Cricket is the second most played Sport in the UK and is the most played sport in some parts of the world such as the Asian Sub-Continent, however as a gaming genre it is very much the "poor relation" of sporting games. EA Sports have not released a cricket game in the last 5 years, and while Codemasters have released games they have generally been poor efforts.
International Cricket 2010 is published by Codemasters and developed by new Australian developers Trickster Games, many of the people involved with the new developer were part of the team who developed Ashes Cricket 2009, which was a game that had promise but was badly let down by shocking AI which made the offline mode of the game almost useless, the game received an avalanche of criticism from gamers, Codemasters promised a patch but when the studio that developed the game went Bankrupt the patch was cancelled.
We are pleased to report that International Cricket 2010 is a much better game than Ashes Cricket 2009. The developer has listened to the feedback provided and all the bugs from the previous game have been eradicated and more importantly there do not seem to be any new gaming breaking bugs/issues.
Graphics
In the graphics department the game looks much like Ashes Cricket 2009. The two licensed teams (England and Australia) player faces have been improved and there are some new stadiums, the front end has also received some attention but they still remain clunky. If one was to compare the graphics to other sports titles like FIFA 10 and Pro Evolution Soccer then you have to say that the graphics are disappointing, but then cricket gaming is considered a "niche" market therefore developers will have limited budgets in order to make the game viable, therefore considering the budget constraints it fair to say that the Graphics are as good as can be expected for a niche title.
Audio
The audio in this game has also improved, the commentary is better, this is largely due to the introduction of David "Bumble" Lloyd, who brings his own inimitable style to the game, the other commentators seem to use the same lines as they did in Ashes Cricket 2009. The games on pitch audio is now much more realistic, you can hear the players grunting, or when using the games new "action cam" can hear the bowlers feet pounding up to the crease.
Gameplay
The most crucial part of any game is of course is gamely, you can have the best graphics, awesome audio but a game will fail if the gamely is not up to scratch. Ashes Cricket 2009 was a fundamentally broken game because of the well documented offline and online problems, many people have said that International Cricket 2010 would just be a patched Ashes Cricket 2009. We are happy to report that it is not.
The first thing to look at is the new Action Cam. When it was announced many people, including Sports Gaming Blog dismissed it as a "gimmick", however after playing the game for nearly 20 hours we can say that this could be the best camera view that we have ever seen in any sports game. When using Action Camera it really makes you feel like that you are out in the middle, it works really well for batting, the camera allows you to look around the field and pick gaps much more realistically. Then as the bowler charges up to the crease it makes you feel like that you are out there in the middle, particularly when involved in a tense match. The Action Cam also works well for bowling, it again adds to the authenticity of the experience, to begin with when bowling it is hard to judge the length and some will revert to the traditional camera for bowling, but we advise that you don't stick with it and eventually you will become better, also it makes the experience more realistic, when playing cricket often a bowler decides where to place the bowl as he runs up to the crease and often it is an inexact science.
Bowling
This was one of the most infuriating aspects of Ashes 2009, mainly because batting AI was broken, in AC09 the AI batsman would attack bowlers regardless of the situation, this resulted in unrealistic scores and it was virtually impossible to use Spinners. We are happy to report that International Cricket 2010 has eradicated these problems, bowling is now challenging and fun. The AI behave in a realistic manner, we played 4 test matches, each time we inserted the AI team batted first and each time they scored 300 plus runs, there were one occasion when there was collapse but the lower order managed to pull things together, the way that AI behaves in ODI's and T20 matches is almost perfect.
As for the bowling mechanics, things have changed from the previous game. Again you have a marker, but this time there are three lengths Bouncer, Good Length and LBW/Bowled Length, the aim is to make sure that the marker is green in whichever length you are choosing to bowl, you will need to keep hold of the left stick in order to ensure that the marker stays at the length that you have selected, when the bowler is reaching the crease a power indicator comes up and again the aim is to get it as close as possible to the light green zone, if you go past the light green zone it will be a no ball. Each type of bowler has different types of deliveries, this is selected before the bowler starts to run in.
