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Review by Anush K Moorthy Well I am a Little stingy,so instead of going ahead and buying the game I like to borrow it from a friend and play it. It so Happened that one of my friend, had this game WorldCup'99. I am an ardent fan of cricket so I borrowed it from him. I had to install the whole game on my computer-which took me 'bout an hour and then to begin the game took 'bout 15 mins. This was not what I had bargained for. Well firstly the processing time requires is very high. Although it is mentioned that this game has 3-D graphics, I find the graphics absolutely RUBBISH! The sounds are satisfactory and the commentary is STRICTLY OK! Well I did notice on thing while batting, when you hit the ball to a player the player number is always 7! The Countries are not properly assorted into groups as in the real worldcup. Also there is not much choice of stadiums. The shots don't go in the intended direction and the keys are all over the keyboard. I had to by heart so may key names, that I forgot my History portions! The replay angles are useless and so is the camera angles. There is a net practice session included, but here you don't even see the ball, leave alone timing and hitting it. Phew! After so much of nonsense, I found only one thing worthwhile and good in this game-The EXIT button. (I am not kidding). It is an absolute waste of Money. I can rate it in 10 words:- A Completely Nonsensical Rubbish Game which is nothing but CRAP!
Review by Robert Minor Here's an opinion of EA's Cricket World Cup '99 from the perspective of a Yank new to cricket fandom. In a word: disappointing. Here in the US, cricket is barely known, and even to Anglophiles as myself, is usually known only in brief and cryptic references on TV and books. I happened to get hooked on cricket over the 'Net shortly before the World Cup, and learned the game largely through EA's Ashes Edition demo--though I finally obtained the full game, after some difficulty, and was nearly frantic to get this newest effort. Also obtained the Shane Warne '99 game direct from Australia. From these three games, CWC was the last to arrive. I got the Ashes Edition from a British on-line store, which EA told me was no longer available from them, and the Shane Warne game from Australia, at least a month before CWC shipped here. But finally--the OFFICIAL game. And then. I wasn't terribly disappointed at the right-hander only flaw, as I was assured a patch would issue, along with a few other flaws. But it is the gameplay itself which really is disappointing. I run an AMD 233 with a Voodoo Banshee 16MB, and 48 MB of RAM, and the gameplay is jerky, the stadium graphics worse than Ashes Edition, and the batting near impossible, due to said jerkiness. I think that the older Ashes Edition is much more playable game, and so more enjoyable, than CWC, and Shane Warne/Brian Lara graphics much better. As a positive note, CWC bowling interface I think is the best of the lot, despite what I have read in the reviews about getting a batting side all out for less than a hundred in ten overs or whatever--which is the AI, not the bowling gimmick. I haven't played that far yet--I have yet to play an innings of England v. Scotland where my runs exceeded wickets taken. If this game had the graphics and playability of SW/BLC, the batting interface of the Ashes Edition, it would be a what it was hyped to be. Big, BIG, ifs. I wouldn't go so far as to say I wish I hadn't bought it, but that reflects my own situation in a cricket-starved land. As it is: well, to borrow a phrase from cricket's American cousin, EA has struck out.
Review by Yaju Arja In my opinion, Cricket World Cup is a good game and should be given 4 out of 5. It may have some problems but it is the most playable cricket game ever released. Though the first version was released in a hurry and Creative Assembly didn't had enough time,the game is still very good. If you are a Cricket Player, than hit a shot,and see it in the Reply. A big point of Reply is that it is fully adjustable, which means you can adjust it by clicking and moving the mouse in the ground. Gameplay can be very easy and very hard. It has many features of a real match for example in real cricket when Sachin Tendulkar is out, the team's performance decreases. It has the best Graphics and high detailed Motion Capturing. It does have problems, but it's features aren't fully discovered. Ritchie says right "India has some of the best Batsman in the World Today. Tendulkar is a pretty good start." It has the best bowling features. You can't find so many cameras in a Cricket Game. It has about 25 of England's stadiums. The commentary is very accurate and fielding is better than Brian Lara. If you have the latest Patch,you are getting more fun. If you are facing problems, use Info Pro which will help you. It may not be good to play (if you are a beginner), it is a must buy.
