Cricket 2005

"The series is getting better"

I have played many cricket games till date starting from Brian Lara cricket 98, all the way, through to Shane Warne 99, Cricket 2000, 2002, 2004 and eventually Cricket 2005. With each version I have seen a change in graphics and the game play but it hadn't been as effective as a change as to make one stick to the game. We might have noticed that there were glitches with the game play and that our favourite players didn't look anywhere near their real counterparts and it used to get quite boring after a while and likewise. This was what happened presumably till Cricket 2004 got released. And when cricket 2004 came out, I, at once, knew that this series is just going to get better.If you did have played 2004, you surely must have noticed the changes they made, from that situation in Cricket 2004 to what you see in 2005. But if you are new to the game, then I welcome you to one of the finest cricket games right now. When you compare to Cricket 04, the graphics got better, game play has changed which is enough to keep you hooked for a while. Bowling and batting has tremendously changed and the movements of the players on field are creditable.

Graphics
This section has been concentrated nicely by the developers. The players from South Africa, England and Australia look spectacular, nearly real. But if you check out the guys from India or Pakistan or Sri Lanka, you might not even recognise who they were if you would have seen their faces first. I was wondering when the time Sachin Tendulkar had a moustache on was, and Harbhajan Singh clean shaved. Any ways, the menu and user interfaces are pretty well done and easy to maneuver around. The loading times are really fast. But one thing that people who played the previous versions of Cricket games will encounter; the menus are completely controlled by the mouse. With this the keyboard is just simply neglected. You will notice this while playing a game. After an over, as the menu springs up, you will find yourself hammering the keyboard: the ESC button or the D button, which is usually activate or skip button on default. This usually happens if you had played the previous versions of the game. Other than the likeness issues, the players are well done. This is much better than before. About one glitch I noticed: when a player speaks (during celebrations, his face moves in a wavy pattern, like as if you are watching the guy through water. It looks funny. Overall I would give this section a shot of
6/10

Sound
The menu sounds are just OK. There is nothing great about them. Music selection is no so great. Age of Mythology fans look out for some similar lively tracks. The commentary is horrible. It looks as if it's something that has been totally ripped out of the previous version. Only some touch-ups have been added. Changes are like that you will find the guys talking among themselves about the cricket in 'their' time during an over. That is a plus. The in game sounds, like the chants are equally weak. This is especially noticed when you are going for a six or getting a wicket. The crowd sounds are a little dull to the most. But if you are engrossed in the game then you will not notice it. And sometimes you will believe the sounds are just about perfect. So it shows that the sounds are not consistent with the game situation. For Sounds I give a score of
5/10

Game play
I haven't been disappointed with this section since the time I started playing Cricket 2005. This is very well done at most. The batting becomes tougher, and the bowling is just about splendid with all the charms like the ball swinging around and stuff. For this the training nets come to use. The nets are just about the real thing. And it's fun to listen to the voice trainer and train in the nets. All the shots seem to be covered and the bowling hints are well done. And there’s lots of game options you can choose from, like when you feel like having a quick exhibition match there is Play Now, or when you want more details, there is the exhibition match and for the ultimate there is the test match. This can be played as singles tournaments or tours. Then there is the World Cup, World Series, County and lots others to keep you busy for the day. The AI is good but funny sometimes. Yes. It's got the glitches. There are situations when the ball falls near the slips and some guy from the outfield comes running to collect. It's usually seen with the wicket keeper. If the ball falls near him, he won't pick it up, but did rather wait for some other guy to come and pick it up for him. But it's not that bad. Its way better than the terrible glitch you must have seen in Cricket 2004. The wicket keepers AI are definitely better than the previous version. It's best you start playing with the medium difficulty. In this stage the games fun to play even though you may lose. After you master this stage, get yourself promoted to the hard level. The situation is brilliant. Hard is definitely hard when beginning. There is tons of stuff to keep you consumed for a couple of hours if you are a hardcore cricket fan. If you master the ODI's, proceed onto tests. These are real tests; they check upon your patience of restraining yourself from blasting the ball around, you have to keep collecting batting confidence, which slowly increase as you increase your player score and his time on the pitch, and while bowling, special attributes can be gained if you keep the facing batman restricted to free scoring and that's fun. If you play properly u might even take a whole day playing cricket 2005 (I did). I would give game play a score of
7/10

Verdict
All I would like to say is that if you are a hardcore cricket fan and want to enjoy some time out virtually, its better you go for this one. Buy it, I did say. It's just great and will give you some time of fun; play till the thrill dies out. It's great that EA has come up with this good game of cricket. They still have to reach the point of perfection as you can nearly see with other sports series from EA like FIFA or NHL etc. And someday, this cricket series might just about come in terms with them. It just will. We will have to wait till then. So go play on and Cricket 2005 till that time comes.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/21/07

Game Release: Cricket 2005 (EU, 07/01/05)