Game arrived today - My review

[cricketfan1]

To start i would like to say that whoever said this game was Easy, needs to have theier head read! On hard this game is absoloutley rock hard!!! To score runs is just so demanding - you need pure concentration on every ball - one lapse and your off stump is wheeling back towards the keeper.!!

Also i would like to console a few people who may be slightly worried about the game if its in the middle of shipping from Aus etc..... The game is actually very good with the best gameplay in a cricket game by 200%! the edges to the keeper - i mean EDGES TO THE KEEPER!!! this was not a factor of previous games. But do you want to know what really made me love this game?? - It was the first match of the championship season - and i was playing Derbyshire, conditions were oversact - it was the greenest wicket you could get and i won the toss and bowled first, Then Just watching the true effect of real time conditions kick in was fascinating. The ball was zipping all over the place and i had two snicks to the keeper in the opening half hour!!! the way the ball flies past the slips or in between and for four is brilliant also. Then i bowl a pretty full ball that hits the seam and jags from middle and hits the top of off stick the timbers fly - thats the most satisfying thing ever in playing any cricket game in my life - the realism is just awsome.

GRAPHICS

The graphics arent great, mainly on replays and shots of crowds etc..... but with the actual bowling and batting animations its very fluent and The batsmans shots are extremely true to life. the leg glance is superbly captured, also the back foot straight drive is very realistic and free flowing with a number of other shots - maybe im going into animations and motion capture a little here but - what the happy thoughts!!! Back to graphics - they are better than 2002 slightly - but roughly the same id say with better faces and different bodies.

GAMEPLAY

Hats off to EA and HB for this aspect i think, this game has the most wonderfull gameplay any sports game has had in my opinion - it even blows away FIFA 2004 which i have been avidly playing for the last month..... before this game came this morning that was - i now hooked on it - i try to have a break and do some paper work or just simply have a chill - but i need more of the game!! - playing a county season at the moment and it is awesome if your a county cricket fan - to see your team walking out to a overcast opening day of the season in a cold Derbyshire or Worcester - - great. The gameplays highest points are the fantastic capture of shot playing or stroke making by the batsman, all shots are very realistic and batting is a much more timing and patience orientated game - not the usual 10 an over slogathon!! - You play and miss a lot in overcast conditions - you get snicks to the keeper and past the keeper for a streaky four etc....... Also the overthrows are good as is the miss-fields on boundary (unless it happens to you - and you see one run turn into four before your own eyes after a sloppy piece of handling on the fence) Bowling is much more fun, i was playing earlier and i thought to my self - 'ill play the first 5 overs or so and then Autoplay' - but i just got engrossed on the bowling after beating the bat and even getting hit away for four by the new AI which seems to have finally grown a brain and learnt to play cricket!!! - GREAT STUFF!!

OPTIONS

Stacks of options to choose from - im currently in a County season. Loads of teams and players and a brilliant editor, especially the sound device which means you can have Richie Benuad saying your name!! if your you have the same surname as one of the thousands of players which i do but theres a huge chance as theres stacks of player names.

AI

Ai is far more intelligent this time around - i tihnk thats all that needs to be said

BAD THINGS

If there is one thing that i really dislike about the game it would have to be the running in between wickets - this is frustrating after doing some really hard grinding work with the bat looking to get your eye in and then you have a needles run out thats not entirely your own fault. There are a few minor bugs aswell e.g. missing frames in replays etc..... but nothing to bad and not nearly as much as 2002.

RATING

7.5/10 - gameplay gives it a 10 but the minor bugs and some sticky animations give it 7.5 overall - still an extremely good game with LONGEVITY and im sure it'll keep me playing for a long time.
If you feel some reveiws have been too harsh just coming straight out and calling it crap etc.... this is a review off an avid cricket fan whos played every cricket game on the market excluding MV championship manager, so id like to think i know what im talking about when it comes to cricket games and cricket in general.

if you have any queries dont hesitate to ask

 

[steven2106]

I really dont understand how anyone can say it is worse than Cricket 2002. I have only played briefly, as i didnt intend to play the game until next week when ive finished all my work for uni, but this is a huge improvement. I actually like the graphics and the batsman animations are very smooth. I love the way they defend the ball, it looks much more realistic, when you bowler a yorker they dig it out from under their feet rather than just playing a forward defensive as in Cricket2002.