Review by Adam Coleman. During the late nineties, Electronic Arts have been the standard that other companies base cricket games on. With stunning real player graphics, excellent (but varying) AI, and tremendous attention to accuracy and detail, they have earned every sale they get. However, with Codemasters releasing Shane Warne Cricket '99, the pressure was on EA to respond with something better and more dynamic. World Cup '99 is slightly better than Shane Warne Cricket. When you install it, Richie Benaud and David Gower give a history lesson of the World Cup, but miss out on the 1996 event, for some reason. When you have installed it, be warned when starting the game. Though you may think the intro sequence is reflective of what YOUR game will look like, this may not be the case. The intro shows smooth 3D players playing at and missing a lot of shots. But if your system only just reaches the specifications on the box, the game may look weird. I have realised that an 8 Meg + 3D accelerator card is necessary, unless you have a powerful CPU. But on to the game itself. ROSTERS - Not very accurate. Some important players aren't there, notably Mullaly for England and leading wicket taker Allott for New Zealand. But the players who are there give it a sense of realism, but only when you see the player's name on a jersey, or hear the player's name mentioned by Richie. The patch should update this fault. GROUNDS - All the grounds of the World Cup are here. Every single one, which is important in planning tactics. The detail of the grounds is excellent. From Amsterdam to Worcester, choose your place, and go for it. AI - Varies way too much. On one day, you can bowl South Africa out for 19, on others you can have Scotland hit 31 off your first 2 overs. CONTROL OF PLAYER - The bowling action has the most flexibility. You can swing, cut and the rest. I like to pitch the ball at a good length just outside off stump coming in to to the right handed batsman and have it swing up and to the right at a maximum swing rate. Then I go for the slower ball to rattle the stumps, and it's effective, but only if you can get that maximum swing. The batsman's control are more frustrating. Most shots need to be played straight. If you try a hook, chances are you'll either miss or go LBW. Same with a square cut on the on side. Stick to straight drives on the on side. More chance of runs, less chance of wickets. SCORECARD - Whoever worked on the scorecard has never seen a broadcast in Australia. During the game the card is accurate and perfect. When it finishes and you get to Match Analysis, it's confusing. If a team is all out for 150, but two of the wickets were runouts, you're credited as only taking 8 wickets. Also, even though the team may have scored 150, it'll separate it into actual runs off the bat and then a breakdown of the extras into different categories (Wides, No-balls, Byes, Leg Byes) Overall, I enjoyed EA World Cup '99 but here are a few tips to possible purchasers
In conclusion, considering the pricing policy that EA have applied to this game (AUS$50), this game is worth it. Now, I have to leave you. I have another World Cup to win for Australia.
Review by Steve Moore In a word - Shite!!! I found all of the things mentioned by your other reviewers really annoying too. In Cricket 97 Ashes Tour Edition, batting was a breeze - Alt & Ctrl plus the number pad, a total of 16 strokes plus 2 "leave alones" - fantastic, why on earth did they not "rip" this and stick it into CWC - duh!!! What ever happened to stumpings? - it seems to have been replaced by the wicket keeper rolling the stumps into the dirt!!!! Richie Benaud seems to have lost the ability to count too reporting batsmen out for naught when the summary shows me otherwise... If EA SPORTS are to make a serious attempt at what I am sure they consider to be a minority sport - they could at least run it by people that know and love the game, at least then it would not be released to the public in such a slipshod fashion. I hope Daniel that you forward this review and all the others that you have received to EA Sports suggesting perhaps that you and the contributors to this site be used as beta testers for any future releases of cricket that they may attempt!!! I am not forwarding review but Creative Assembly are aware of this site and do hopefully read these reviews.
