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Cricket 2004 Review
Derek dela Fuente
01/04/2004
Cricket fans have got a lot to shout about, as EA returns with a new title in the series...
Being a fanatical cricket fan, and with England playing in the West Indies, Australia taking on Sri Lanka and New Zealand playing South Africa and the biggy Pakistan currently playing India, all aficionados of this great sport could not be better served and the recent release of this cricket game is like they say, the icing on the cake.
Time does tend to fuddle the brain cells and weâre not quite sure how many previous âannualâ versions we have seen of EA bat and ball offerings but there is a few. Many will say, not another one, but hold your horses, how many Cricket games are there anyway?
The real dilemma for most is not the quality, which has always been high, saying that there isnât that much choice is a good argument, but itâs all about what new ideas and graphical tinkering has occurred since the previous release that really matters! Cricket, as they say, is pretty straightforward so it would be hard to change much in a year!
The real positive to many gamers is the simple fact that is you donât like Cricket you wonât bother to read this nor want to play the game â“ although you could be missing out! The complexities of Cricket, and it is not that straight forward, are a real plus.
There are so many subtleties to Cricket it would take a lifetime to understand them all but that is the real fascination of cricket. No two games are ever remotely the same!
If all the nuances were executed via simple and basic actions then the real essence of cricket would be lost in the game. Understanding how the ball spins, where to pitch the ball, what pitches and what kind of bowlers would be more effective, are all part of the overall strategy of being successful and implemented masterfully in Cricket 2004. There are so many âtinkeringâ factors you can undertake when playing Cricket 2004 that we are talking weeks, not days, to become the ultimate cricketer in this alternative world!
It is not often that such specialised sports games â“ possibly apart from American Football - you can sense that the people behind the game understand all the nuances of this great pastime.
All the great stadia from around the world have been accurately modelled and you can see why this current version took 18 months to develop. It will certainly take a long time to traverse the 60 finely detailed stadia on offer, which range from England (Lords), Calcutta, Melbourne, Auckland, Cape Town, Barbados, Lahore, etc. You could easily overlook the fact that superb lighting and shadows of the highest grade, coupled with real time weather, all add to the authenticity of the playing experience. The whole ambiance of the game is nigh on perfect.
With the use of motion capture, the modelling and representative look and movement of the cricketers themselves, is also another area which has been dramatically enhanced since the 2002 version and the once wooden or heavy legged feel now comes across as more agile and lithe â“ although there is still scope and latitude for more improvement!
To further expand on the mechanics of the game before we move on to the critical area of the motivation and challenge Cricket 2004, the way you bat and bowl should be explained.
It is taken as said that youâve picked the location, team and mode of play â“ which to the connoisseur of this game could take a good 30 mins. Hey, if you are playing in India it is good to select two spinners as well as having medium paced bowlers. Using an out and out pace attack may get you a few wickets early on with the new ball but bowling out the opposition will be tough. Stick to the well tried and trusted method and most cricket fans will know what they are. With team selection made, taking to the field as the bowling team will require a good deal of thought, specially when placing your fielders and getting the bowling trajectory right.
Bowling is intuitive with a marker showing the accuracy and movement of the analogue stick will determine the swing/spin to put on the ball.
Actually controlling the players is a joy. Batting allows you to play a normal shot, front foot or back foot, and depending which way you press the pad the batsmen plays the shot. If you want more power the L1 button increases the power of your shot, although this will often sky the ball to a fielder. One area, which has been enhanced, is the running and movement between the wickets.
The mechanics of bowling, as we pick up again later, is more than a simple key press to where you want the ball to land. You have to think about where the ball might pitch, if it will bounce high and if you are bowling to possibly take a slip catch. There are so many equations to take in that this could be âanalogisedâ as a full-blown strategy game.
The battling also has its wealth of complexities to take into account. The direction you will hit the ball, itâs strength and where the ball will pitch and your position on the crease have to be assimilated. We could further detail eventualities but we think you get the point!
Put another way, Cricket 2004 can be played as a very serious challenge over a long period of time or as a quick treat, loads of fun, over a very short period of time!
Playing against the CPU is an admirable and sometimes tough experience and it does feel that you have an equal chance of winning!
The one thing that is overpowering when you play Cricket 2004 is that there are so many options that sometimes it can take ages to actually start playing. There is net practice, both battling and bowling, a chance to create your own player, endless gameplay modes from International to State/County play from Test Series to Knockout. Although most are merely cosmetic features they add to the overall feel of the game and it would be a lesser game without them.
Every aspect of this great game is presented from the detailed scoring stats to a number of management aspects. There is even a Hall of Fame. Many gamers will just want to start playing either a one day match or a full blown test and all the other options can be performed extensively at your leisure at a later date!
Cricket 2004 is a very impressive piece of code and it is nigh on impossible to come up with any real niggles about how the game plays or the presentation â“ although some of the controls take some mastering before you start to become a real class act. Merely placing the ball when bowling on the critical spots takes some juggling around but once mastered you can further refine things and move on to a âWarneâ level of competence but that will take a long time.
Cricket 2004 does offer the kind of reward that makes perseverance an essential requirement.
The in game tutorials help text and audio is also helpful, also in some cases it becomes very annoying.
