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EA Sports Cricket 2005

Submitted by Karthik on 19 August, 2005 - 23:35

For the last week or so, my breaks have basically been spent playing (the newly released) EA Sports Cricket 2005. The game is a marked improvement over previous versions, and while I'd written it off early on, it's grown on me in the last couple of days - well, enough that I'm actually writing this ;)

The graphics are acceptable, though not in the same league as EA's other releases. The interface is also decent, but like most multi-platform games, requires a combination of mouse and keyboard use, which is .. annoying. But the graphics and interface are both generally satisfactory in modern games. It has always been the gameplay along with things like the commentary, realism, and attention to detail that have historically been really poor in every cricket game that I've ever played. Cricket 2005 however, seems to have been given a solid boost in the right direction.

While I, like most people prefer to just bat all day, the bowling side of things in Cricket 2005 has been imbued with a number of nuances - bowling is now .. an art form etc. etc. But, while I'm happy to plod away with defensive strokes for hours on end, I tend to find bowling a little tedious and usually just "auto-play" all my bowling innings :P The fielding, umpiring etc. is pretty shoddy and very buggy [yet another game rushed through to release prematurely..].

Anyways, coming back to the batting.. Though your strokes are quite limited, and there isn't exactly anything like "direction control" for placing the ball, it's still pretty involving. You, as the batsman will need to play the ball based on merit, which I suppose is one of the more central aspects of the art. Timing and shot selection are pretty much the key to doing well. The manual mentions an option to control the power of your stroke, but I'm yet to get the hang of it.. Currently, all I do right now is leave, defend, stroke or whack! (with the "Six Hit" button), which (for the moment) is enough to give me the jollies :D

Other interesting things include:

  • Bowling Complexity - Swing and seam movement for the fast bowlers. Turn, loop and drift (seems so anyways) for the spinners. There's also variation of pace, and choice of bowling over or around the wicket..
  • Fielding - Probably the worst part of the gameplay; it's very "Arcade-y" and very buggy. The fact that the cricket ground seems to be rather disproportionate doesn't help either. But you can see dives, slides, misfields, slip catches, keeper catches, caught and bowled, overthrows and the like. Pushing the fielders with good running between the wickets can lead to misfields, which is also rather neat :)
  • There are also other little things like pitch and weather conditions that add to the gameplay. Oh, and from the .. psychological POV, getting tonked on the head by a Shoaib Akhtar bouncer doesn't help with your confidence.

In terms of commentary, Cricket 2005 follows in the path of its ancestors and is absolutely, ridiculously, pathetically, <insert choice adverb> annoying - just when you thought that it couldn't get any worse, EA have managed to plumb new depths in incompetence. It took me only an agonising 2 minutes to decide to turn the damned thing off..

When it comes to realism, we're still quite a way from getting the same quality or standards as other EA releases. If not for all the bugs, this would be considered a pretty good attempt at something close to it.. Also, I should probably mention that it is rather pointless to play at any level besides "Hard". Any lower, and the game gets quite trivially easy to play - slog-sweeping sixes by rote can get a touch tiring after a while for the best of us ;) And just like the real game, Tests are more interesting and demanding than one-dayers and this 20-20 rubbish.

Anyways, it's been a while since I last tried a cricket game, so it's possible and likely that my POV might be a little dated. But all in all, this is a decent game to check out if you are an Indian/cricket fan ;)

Links: Demo, PDF manual.

-K
P.S. For those who e-mail me weekly asking for the PDF manual - I do not have it. Please be a little enterprising and learn to Google.

Comments

Now, i hate cricket, but since my friends play in on the PC i do join in.. Now, Cric2004 was easy for batting and bowling was bad, now in Cric2005, we find bowling to be very good, but unfortunately cant bat properly... i've played it a coupla times, and we've managed to hit sixes only ONCE A MONTH!!!! I'm downloading that pdf file (thanks for the link)... hope i understand how to bat in this stupid game...

I've forgotten most of it by now. But basically, IIRC, you have to wait for the right line and length before attempting to tonk the ball. Over-pitched and on the off-stump or just outside is good for a hit over long-off or long-on. Good length or over-pitched deliveries on the leg stump can be slog-swept over the mid-wicket/square leg area..

:)
-K

Can you please send me the pdf file as i am unable to download this file. as the link seems to be not available. my mail id is haiharry26@yahoo.com.

Thanks in Advance

het buddies! i am a huge cricket fan n i luv cricket games but wen i started playin cricket 2005 i lost intrest cuz dis game sux.my highest score till now is 14 all out . i mean how de hell do u bat.i dunno how 2 play de shots iv spent loadz of time in de nets itz pointless. guyz i need help plzzz temme how 2 play dis game

It's all about your timing and shot selection.. You need a little patience :P Try setting the level to "easy" or its equivalent. Use the manual linked above for help.

-K
P.S You need to stop using your SMS facility 24 hours a day, or you'll cease making sense shortly .. ;)

Controls used are:

S: To play strokes along the ground.

Shift+S: press both these to hit the ball out of the ground for a six.

D: Using this u can dance down the pitch and hit the ball very hard.

Shift+D: same as in the case of using s with shift. But u can hit the ball to a six by down the track.

remember to use the 4 arrows to direct the ball.
But i dont know how to stump a batsman manually.

Man... this game really sucks... its the most boring game I've ever come across.
Like cricket you have to wait, wait and wait. When the batsman bats there is no action happening around and only one player does everything. There is nothing exciting. Just take care of one batsman who does everything on the field. Rest 21 stand like Dumb. The game has no excitement and is mono-directional.
I would recommend FIFA on EA sports instead of this one which has far far far more excitement and fun.
ENJOY..........

If it helps any, cricket 2007 just came out..

As for you being able to control only one person on the field.. that's BS and you should RTFM again :)

I like Fifa too (well, I like PES better) but comparing cricket to football is pointless.

-K

I have played cricket all my life and it is one of the most enjoyable game, however, while playing ea sports cricket 2005, it just sucks. no matter what you do, you just cant win!!!! batsman has so limited strokes. same strokes on similar balls has different results!!! thats what I hate.... the straight shot ground strokes does not exist in this game, the one way a batsman can hit an aggresive stroke is the six shot, which is not true. so it is either six or out or fielded.

Untrue.. and I haven't played this in a while now.. but straight, on and off drives are very possible. But I agree, the stroke play is rather limited. This apparently changes in 2007.

-K

I too need that download link, will you share me at cletabaskin@hotmail.com.

Thanks in advance

Took me time to read all the comments, but I really enjoyed the article. It proved to be Very helpful to me
and I am sure to all the commenters here! It's always nice when you can not only be informed, but also entertained! Pass4sure 1z0-047 Thanks