Review by Michael Doig Well I have to agree that in the beginning of owning my game, I agreed with EVERY negative feedback that I had seen posted about this game. But I have to suggest, hang in with the game, give it a chance, and practice!!! I cannot get the patch to work yet, and I can say I AM having fun right now in Cricket 99. I finally played a full World Cup Tourney leading Australia, and happened to make it all the way to the final. Sure I usually scored around 150-170 when I batted first, and only needed to score 40-70 if I batted second, but I am sure the patch will fix up some of these awful scores. And also the fact Bangladesh was in the semi's was very strange to me. Well I would like to give a small running commentary on the World Cup Final I played in as Australia v India. Australia started off pretty bad, Gilchrist was bowled by Srinath for 0, leaving the score at 1-4 pretty early. Shortly after, Ponting hurried through for a quick single, and hey presto I got my first 4 overthrows for the day. (I was expecting possibly 6 or 7 more of these for the day) Mark Waugh stepped up the gear with two successive glorious on drives all the way along the ground for 4. After a stury start, Ponting played all around a corker from Prasad and was bowled for 14. Australia 2-37. Mark Waugh continued with his often 2's and 3's until he too, fell victim to a good ball and was caught by Azharuddin, bowled by Srinath for 24. Lehmann and Blewett accelerated for Australia, and the 100 was brought up for Australia in good time. Blewett was now in the 30's looking good. At 3-109 it became 4-109 when Blewett was bowled, followed quickly by Lehmann when he skied a ball to Singh and Australia was now in trouble, 5-110. Captain Steve Waugh began accelerating with Bevan (Who had scored a magnificent 47 in the previous game when Australia were in HEAPS of trouble) until at 152 Bevan returned a catch to bowler Tendulkar and was out for 17. 10 runs later Steve Waugh ran himself out for 30, and Australia was 7-162. Enter Damien Fleming. This guy somehow smacked a few 4's, and before I knew it, the 200 rolled over. The last 3 wickets then fell quickly, Reiffel LBW Prasad for 7, Warne c+b Prasad very next ball for 0, then McGrath c Karim b Tendulkar for 7. Australia had mustered 213. Was that going to be enough? With Tendulkar computer version in, anything could happen. McGrath had him caught behind off a beauty for 12, the score 1-12. Ganguly here then blasted the bowling attack, scoring freely, and watched as his partner Dravid also get caught behind off McGrath for 8, leaving the score at 2-52, the bulk scored by Ganguly. Azzhar and Ganguly then looked set to really steady the game for India, and with Ganguly passing his 50, things were not looking good for Australia. McGrath, who was bowling with great maturity, had Ganguly caught by Ponting at Mid On for an excellent 56, the only half century of the game. Azzhar then brought the Indian 100 up with a huge six, signalling a possible dominance here. Sensing the urgency, Warne was brought on, and immediately stemmed the run flow. Jadeja didn't last long, caught by Lehmann again off McGrath for a duck. McGrath now had all 4 wickets, while Warney was bogging the batsman down at the other end. 4-103 Azzhar hit out again for an awesome four through covers. They call him the man with the Golden Arm in real life, but in computer life he is the man with a REALLY Golden Arm, his first over saw the back of Azzharuddin after playing on to Blewett for 20. Then when Mark Waugh ran out Singh for 0, India were in lots of trouble at 6-132. Kanitkar hit his only scoring shot for 4 to bring up the Indian 150, a hope still alive as Karim down the other end had silently worked himself into the 20's. Kanitkar swept at a leg break by Warne, top edged it and was caught in the deep for 4. India 7-152. The very next ball, Kumble turned the ball around his legs straight into the awaiting arms of Ponting at Leg Gully, and Warne was on a hatrick! Karim kept playing his steady role, and while he was there, the last 50 runs was a possibility. When India was on 8-166 Karim stole a stupid run, and was runnout for 31. Moments later Srinath was caught by Steve Waugh at Long on for 14, and India had crumbled to 10-167. Australia had won by 46 runs!! The World Cup was ours! I figured a few things out in this time. Sure its easy to hit power shots straight for 4, but more fun is found if you can get the pitch of the ball, and just play a regular shot in the direction the ball is swinging. I had played some nice looking shots through midwicket, covers and straight for 4, all the way along the ground. I also noticed if you bowl with Ponting, don't move the bowling cursor on the pitch, just bowl a very slow off spinner, cause I took 5 wickets in an over with him. Its a pain in the arse how the ball does not bounce, however if you get a full toss, pull it with a power shot, you will see it land into the square leg boundary. That's my 2 cents worth, I am now going to download the new zipped patch!