The gamplay seems much better, the computer is much harder to bowl to and the game feels very real. I started a 4-day match with Western Australia against Victoria and brought Beau Casson on early. I got a bat-pad catch in his second over with a chinaman delivery to a right hander, he got a thin edge onto his pad and the ball balooned into the short-legs hands. They blocked his good length balls or turned them of their legs for a single, played and missed at a couple of googlies but smashed the short balls for 4.

Batting seems much better as well, its difficult to time the ball and you have to play the right shot to each ball or you get nowhere near hitting it.

My first impressions are very positive, there are some silly bugs but i still think it is a big step forward from 2002 especially as the computer plays more intelligently. Having looked at both games i think i'll keep the PC version, the graphics look smoother and i'll be able to download much needed patches.

 

[zimrahil]

Have neither of you guys come across the bug where the cpu hits the ball to a fielder then runs just as the fielder picks up the ball, hence a run out. I played a 50 over match, on HARD mode, and got the cpu out for 65 in 17 overs. 8 of those wickets were run outs to the afore-mentioned bug :blink: . Unbelievable.

 

[steven2106]

No i havnt had that happen yet. So far the CPU runs pretty well, i like the way they nudge the spinners into the gaps on the leg side and take singles.

I seem to have a bug where every time i autoplay it crashes to the desktop, but that is probably something to do with my computer. Any ideas?

 

[ejaz]

Steven,

I am having the same problem with autoplay .... as soon as i autoplay for 10 overs or so, the game crashes to the desktop.

And I am not having any trouble with CPU runouts as well. Anybody has any ideas about the game crashing thing ???

Kewldude

 

[steven2106]

I just tried autoplay again in a Pura Cup match with Victoria against Queensland and it worked fine. I autoplayed untill the 4th day with Queensland needing 214 to win. I bowled Cameron White and Brad Hodge in tandem, getting plenty of turn and quite a few bat pad chances, which is nice to see. I like the way the batsman bat in different ways. Hayden tried to take the game to me and used the slog sweep a few times to good length balls until White bowled him for 64, whereas others just tried to block it out.

I was very pleased with this but when i tried autoplay again it crashed, so sometimes it's ok and others it crashes for no reason which i dont undertand? Other than that i have been very impressed so far, i havnt seen that run out bug yet, in fact ive only had one run out in a 10 over match.

 

[zimrahil]

Do you guys set your own fields, or use the default cpu ones? I think the run out bug only occurs when you set your own fields with the field editor.

 

[steven2106]

I just pick from the default fields, ive used mostly attaking field's so far. Ive had three close run outs go the third umpire but they were in each time.

 

[wallman2565]

on medium/easy the CPU runs like crap

im gunna do manual fielding and just hold the ball up so the scorecard looks more realistic (no 6 run outs in a test)

im now playing on hard, aint done much as i get slogged but in medium it was 2 easy

WA vs NSw 4 day match (me NSW)

got em out for 250, i then got bout 250, then got em out for about 70 (3 runouts) coz macgill got 6 by bowling the axact same ball (leggy pitched on middle spinning away from right ahnder) and going to silly mid off. that guy dropped a few but i didnt realli care since there was atleat a chance for him an over

 

[aldersley03]

if u make a player eg c. aldersley (me) and i get 100 in a match does that go in my stats or does it just disapear like in cricket 2002. i reely cat wait. im gonna make my rep team and win the world cup lol.

a few questions if u dont mind.
1.do the spinners acually spin it?
2.if u do a on drive and its outside off do u slide to the ball like u did in 02 or just miss it complety?
3.is the game faster like the bowlers wen they bowl it does the ball come quicker to u than in 02?
4.can u swing or cut the ball with fast bowlers?
5.do certain players hit the ball harder like symonds hits better than gillespie?
6.is it challenging to bat, like with heeps of swing n miss and edges.
7.does it seem real and exciting in a close game?
8. and wat about that season thing that was promised in the game. a few pple hav sed it isnt in the game but u were saying something about a county season?

thanks.

 

[cricketfan1]

Originally posted by aldersley03@Dec 20 2003, 06:26 PM
if u make a player eg c. aldersley (me) and i get 100 in a match does that go in my stats or does it just disapear like in cricket 2002. i reely cat wait. im gonna make my rep team and win the world cup lol.

a few questions if u dont mind.
1.do the spinners acually spin it?
2.if u do a on drive and its outside off do u slide to the ball like u did in 02 or just miss it complety?
3.is the game faster like the bowlers wen they bowl it does the ball come quicker to u than in 02?
4.can u swing or cut the ball with fast bowlers?
5.do certain players hit the ball harder like symonds hits better than gillespie?
6.is it challenging to bat, like with heeps of swing n miss and edges.
7.does it seem real and exciting in a close game?
8. and wat about that season thing that was promised in the game. a few pple hav sed it isnt in the game but u were saying something about a county season?

thanks.

if u make a player eg c. aldersley (me) and i get 100 in a match does that go in my stats or does it just disapear like in cricket 2002. i reely cat wait. im gonna make my rep team and win the world cup lol.

