rajkumar_pb
Adept
It has been a while since I played a cricket game and decided to buy a new game, and finally I end up with this. The store had three games BLC2007, Ashes 2009 and Cricket Revolution. After I bought the game, I find an interesting news related to that game. The Official ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 PG Game is also developed by the same folks. I'll come to this later. Now let's get into action.
The game was released on October 2009 and the ICC WC2011 game was released a month before. Apart from the titles of the game, both are identical and you can't find any difference except the fact that the later title has all player name and stadiums available because it's officially licensed by ICC.
If you have played EA Cricket or BLC series, and feel likes you can hit every ball to fence within 30 minutes of game play, it's not. This game requires time and concentration to master the strokes and that is where the Cricket Revolution stands tall. I played BLC 2005 and within 20 minutes of game play I mastered almost all shots and started to blast most of the balls to the fence. I expected the same with game and now even after 10+ hours of game play,I am unable to score anything more than 60 in 10 overs. Imagine the game's potential. Let's move onto the minute details.
Interface
Clean and Simple Interface
The game's interface is pretty cool and nothing tough here. With a decent intro sequence, the game takes you to main menu, from where you can choose the different game modes like Single Player, Online/LAN Gaming and options, team management etc. To be precise, the interface is clean, simple and easy to navigate.
Gameplay
Straight away I've seen the controls and started an exhibition match. Selected India as my team and England as opponent. I got out the very first delivery I faced. A Clean bold by some bowler (names are like Patra, Sressa so don't know who it is). I was hoping that after a few overs I'll get hands on with the controls and I continued. Within 3 overs I lost all my wickets by scoring just 7 runs (4 extras). That is the time I opted for Net Practice. Really the Net Practice in this game is very useful than any other cricket game out there. The controls are awkward at first but if you get used to you'll be an intermediate in this game.
Batting
At first glance, it might seems that there are lot of controls and one cannot remember all these shots. But once you know the tricks, you are good to go. One unique feature in Net Practice is Free Form. You can select the bowler/batsman you want, and bat/bowl. It will tell you the timing and footwork details. All my deliveries have very good timing but poor footwork. After spending 2+ hours in the net, I got enough confidence to get into real action.
List of Available shots to play. too much to remember but will get used to once you understand the tactics
In Free Form, you can see some useful comments on the shot we've played
This time the match was between SA and Bangladesh. I chose to Bat and scored 42/9 at the end of 10 overs. I was able to master the shots after 5+ hours of game play. One annoying thing is that you cannot press the keys at the same time. You have to press them one by one continuously. One small mistake, and you're out. The number of shots is countless - Aggressive, Defensive, Loft, Push and Slog shots. With each shot, you can use the arrow keys to choose the side to play the ball. For example, to push the ball to mid-on, you have to Press LCtrl+Up+Right. Now imagine the variety of shots!
The special delivery will knock out if you're not careful
The in-game menu shows the player's statistics like the batsman's form, skill and rattles, if any. Yes, first the batsman needs to settle down by scoring few singles and boundaries, if possible. Once settled, the chances of hitting boundaries will increase slightly, and if timed well with good footwork, you can make the ball go out of fence. It will also show the status of batsman as Rattled, varied from Minor to Critical, when a batsman gets hurt.
Few things in the game are annoying. You cannot skip any sequence like toss, player's entry into the ground, and to finish a 10 over match, it will take the same amount of time as a real match.
There is no replay option available. It's very rare to hit boundaries and sixes and when I hit one rarely, I cannot view it again for my sheer pleasure. This is the biggest let-down for me.
One cannot master all the shots in a short span of time and as i said earlier, that is where this game stands above all other cricket games out there. To conclude the game play is the most awesome, hilarious than any other cricket game ever.
Bowling
The bowling controls are very easy to use. Move the marker with W-A-S-D keys and fix it using space key. Tap the space key again for spin variation and speed. There you go. Bowling doesn't require much time to learn, but to vary pace and to bowl special deliveries,you need to put some time in the nets.