Review by Nitin Kularni Well, it was supposed to be one of the best if not the best Cricket game to date ---> with all the "FANTASTIC GRAPHICS", "AMAZING REALISM", AND "OVERALL GREAT TRANSLATION FROM A REAL GAME TO A COMPUTER GAME". So, I purchased my copy about a month ago, and have been playing it everyday since that day. Having read a million previews about the game being "STUNNING" and "REALISTIC", I thought that this was the game for me ---> Oh yeah!!!. But, after playing it so much since buying it, well.... I would have to think otherwise. Don't want to waste time talking about all the "bugs" cause they have been mentioned already. However, in reviewing it, I will do this. I will compare it BRIAN LARA CRICKET in a very brief, yet decent manner, as I have played that game (BLC) too. EASPORTS was supposed to beat CODEMASTERS in terms of CRICKET games and come out with a fantastic all round GAME. Well, first of all, CODEMASTERS did not "rush" into making the BLC 99 game like EASPORTS. I mean it was senseless doing a thing like that --> trying to get it to coincide with the real WORLD CUP and all that downloading the latest stats crap. Well, the WORLD CUP is over, and ain't nothing happened. I guess that it doesn't matter so much, cause it's the actual game that matters right? Well, I don't' know if you can actually compare the two games in terms of CRICKET. Quickly, Brian Lara Cricket is way tooo professional than Cricket World Cup'99. Alright the graphics may not be as good, but the gameplay is SUPER DOOPER in BLC whilst in CWC 99 --> I don't know if "gameplay" even exists. Anyways, don't want to waste too much time with that as it has already been mentioned in previous reviews. EASPORTS has made great games like NHL 99, which happens to be my personal favourite game ever, (outstanding graphics and stellar gameplay) ---> almost unbeatable at ALL-STAR level which is what one would expect from EASPORTS. But Cricket WORLD CUP 99 is a big disappointment. The other day I was playing a game on the hardest difficulty level. I was India and was playing South Africa. I got South Africa out for 116 in 15.3 overs. When batting, after 12.1 overs, I was at 109 for 5 --> decent, but then lost 4 wickets in 12 deliveries, and in the 16th over, I had lost the game by 3 runs. Real Crap. The entire game had lasted a mere 30 - 31 overs. Ah, what's the word I'm looking for in this type of situation ... "FINE - TUNING". EASPORTS should have spent more time FINE-TUNING this game instead of releasing it in a hurry. Brian Lara Cricket by CODEMASTERS wasn't rushed into, and what a fine game it is. CODEMASTERS spent a good deal of time fine-tuning and perfecting their game, unlike EASPORTS. The few bugs like player walking through the stumps in BRIAN LARA CRICKET are not too major. But, in CWC 99, bugs like a dozen overthrows are too big to be ignored. All in all, it was a complete rush. Anyways, this review is probably too long....ah. like to conclude this way. Cricket World Cup 99 is a nice game if you want to win 100 games and lose none. Cause that's possible. I feel even with the patch, that a whole bunch of stuff could be fixed, fielders still take some ridiculous catches. But most importantly, COMPUTER AI which basically doesn't exist in this game needs to improved a great deal to actually make this game realistic. I wouldn't recommend buying this game if you already have Brian Lara Cricket. It's a waste of time. I know it is a waste for me. Now, well I'm hoping that some Cricket 2000 game proves to be much much better. EASPORTS used to be my favourite, I used to visit their web - site everyday anxiously waiting for this Cricket World Cup 99 game to come out, and now when it has, well I have lost my interest in them. Will take quite an effort to convince me that they are better than CODEMASTERS.