The bowling works well, you can now use different types of bowlers, they are all effective if you bowl the right line and length, if you ball bad bowls and the batsman is "fearless" then you will concede runs. Spinners are effective they can take wickets (if used correctly) but also can be used to tie down one end. There have been reports that bowling is to easy and it is easy to get wickets, we played on hard and in the 25 odd hours of play we have not come across this.
In the past bowling in cricket games has been a chore, but we found that in International Cricket 2010 it was fun and challenging.
Batting
Using the action camera makes batting a joy, as mentioned earlier it makes you feel like that you are actually in the middle, never has a cricket game been able to create this kind of batting experience, there was one T20 match where we needed 3 runs to win off the last ball, as the bowler came steaming in, the tension was palpable and I found that I was gripping the controller harder than usual, the camera angle helped to add to the tension of the situation.
In terms of batting mechanics, you use the left stick to select the direction of the shot and also the further you push the stick the more power you will apply to the shot. This method was excellent, you can now play lower risks shots and push the bowl into gaps, so if the AI field is defensive you can now pick up runs by pushing the ball into gaps, or if you need to score at a higher rate you can use the power stick to take more risks.
These innovations combine to make the batting experience fun, challenging and most importantly realistic.
HUD Off Mode
You can now turn of the HUD, for advanced players this will really add to the challenge of playing this game. The HUD off mode takes away all visual aids, using this on hard mode the game was extremely challenging, you have to use your judgement, just like the real cricket if your judgement is off then you will get punished. Again this is the developer showing that it is catering for casual and hardcore players.
Conclusion
Is International Cricket 2010 the perfect cricket game? No, is it an improvement on Ashes Cricket 2009? Yes. Hats off to Codemasters and Trickstar Games, they have created a very fine game in IC10. They have listened to the feedback that the community gave and worked on those issues, the result is a game which has excellent core gamely and one that will provide players of abilities with a challenge. It does have problems, some of the animations are suspect, the graphical fidelity could be better and the lack of licences. However, these matter little when the core gamely has improved so much since the last version. It is fun, realistic and engrossing cricketing experience which keep you occupied over the summer. It is hoped that the game sells in enough quantities so as to ensure that Codemasters commission Trickstar to make another game next year, because if they make the same strides next year then we could possibly have the "perfect" game.
Overall score: 8/10.
International Cricket 2010 is published by Codemasters and developed by new Australian developers Trickster Games, many of the people involved with the new developer were part of the team who developed Ashes Cricket 2009, which was a game that had promise but was badly let down by shocking AI which made the offline mode of the game almost useless, the game received an avalanche of criticism from gamers, Codemasters promised a patch but when the studio that developed the game went Bankrupt the patch was cancelled.
We are pleased to report that International Cricket 2010 is a much better game than Ashes Cricket 2009. The developer has listened to the feedback provided and all the bugs from the previous game have been eradicated and more importantly there do not seem to be any new gaming breaking bugs/issues.
Graphics
In the graphics department the game looks much like Ashes Cricket 2009. The two licensed teams (England and Australia) player faces have been improved and there are some new stadiums, the front end has also received some attention but they still remain clunky. If one was to compare the graphics to other sports titles like FIFA 10 and Pro Evolution Soccer then you have to say that the graphics are disappointing, but then cricket gaming is considered a "niche" market therefore developers will have limited budgets in order to make the game viable, therefore considering the budget constraints it fair to say that the Graphics are as good as can be expected for a niche title.
Audio
The audio in this game has also improved, the commentary is better, this is largely due to the introduction of David "Bumble" Lloyd, who brings his own inimitable style to the game, the other commentators seem to use the same lines as they did in Ashes Cricket 2009. The games on pitch audio is now much more realistic, you can hear the players grunting, or when using the games new "action cam" can hear the bowlers feet pounding up to the crease.
Gameplay
The most crucial part of any game is of course is gamely, you can have the best graphics, awesome audio but a game will fail if the gamely is not up to scratch. Ashes Cricket 2009 was a fundamentally broken game because of the well documented offline and online problems, many people have said that International Cricket 2010 would just be a patched Ashes Cricket 2009. We are happy to report that it is not.