AI
Unlike other cricket games,the AI of this game is pretty decent. Yes, even a slight mistake will suffer you a wicket. This is probably the most amazing AI of any cricket game till today. But at times, the AI is very hard and even cheats us. When i try to run for single with a push to mid on, I get run-out very easily. But I can take a easy single just by tapping the ball next to me. Apart from these glitches, be it a fielding, bowling or batting, you simply cannot get past them like you do in EA Cricket.
Graphics
Since the game is released in 2009 and renamed version released in 2011, you cannot expect a Crysis like graphics in this game. But the truth is, you can't even expect a decent graphics that we found in BLC 2005. Yes, the graphics in this sucks to the core. Although it's not a demanding game and total installer size is 650MB, I guess it's not a graphics intensive gaming. Compared to BLC 2007 and Ashes 09, this game is nowhere near. The grounds looks like we are playing Cricket 99. Yes, not even closer to any recent Cricket titles and don't even bother to look at the crowd.
Sound
Menu sound is OK and music is good enough. But the absence of commentary is something noticeable. All the way in the game, you hear crowd cheering and sound of ball and bat. Nothing fancy. They should have included this and where is the fun without someone criticizing you, and praise you.
Some thoughts and Info
For those who don't know, the company which developed this game is Mindstorm studios. It managed to develop this game with only 10 developers and it took them 3 years to develop this awesome game. It is their first commercial PC game.
Conclusion
If you are a hardcore cricket fan and want to play a cricket game, this is for you. Leaving the mediocre graphics and not so good sound, the game is pure cricket. Awesome shots, good game play, which is enough to keep you busy for a while and to be frank, I've never played such a good cricket game before. Priced at just 299 INR (both Cricket Rev and ICC WC 2011), it's a sweet deal and a must-try for every cricket fan.
Interface - 7/10
Gameplay - 9.5/10
AI - 8/10
Graphics - 5/10
Sound - 6/10
Total - 7.1/10
Pro's
* Competitive game play
* Variety of shots
* Simple bowling gadget
* Real edge over AI
* Ability to play online and LAN
* Freedom in field positioning.
* Net Practice with shot suggestion
Con's
* Mediocre graphics
* No action replay
* Can't skip any sequence
* No commentary
* Imaginary grounds/stadiums
* AI behaves stupid at times
Source : techfanz
The game was released on October 2009 and the ICC WC2011 game was released a month before. Apart from the titles of the game, both are identical and you can't find any difference except the fact that the later title has all player name and stadiums available because it's officially licensed by ICC.
If you have played EA Cricket or BLC series, and feel likes you can hit every ball to fence within 30 minutes of game play, it's not. This game requires time and concentration to master the strokes and that is where the Cricket Revolution stands tall. I played BLC 2005 and within 20 minutes of game play I mastered almost all shots and started to blast most of the balls to the fence. I expected the same with game and now even after 10+ hours of game play,I am unable to score anything more than 60 in 10 overs. Imagine the game's potential. Let's move onto the minute details.
Interface
Clean and Simple Interface
The game's interface is pretty cool and nothing tough here. With a decent intro sequence, the game takes you to main menu, from where you can choose the different game modes like Single Player, Online/LAN Gaming and options, team management etc. To be precise, the interface is clean, simple and easy to navigate.
Gameplay
Straight away I've seen the controls and started an exhibition match. Selected India as my team and England as opponent. I got out the very first delivery I faced. A Clean bold by some bowler (names are like Patra, Sressa so don't know who it is). I was hoping that after a few overs I'll get hands on with the controls and I continued. Within 3 overs I lost all my wickets by scoring just 7 runs (4 extras). That is the time I opted for Net Practice. Really the Net Practice in this game is very useful than any other cricket game out there. The controls are awkward at first but if you get used to you'll be an intermediate in this game.
Batting
At first glance, it might seems that there are lot of controls and one cannot remember all these shots. But once you know the tricks, you are good to go. One unique feature in Net Practice is Free Form. You can select the bowler/batsman you want, and bat/bowl. It will tell you the timing and footwork details. All my deliveries have very good timing but poor footwork. After spending 2+ hours in the net, I got enough confidence to get into real action.