Review by Jeff Doidge. I must say there has been no computer game for my PC that I've been so excited to play since EA Sports ATE 97. When that was released I upgraded my computer (From a P75 to a P200) just so I could play it. Well with all the hype and previews claiming this game was going to be awesome I found out the minimum req. and upgraded my computer again (also buying a 3Dfx card). So I then went down to my local shop about a week after release and bought the game. As I loaded it up seeing the still shots and commentary I was majorly excited, and congratulated myself for going into debt just to have a machine that could handle the pace of the game. It finally loaded and I let the intro run almost drooling as I saw the batman's hooking and advancing down the pitch to smash a six, the bowler smashing apart the stumps and the fielders diving about to save runs. (can you tell this game meant a lot to me.) Then I saw the main menu and things started to go down hill. It's not that the menu was bad, but it wasn't great either. But as others have said that doesn't really matter, it's gameplay that counts. I use the Kiwi's and was a bit upset to see in the NZ squad selection screen no Geoff Allot (who is the leading wicket taker in the whole competition) and Danial Vettori as a medium pace bowler instead of a spinner. And the player portraits were a joke, as half of them were missing. But Still the gameplay I reminded myself and to the game I went. This is were my frustration was made complete. I have so many complaints I decided to list them in each category and leave out those that have been covered by other people in their reviews, except those that really annoy me. PERFORMANCE 5/10 On my P200 with a 6mb 3DFX and 64MB Ram the game handled like a cement truck. So for me to have any enjoyment I had to play it on its lowest detail level and turn off the crowd noise. And even then It was still jerky. (This is my smallest complaint because If the game had of been any good I would have gone into more debt to get a new motherboard and get a 450Mhz processor). BOWLING 6/10 Not bad but not great. The interface allowed for some varying deliveries, but it was too easy to take wickets and not realistic. I have never seen Cairns or any bowler bowl an awesome inswinger that move a foot and a half in the air, then bowl an outswinger that moved the same amount then bowl an off cutter that moved half a foot then a leg cutter that moved that amount. And the same goes for spin bowlers with off break and leg break deliveries. Also try and bowl a bouncer, you can't. The highest a ball will bounce is just over stump height but more often than not it will stay a stump height. The ball sometimes only gets six inches off the ground and it hardly ever carries to the keeper with out him having to reach forward for it. NOT BELIEVABLE BATTING 3/10 Batting is useless. You can only play Late Cut, off drive, straight drive, on drive and leg glance. If you try to play a square cut, hook or pull shoot you will ALWAYS play above the ball by about six inches and miss the ball which suxs if its inline with the stumps. When you do play a shot you either smash it over the top with the double button routine or do a wussy shot that is mostly stopped by a fielder. SWC is miles better in this department. BORING FIELDING 3/10 The fielding is all CPU controlled which is bad. Fielders almost always hit the stumps, even if they're half way to the boundary. And if they do miss (not often) you get over throws. NO THIRD UMPIRE, with all the critics (we who played the game) of Cricket 97 who screamed for a third umpire to be used in this game, I'm amazed they didn't include one. And no fielders radar can be seen when batting which really is stupid because you have to pan around the ground with different views to find out were all the fielders are. ANNOYING GRAPHICS 8/10 The rating I gave this could have been higher if they had fixed the camera views up and worked a bit harder on the screen when the batter is playing a shot. GREAT COMMENTARY/ SOUND 7/10 It's not good. SWC is better and that's not terrific. NICE CAMERA VIEWS 5/10 SWC is a lot better in the actual gameplay. In CWC99 the batter is to small, you don't see him follow through with the shot etc. When a ball is hit the camera follows it from too far away (you can't get into the excitement of it all) If a fielder gets it the view stays with them instead of following the ball or watching from the wicket keeper (al la SWC). And there are no automatic replays. This would enhance the game no end if they showed a six or a catch several times from various angles. WASTED GRAPHS 2/10 Where's the run rate? Even in Cricket 97 they showed the run rate. The graphs SUX, big time!!!!!! I could go on and on how disappointed I am with them and what they could do to fix them up, but obviously the boys at EA don't care, especially to all of those that wrote to both them and DANIEL FLOWERS cricket home page with suggestions and ideas for this game. #@$%*@#!!!!!! COMPUTER AI 1/10 What computer AI? They smash the ball from the first delivery and get out for less than 50 runs off about 8 to 10 overs almost