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Cricket Revolution: The Review
Every year or so as a cricket fan you get the buzz surrounding a new release be it EA's latest rehash or Codemaster's frustratingly close release and with each game comes more dissapointment, until now. Cricket Revolution is very likely to go under the radar of your average gamer who would purchase the aforementioned games, however this is not to say its a bad game at all. Cricket Revolution has the making of a cult classic.
Batting
The batting system isn't as tarted up as EA and Codemaster's efforts. It doesn't offer gamepad settings nor does it claim to make it possible for the ball to touch every blade of grass on the pitch, instead it offers a solid fun batting experience. There's 32 preset shots and they pretty much cover everything you'd need. The game lacks a timing bar that is featured in Cricket 07 and Ashes 2009 and despite my initial concerns this is the game's strong point. The lack of any timing bar makes you think and you have to play each shot carefully, there are however guides to how quick the ball will be in the colour of the bowling cursor. The batting placement system confused me greatly to begin with by now i've realised how it works it greatly enhances the game. The controls are hard to get used to at first and take alot of memorising to get right but once you've got a hold of them they are very rewarding.
Bowling
The game follows a very similar bowling format to EA's efforts in that there is a cursor which moves around the screen you have to stop on your target destination. However instead of using different button to swing the ball there is a swing dial you select the amount of swing on and once this is done you select the speed of the delivery, too much though and you'll bowl a no ball. The bowling animations are by no means brilliant and feel a bit sluggish but i've found this easy to ignore when you take into account the quality of the game itself. Special deliveries are possible when you have full bowling confidence these are chosen by selecting 1 or 2 on the keyboard and each special delivery and its corresponding number can be seen by pressing tab before the bowlers run up. Bowling is both fun and rewarding.
Gameplay
This is where the game easily beats its rivals. I have spent almost all my time on the game playing offline mode and in the 3 or so weeks ive played the game only now am I starting to master Easy mode. Now this speaks great volumes for the game ive found on other cricket games i can score at 20 an over on the hardest level from the off. The confidence system feels great and once a batsman is batted in its going to be hard to get them out. The game is simply a joy to play and the lack of an autoplay feature makes the game feel so much more rewarding. Another point to note is that prior to getting my hands on the game i feared it would be a slogfest, it really isnt and you'll struggle to put the AI away.
Online
The game's main selling point is the online mode and it feels pretty good. There's a nice little online chat feature and games are easy to set up once you've sorted out your Firewall settings, but for me this proved to be a massive hurdle! Online it feels good and if you're the host it will feel just like playing offline, however if you are the other player it can feel laggy and you have to adjust your shot timing to the ever changing lag which can be both confusing and difficult. But again online it isnt a slog fest and really feels like cricket!
Graphics
I wont lie to you all the graphics arent brilliant, but then again this is why i think it will prove to be a cult classic. Everyone seems to say they take gameplay over graphics and for me this is the ultimate test for those people. The game feels great and the graphics are ok, probably around the level of the PS2 so not too outdated. They may put off the casual gamer but again there is so much more to the game that the graphics.
Summary
For me its the best cricket game I have played. It feels good and you can get quite carried away playing it. It sounds beautiful and the lack of commentary is somewhat enjoyable as you dont have to hear the same lines over and over. For me this is the game the PC community has been crying out for. This really feels like BLC99 enhanced which is what everyone has been asking for.
Batting 8/10
Bowling 8/10
Gameplay 9/10
Online 7/10
Graphics 5/10
Replayability 9/10
Enjoy, ill see you all online!
Every year or so as a cricket fan you get the buzz surrounding a new release be it EA's latest rehash or Codemaster's frustratingly close release and with each game comes more dissapointment, until now. Cricket Revolution is very likely to go under the radar of your average gamer who would purchase the aforementioned games, however this is not to say its a bad game at all. Cricket Revolution has the making of a cult classic.
Batting
The batting system isn't as tarted up as EA and Codemaster's efforts. It doesn't offer gamepad settings nor does it claim to make it possible for the ball to touch every blade of grass on the pitch, instead it offers a solid fun batting experience. There's 32 preset shots and they pretty much cover everything you'd need. The game lacks a timing bar that is featured in Cricket 07 and Ashes 2009 and despite my initial concerns this is the game's strong point. The lack of any timing bar makes you think and you have to play each shot carefully, there are however guides to how quick the ball will be in the colour of the bowling cursor. The batting placement system confused me greatly to begin with by now i've realised how it works it greatly enhances the game. The controls are hard to get used to at first and take alot of memorising to get right but once you've got a hold of them they are very rewarding.
Bowling
The game follows a very similar bowling format to EA's efforts in that there is a cursor which moves around the screen you have to stop on your target destination. However instead of using different button to swing the ball there is a swing dial you select the amount of swing on and once this is done you select the speed of the delivery, too much though and you'll bowl a no ball. The bowling animations are by no means brilliant and feel a bit sluggish but i've found this easy to ignore when you take into account the quality of the game itself. Special deliveries are possible when you have full bowling confidence these are chosen by selecting 1 or 2 on the keyboard and each special delivery and its corresponding number can be seen by pressing tab before the bowlers run up. Bowling is both fun and rewarding.
Gameplay
This is where the game easily beats its rivals. I have spent almost all my time on the game playing offline mode and in the 3 or so weeks ive played the game only now am I starting to master Easy mode. Now this speaks great volumes for the game ive found on other cricket games i can score at 20 an over on the hardest level from the off. The confidence system feels great and once a batsman is batted in its going to be hard to get them out. The game is simply a joy to play and the lack of an autoplay feature makes the game feel so much more rewarding. Another point to note is that prior to getting my hands on the game i feared it would be a slogfest, it really isnt and you'll struggle to put the AI away.
Online
The game's main selling point is the online mode and it feels pretty good. There's a nice little online chat feature and games are easy to set up once you've sorted out your Firewall settings, but for me this proved to be a massive hurdle! Online it feels good and if you're the host it will feel just like playing offline, however if you are the other player it can feel laggy and you have to adjust your shot timing to the ever changing lag which can be both confusing and difficult. But again online it isnt a slog fest and really feels like cricket!
Graphics
I wont lie to you all the graphics arent brilliant, but then again this is why i think it will prove to be a cult classic. Everyone seems to say they take gameplay over graphics and for me this is the ultimate test for those people. The game feels great and the graphics are ok, probably around the level of the PS2 so not too outdated. They may put off the casual gamer but again there is so much more to the game that the graphics.
Summary
For me its the best cricket game I have played. It feels good and you can get quite carried away playing it. It sounds beautiful and the lack of commentary is somewhat enjoyable as you dont have to hear the same lines over and over. For me this is the game the PC community has been crying out for. This really feels like BLC99 enhanced which is what everyone has been asking for.
Batting 8/10
Bowling 8/10
Gameplay 9/10
Online 7/10
Graphics 5/10
Replayability 9/10
Enjoy, ill see you all online!
