|
International Cricket 2010
Cricket once again arrives on the XBox 360
in International Cricket 2010 that is an amalgamation of arcade meets
simulation sports. The biggest change to the cricket franchise from
Codemasters is the new action came which allows you to face the ball
like you're really there and the ability to play online. The control
system has also been changed which now gives you full control of where
you hit the ball (e.g. 360 degrees).
However, before embarking on your
international cricket career, you need to go through the basics of the
game in a very informative tutorial system. Not only does this teach you
the control system of the game but also core cricket rules which is
great for newbies. When you have completed the tutorial and have been
taught your lefts from your right, you can start to embark on your
career on the international field with those fast balls, sixes and
slogs!
Features
-
International
Cricket 2010 features enhanced fielding, bowling and batting
gameplay and introduces the innovative new ‘Power’ stick. Giving
batsmen 360° analogue power and direction control, ‘Power’ stick
enables the widest selection of shots ever, from pushing quick
singles to risky slogs to the boundary and everything in between.
-
Officially licensed
by the ECB (England and Wales Cricket board) and Cricket Australia,
International Cricket 2010 includes official players, stadia and
kits
-
Game modes include
instant tournaments, 20 over matches and full test series.
-
A comprehensive
player editor lets you create your own character and a squad editor
enables you to edit the name, appearance and attributes of all
players featuring in the expanded roster of 16 nations.
When it comes to gameplay, International
Cricket contains One Day Internationals, 20/20 (my favourite as it’s
nice and short), Test Machines and a gaming mode called Round Robins. If
you want some added realism, you’ll be pleased to know that the
real-world players (England & Australia) are included in this game and
Jonathan Agnew and Shane Warne are the commentators for this title. The
commentary is a little bit of a hit and miss affair as opposed to the
smooth commentary in EA titles. Nonetheless, it works, even though Warne
sounds a little wooden.
As we all know, the heart of cricket involves, bowling,
fielding and batting. These are the main elements of the game which have
been faithfully recreated into this title. Bowling is similar to other
cricket titles which is based on timing and to some extent accuracy
where you want your ball to land on the pitch. You have a meter and a
green icon to assist in the process that is a little difficult to master
at the start especially with the harder bowls.
Fielding uses a similar
icon in order to catch or throw the ball back and does use a timing
system that is a little easier than bowling. The easiest facet of
International Cricket is the batting that contains a power meter and a
direction to the aim the ball, ala 360 degrees. This is the best part of
cricket, slogging the ball for six or for areas where your opponent has
no fieldsmen. Featuring both a local and online mode, International
Cricket is actually quite fun online, however finding matches did take a
little time unfortunately.
The graphics are similar to other
Codemasters cricket games which look good but is a little bland in terms
of the attention to detail. The facial expressions on the cricketers
look good, especially when linked to their real-world counterparts and
the stadiums look quite in-depth as well. As mentioned Agnew and Warne
do the stop start commentary and I’ve yet to hear a smooth commentary
for any cricket game. The sound effects suit the game well with all the
sounds of cricket and more importantly the crowd which is decent.
In the end, I enjoyed International Cricket, although the
tweaked gameplay is a little too slow for me but if you’re after more simulation than arcade, than I would
recommend you check this game out. There are definitely not enough
good cricket games on the XBox 360 and with the cricket season just around
the corner, this might give you the chance to live some interesting
matches. Just be warned, the control system
does take some time getting use to and if you have no patience, this may
interfere with your enjoyment but even so, this is cricket we're talking
about here! |