all the time, making a fifty over match useless. They don't know how to block, and stop running when the ball is way out in the infield if a fielder is near. It should be called Computer AD (Artificial Dumbness) AH DAAHHH???????? OVERVIEW 4.5/10 I am soooooo disappointed with this game. It is obvious they had a real winner here but decided to cut a lot of corners to get the game out in time. If the had spent as much time and effort on the gameplay and game views i.e. Fielders cam replays etc as they did with the Replays you do your self and the motion capturing this game would have been a killer. But they didn't. Being more interested with dollars than anything else has seen this game slid into the junk pile of cricket games that have been released for PC. This game is my ultimate frustration. I'm sure EA will use this as a base to build a better game next year and suckers like me will continue to get excited and fork over there cash in hope to experience the excitement and thrill other sporting games have managed to capture. Shane Warne Cricket is better overall but if they could combine the two, now there would be a game worth buying. Oh and there are heaps of other things I didn't add because other people have already covered them in this forum. So if your thinking of buying this game (and your opinion of other cricket games is the same as mine) - DON'T. OTHER CRICKET GAMES (rated at time of release and now) CRICKET 96 5/10 - 1/10 CRICKET 97 ATE 7/10 - 3.5/10 SHANE WARNE CRICKET 8/10 CRICKET WORLD CUP 99 4.5/10
Review by Craig Giordano CWC 99 is finally available in the States, and I got my copy today. My first match was England v India (I was England). Let's just say, I did more scoring the first time I played FIFA 99 in the World Class mode than I did in this Cricket match. For my next match, I decided that perhaps I should start with Scotland. I was England once again and batted first. I ended up at 27/7. Now it was my turn to bowl. After 3 overs Scotland was 0/3. I thought maybe I was getting the hang of it. This was not the case as the Scot's belted 5 sixes in a row, and that was that. I realise it takes a while to get up to speed, but give me a break. I'm sorry I ever shelled out the money for this. My inept batting & bowling aside, I thought the game itself was nowhere near the quality of BLC/SWC. The players look like bad cartoon characters and have a super-human ability to catch a ball they are not looking at. I think the graphics, AI, and overall gameplay are much better in BLC/SWC, and I wouldn't recommend CWC 99 to anyone. I will say that I liked the speed of the game (you get it over with in hurry) and the kits seem to be fairly accurate. Although it's only a computer game and shouldn't be taken seriously, I did spend $54 U.S. on something that will never use again, and I take that very seriously. I read all the hype and like fool, believed every word. EA did not force me purchase the game. I purchased it on my own free will, but they're promises of what the game would be like convinced me to give it a try, and now I feel like they have bowled me for a duck and my score is $54/all out. :-) If you are reading this and are thinking about purchasing the game, don't waste your money unless you want to buy my copy!!
Review by Dan. I bought the game in oz a couple of days ago and my first impressions were a very good game. The graphics are excellent, on my P2 350 and Voodoo Banshee I could run the game at 1024x768 with no slowdowns/crashes etc. On about my 5th game, I was playing India. They won the toss and elected to bat. It turns out I bowled them all out for 0!! They didn't get no runs at all, and had no trouble beating them (hehe, obviously) Somewhere I read that EA had improved their AI immensely over previous titles, well then the AI in the previous title has to be really bad! That is a major drawback in CWC. Also I noticed sometimes the game wasn't recording my singles and 2's! I ran and nothing appeared on the scoreboard. Also all players seem to be Ricky Ponting (hardly ever misses the stumps). Never seen a dropped catch (should be all the time because these players catch the ball backwards). Can bowl grubbers and not get a No Ball, the comp still smashes them for six. Players seem very energetic. For example, I used defensive shot, then ran, then ran back. Meanwhile a fielder slides to the ground, picks up the ball and completely destroys the wickets with a flying attempt at a stumping while I am waiting for the next ball in my crease, amusing but gets annoying after a while.. Another annoying thing. When running and running back they turn around instantly and run back. I would have thought they would take more time turning around and running back I still really like the game despite all the bugs. Great to play with friends! 7.5/10
