Despite several attempts from both Codemasters and EA over the years, Cricket games have never managed to find significant success, either in mechanics that replicate the sport to a satisfying degree, nor from a commercial perspective; overshadowed by the FIFAs or PGAs of the world. Now boasting the licence for Anglo-Australian grudge match The Ashes, Codemasters are back with their latest effort, but is it roaring success or bowled out for a duck?

Ashes Cricket 2009 has a sedate beginning. Unless you’re a dab-hand at previous Codemasters cricket games it’ll be in to the extensive training you go, which can take a good 90 minutes or more to get through all the lessons and become accustomed to the gameplay’s idiosyncracies. It quickly becomes clear that the game is built around accurate timing and while it’s not particularly realistic, it is fun to demoralise a bowler by repeatedly hitting fours with minimal effort.

However, an immediate and significant problem with the basic gameplay is that - despite all the training - it still fails to give a good feedback of when the optimum time to hit the ball is. Constantly getting bowled out or told by advisor Shane Warne you’ve not struck the ball hard enough isn’t much help when there’s little actual assistance in perfecting the timing. Watching the ball is all well and good, but it feels like there should be more definitive feedback in the shape of a meter, or suchlike - at least in the training mode.

Gameplay is extremely fast-paced, making it feel like Twenty20 rather than Test Matches. Although, to be fair to Codemasters and developers Transmission, you can understand why they would want to keep a game such as this faster than Test Matches which last for five days - having long bouts of zero- or no-scoring and legions of gamers will be instantly switched off. It tends to be difficult to bowl out the opposition, instead relying on your fielders to catch them out (which is harder than you’d think since they seemingly wash their hands in Vaseline) or run themselves out, which happens a lot thanks to some dumb AI. Alternatively, if you wish to exploit a flaw then spinning behind their legs works all too often. It’s odd to talk about a principal aspect of the game in this way, but when the batters are so agressive and so consistent, frustration ensues.

It’s not really a game built for those with a passing interest in the sport, either. Frequently terms are used that won’t mean much to anyone but serious fans, and the level of detail available might be an admirable attempt at deepening the game experience, but turns out to be all but fruitless anyway since progress can be made at an impressive pace without much reliance on tactics and merely focusing on lobbing the ball toward the base line. Reigning back the wealth of batting and bowling options might make for a more enjoyable experience, if it was paired with clearer on-screen feedback, better AI and increased realism where you can’t hit sixes all the time and catch everyone out in twenty minutes. Furthermore, designing the game to be more accessible for those with a lesser knowledge of the sport would be no bad thing.

Visually, Ashes Cricket 2009 is not particularly impressive, especially next to its sporting peers. The bat and ball physics are all adequate, but character models lack distinct details and animations feel slightly robotic and unfinished. There are also far too many instances of characters ghosting across the screen at impossible speeds - particularly where catching a ball is concerned, where it seems part of the animation cycle was missed out. It feels a little unfinished in this regard, and you would have to question whether the visuals were designed for the Wii then ported to other consoles afterward. It seems odd that Codemasters’ own Ego engine wasn’t used, since it’s been put to such impressive use in the likes of DiRT or Operation Flashpoint 2.

However, the presentation is well-done. Menus are clear to navigate and the music is adequate, if unmemorable. The voiceovers and commentary are fairly decent, sounding more natural than some other sports titles, but are subject to repetition fairly quickly and many phrases appear to have been taken from the last-gen Brian Lara games. Sound effects are sufficient on the whole, although it does get a bit tiresome hearing “Howzaaaat!” pretty much every time you don’t hit the ball or a fielder retrieves it. Realistic, maybe, but also annoying and repetitive. There are also a slew of statistical and analytical screens which review every aspect of both batting and bowling - likely enough to keep any stat-hungry cricket fan happy.

Playing online is easy to set up and at the time of writing there’s generally enough people to get a game going without issue. This is arguably more enjoyable and more skill-reliant than the main game itself, as you won’t be subject to the dodgy AI or curious animations, although it’s a shame there’s no way to communicate with the opponent as a bit of banter would add to the competition and enjoyment. Online is unquestionably the best way to enjoy this title as most of the gripes disappear, but it remains to be seen if the online component will endure.

Ashes Cricket 2009 is a decent effort, but one that falls short both by being too complex in its mechanics and too simplistic in its gameplay. The foundations have been laid for solid subsequent entries provided a number of bugs and issues are addressed; namely questionable AI, disappointing visuals and the ability to continually succeed by using the same tactic. Hopefully Transmission and Codemasters will listen to the feedback and we could have a solid and very accessible sporting series able to compete alongside the Top Spins of the world.