentary has some good colour comments in addition to the usual array of stock cricket comments. There is no music as such to speak of, only some menu tunes that are instantly forgettable.

GRAPHICS
Brian Lara's graphics are cartoonier than those of Cricket 2005 but don't look too jarring. Stadiums are adequate although as in the case of Newlands cricket ground can look a bit sparse. The menus look average and have had no work done on them during conversion from console.

REPLAYABILITY
Classic matches unlock photos and classic players while trophies can be unlocked when using created players in the games other modes. With test matches taking upwards of an hour and the ability to play full series and tournaments this game should last a couple of months at the least.

RECOMMENDATION
Not a game that will capture a whole new audience but one that will make the casual cricket lover all the more pleased. If you're looking for a cricket game get this instead of the boring cricket 2005.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/20/05