Yes, this is one of the highlights of the game in my opinion, i have made the side i represent and all players that you import intothe database have a 'career' style tracking with stats for, first class, One day, Test, ODI etc.... along with some other things like highest score, 50's, 100's etc...

a few questions if u dont mind.
1.do the spinners acually spin it?
Yes, they certainly do, and what makes it more interesting is that it depends on what surface and the bowler has a spin rating ( Muralis is probably 100 ) - you also get to choose a spin rating out of 100 if you create a player (spin bowler) witht he editor.
2.if u do a on drive and its outside off do u slide to the ball like u did in 02 or just miss it complety?
thia game is very hard, and also very realistic whilst batting, on Easy you would slide to the ball, on Medium you wouldnt slide to the ball as much and you would miss it mostly, on hard its all placement and timing orientated and batting is very very difficult and also awesome because of the challenge of building an innings with the confidence etc... and just the pure realism
3.is the game faster like the bowlers wen they bowl it does the ball come quicker to u than in 02?
I would say so, yes. What i did notice is the feel of the wicket keeper is far more true to life this time, the sound of bal on gloves and the way he dives and catchesetc.. to the quick ball. Also speeds vary more on the speedometer with loads of different speed with e.g. 145.64, instead of just 145 in the last game.
4.can u swing or cut the ball with fast bowlers?
Yes you most certainly can - on a overcast day with a green wicket i got cleaned up y Jimmy Anderson in a county match yesterday - he pitched it on leg and swung a bannana that knocked middle pole out of the ground - it was a good length ball aswell which hit the top of off and not a yorker, this happens a lot if you play the wrong shot - but in my case it was the first over of the match and it was a complete jaffa.
5.do certain players hit the ball harder like symonds hits better than gillespie?
Players certainly have power ratings in the stats but imnot really sure about this, players do attack if that is the method they use e.g. if Flintoff is in he is more likely to hit boundaries
6.is it challenging to bat, like with heeps of swing n miss and edges.
es it is, im still on Medium level in my county season because hard was just too hard - i got bowled out for 51, 56, 43 on hard after going at 1.5 an over or less all the way - so i knocked it down to medium and im currently 260/4 off 58 overs at TEA in a championship 4 day game. It is much more challenging, you get snicks to the keeper in seaming conditions and you get bowled if your not in line or select the wrong shot
7.does it seem real and exciting in a close game?
havent really had a close game yet, the AI blows me away on hard and im yet to finish a game on medium - ill get back to you on this one - but it sure feels real as you grind away with the bat and also bowling is very fun
8. and wat about that season thing that was promised in the game. a few pple hav sed it isnt in the game but u were saying something about a county season?
Yep its most certainyl in the game - im in the County season playing all comps in a calendar ( CC, NCL and C&G ) also theres loads of tours all over the world and nockouts, world cup etc....

thanks.
No problem

Happy to answer more questions if any one has any queries.

 

[new]

Can you post screenshots of NET PRACTICE and TROPHY ROOM in screenshots thread.

Are there any celebrations after winning the game .(IF yes then please post screenshots).

I want to have screenshots of INDIAN FACES as well in the game(A close look)

 

[601731]

great review mate.

 

[cricketfan1]

Originally posted by jonah@Dec 20 2003, 03:46 AM
Have neither of you guys come across the bug where the cpu hits the ball to a fielder then runs just as the fielder picks up the ball, hence a run out. I played a 50 over match, on HARD mode, and got the cpu out for 65 in 17 overs. 8 of those wickets were run outs to the afore-mentioned bug :blink: . Unbelievable.

This bug only seems to occur if you place a short mid on or mid off - the best thing to do is put a nice deep mid off in place - not to deep so you give an easy single obviously but like the default fields and not a custom one with the mid off right up. After doing this ive had 1 AI run out in 3 games - i only had 3 before that any way in a handfull of games so its not really much of a problem in my opinion B)

Sorry to who ever asked for screenshots - i have the ps2 version - ive seen the Indians though and Tendulkar is very lifelike hes short and stocky.

 

[sachin]

i created a player and you get to choose faces and tendulkars was there and i used his face.pretty lifelike.