List of Available shots to play. too much to remember but will get used to once you understand the tactics
In Free Form, you can see some useful comments on the shot we've played
This time the match was between SA and Bangladesh. I chose to Bat and scored 42/9 at the end of 10 overs. I was able to master the shots after 5+ hours of game play. One annoying thing is that you cannot press the keys at the same time. You have to press them one by one continuously. One small mistake, and you're out. The number of shots is countless - Aggressive, Defensive, Loft, Push and Slog shots. With each shot, you can use the arrow keys to choose the side to play the ball. For example, to push the ball to mid-on, you have to Press LCtrl+Up+Right. Now imagine the variety of shots!
The special delivery will knock out if you're not careful
The in-game menu shows the player's statistics like the batsman's form, skill and rattles, if any. Yes, first the batsman needs to settle down by scoring few singles and boundaries, if possible. Once settled, the chances of hitting boundaries will increase slightly, and if timed well with good footwork, you can make the ball go out of fence. It will also show the status of batsman as Rattled, varied from Minor to Critical, when a batsman gets hurt.
Few things in the game are annoying. You cannot skip any sequence like toss, player's entry into the ground, and to finish a 10 over match, it will take the same amount of time as a real match.
There is no replay option available. It's very rare to hit boundaries and sixes and when I hit one rarely, I cannot view it again for my sheer pleasure. This is the biggest let-down for me.
One cannot master all the shots in a short span of time and as i said earlier, that is where this game stands above all other cricket games out there. To conclude the game play is the most awesome, hilarious than any other cricket game ever.
Bowling
The bowling controls are very easy to use. Move the marker with W-A-S-D keys and fix it using space key. Tap the space key again for spin variation and speed. There you go. Bowling doesn't require much time to learn, but to vary pace and to bowl special deliveries,you need to put some time in the nets.
AI
Unlike other cricket games,the AI of this game is pretty decent. Yes, even a slight mistake will suffer you a wicket. This is probably the most amazing AI of any cricket game till today. But at times, the AI is very hard and even cheats us. When i try to run for single with a push to mid on, I get run-out very easily. But I can take a easy single just by tapping the ball next to me. Apart from these glitches, be it a fielding, bowling or batting, you simply cannot get past them like you do in EA Cricket.
Graphics
Since the game is released in 2009 and renamed version released in 2011, you cannot expect a Crysis like graphics in this game. But the truth is, you can't even expect a decent graphics that we found in BLC 2005. Yes, the graphics in this sucks to the core. Although it's not a demanding game and total installer size is 650MB, I guess it's not a graphics intensive gaming. Compared to BLC 2007 and Ashes 09, this game is nowhere near. The grounds looks like we are playing Cricket 99. Yes, not even closer to any recent Cricket titles and don't even bother to look at the crowd.
Sound
Menu sound is OK and music is good enough. But the absence of commentary is something noticeable. All the way in the game, you hear crowd cheering and sound of ball and bat. Nothing fancy. They should have included this and where is the fun without someone criticizing you, and praise you.
Some thoughts and Info
For those who don't know, the company which developed this game is Mindstorm studios. It managed to develop this game with only 10 developers and it took them 3 years to develop this awesome game. It is their first commercial PC game.
Conclusion
If you are a hardcore cricket fan and want to play a cricket game, this is for you. Leaving the mediocre graphics and not so good sound, the game is pure cricket. Awesome shots, good game play, which is enough to keep you busy for a while and to be frank, I've never played such a good cricket game before. Priced at just 299 INR (both Cricket Rev and ICC WC 2011), it's a sweet deal and a must-try for every cricket fan.
Interface - 7/10
Gameplay - 9.5/10
AI - 8/10
Graphics - 5/10
Sound - 6/10
Total - 7.1/10
Pro's
* Competitive game play
* Variety of shots
* Simple bowling gadget
* Real edge over AI
* Ability to play online and LAN
* Freedom in field positioning.
* Net Practice with shot suggestion
Con's
* Mediocre graphics
* No action replay
* Can't skip any sequence
* No commentary
* Imaginary grounds/stadiums
* AI behaves stupid at times
Source : techfanz