The first thing to look at is the new Action Cam. When it was announced many people, including Sports Gaming Blog dismissed it as a "gimmick", however after playing the game for nearly 20 hours we can say that this could be the best camera view that we have ever seen in any sports game. When using Action Camera it really makes you feel like that you are out in the middle, it works really well for batting, the camera allows you to look around the field and pick gaps much more realistically. Then as the bowler charges up to the crease it makes you feel like that you are out there in the middle, particularly when involved in a tense match. The Action Cam also works well for bowling, it again adds to the authenticity of the experience, to begin with when bowling it is hard to judge the length and some will revert to the traditional camera for bowling, but we advise that you don't stick with it and eventually you will become better, also it makes the experience more realistic, when playing cricket often a bowler decides where to place the bowl as he runs up to the crease and often it is an inexact science.
Bowling
This was one of the most infuriating aspects of Ashes 2009, mainly because batting AI was broken, in AC09 the AI batsman would attack bowlers regardless of the situation, this resulted in unrealistic scores and it was virtually impossible to use Spinners. We are happy to report that International Cricket 2010 has eradicated these problems, bowling is now challenging and fun. The AI behave in a realistic manner, we played 4 test matches, each time we inserted the AI team batted first and each time they scored 300 plus runs, there were one occasion when there was collapse but the lower order managed to pull things together, the way that AI behaves in ODI's and T20 matches is almost perfect.
As for the bowling mechanics, things have changed from the previous game. Again you have a marker, but this time there are three lengths Bouncer, Good Length and LBW/Bowled Length, the aim is to make sure that the marker is green in whichever length you are choosing to bowl, you will need to keep hold of the left stick in order to ensure that the marker stays at the length that you have selected, when the bowler is reaching the crease a power indicator comes up and again the aim is to get it as close as possible to the light green zone, if you go past the light green zone it will be a no ball. Each type of bowler has different types of deliveries, this is selected before the bowler starts to run in.
The bowling works well, you can now use different types of bowlers, they are all effective if you bowl the right line and length, if you ball bad bowls and the batsman is "fearless" then you will concede runs. Spinners are effective they can take wickets (if used correctly) but also can be used to tie down one end. There have been reports that bowling is to easy and it is easy to get wickets, we played on hard and in the 25 odd hours of play we have not come across this.
In the past bowling in cricket games has been a chore, but we found that in International Cricket 2010 it was fun and challenging.
Batting
Using the action camera makes batting a joy, as mentioned earlier it makes you feel like that you are actually in the middle, never has a cricket game been able to create this kind of batting experience, there was one T20 match where we needed 3 runs to win off the last ball, as the bowler came steaming in, the tension was palpable and I found that I was gripping the controller harder than usual, the camera angle helped to add to the tension of the situation.
In terms of batting mechanics, you use the left stick to select the direction of the shot and also the further you push the stick the more power you will apply to the shot. This method was excellent, you can now play lower risks shots and push the bowl into gaps, so if the AI field is defensive you can now pick up runs by pushing the ball into gaps, or if you need to score at a higher rate you can use the power stick to take more risks.
These innovations combine to make the batting experience fun, challenging and most importantly realistic.
HUD Off Mode
You can now turn of the HUD, for advanced players this will really add to the challenge of playing this game. The HUD off mode takes away all visual aids, using this on hard mode the game was extremely challenging, you have to use your judgement, just like the real cricket if your judgement is off then you will get punished. Again this is the developer showing that it is catering for casual and hardcore players.
Conclusion
Is International Cricket 2010 the perfect cricket game? No, is it an improvement on Ashes Cricket 2009? Yes. Hats off to Codemasters and Trickstar Games, they have created a very fine game in IC10. They have listened to the feedback that the community gave and worked on those issues, the result is a game which has excellent core gamely and one that will provide players of abilities with a challenge. It does have problems, some of the animations are suspect, the graphical fidelity could be better and the lack of licences. However, these matter little when the core gamely has improved so much since the last version. It is fun, realistic and engrossing cricketing experience which keep you occupied over the summer. It is hoped that the game sells in enough quantities so as to ensure that Codemasters commission Trickstar to make another game next year, because if they make the same strides next year then we could possibly have the "perfect" game.
Overall score: 8/10.