Review by Tyrone Marshall of UK Sports Net. "It’s a Carnival of Cricket… After a long search I finally thought I had found the Cricket game I had been waiting for, Cricket World Cup 99 looked excellent, and on the day of it’s release I went to my local games store and bought a copy. Before this EA Sports had always offered a lacklustre range of Cricket sim’s, but for the first time they have faced any real competition in the genre from Codemasters, Brian Lara Cricket, I felt this game could be an absolute gem. When I first got home and switched my dream machine on I was so eager to get the game going and start my World Cup quest. After a lovely installation with David Gower and Richie Benaud talking about previous world cups I finally got the game running. My first impressions of the intro video were that a wide range of shots and some brilliant graphics would help make this game fantastic. The menus are very nicely laid out in the centre and left of the screen. There are four gameplay options and they are One-Day International, World Cup Competition, World Cup Super Sixes, and Training. I thought I best go into the nets first to get a feel of the controls. The nets and a game pitch does look very different, the nets look a lot bigger than when at Lords or wherever. The controls are easy to get to grips with and feature three different batting strokes, shot, defensive shot, power shot. After testing the batting controls for a while I went back to the training set-up screen and tried my luck at bowling. The bowling controls are also very easy to get to grips with and bowling is the easiest thing on the game. EA Sports had said they were eager to design a new control system for batting and bowling and succeeded in doing this very well. When batting you don’t have a list of shots you have a blue cone that points in the area you want the ball to go. Unfortunately this rather limits your shot potential, the only shots you can play are the square cut, sweep, leg glance and straight drive. The bowling control system is fairly standard but there is a good control of spin, seam and swing. Although this is a bit over exaggerated in matches and the ball tends to swing an awful lot. The difficulty of this game is very poor. Having owned the game for a week I can no bowl a team out on very hard level for below 50. On very easy level I have made over 300 runs before reaching 25 overs. When I was playing Zimbabwe and Alistair Campbell was bowling Graeme Hick hit him for 11 consecutive sixes and Hick made 66 off 12 balls. In Campbell’s 4 over spell he had figures of 4-0-100-2, that is not a typo, he did concede 100 runs of 24 balls. The squads are not correct for the world cup as EA Sports say they didn’t have time to put the new ones. EA do have a new squad roster update planned for release in June. The world cup groups are all right though and fixture lists are all correct. After selecting teams and stadium etc. the captains and umpire are in the middle ready for the toss, and you choose heads or tails. If you win the toss you then have the option of batting or bowling. Although you get a good batting pitch about 5 times out of every 100. As the teams and umpires stroll out onto the middle David Gower and Richie Benaud talking about each team’s chances in today’s game and the world cup. The graphics are the real high-point of this game and with TV style replays you can see the super graphics from many different angles. You get some magnificent catches and when catches are made the graphics are excellent. Another strong point is the commentary from David Gower and Richie Benaud. Games without being sped up and pressing the space bar often take a while and Gower and Benaud always find something to talk about. Bad points on the commentary are the fact that there is no mention of a hat trick being taken or any mention of 50’s or 100’s etc.
Review by Jaco Naude. I could not wait for World cup cricket 99 to hit the shelf here in South Africa. And then finally it did and I went and got myself a copy. I raced home and started the installation program which seemed to take about 5 minutes but that didn't bother me I finally got the game... And then it started, the menu's are ok but who cares anyway so on to a single player game and I select two sides and believe it or not there are no real stats per player or team just a graphics bar. That's ok still who really cares its gameplay that counts right. So on to the game itself, I have a P200 and Voodoo 2 graphics card and never thought it could be this slow from the opening screens you can tell this gaming code is far from perfect. After the toss I decided to bowl. Simulation is very important to me in a cricket game and according to EA this was the sure thing. So first ball just outside off stump and boom it gets whacked for four, ok no problem aggressive batsmen that's all. so next ball shorter and I bowled him, next ball about same place and guess what bowled again. Then two dot balls and another wicket. Second over I got whacked for about 3 sixes and one ore more wickets. GREAT after 6 overs I was swearing and throwing stuff around because India were all out for 40 runs, I'm not an Indian fan it's because this game really REALLY sucks. EA had a lot to say about Brian Lara Cricket and I think they should keep their mouth shut they are throwing their name away. Codemasters have done a great job and BLC is the best there is. I would give WC99 about 3 out of 10. P.S. You would also think a huge company like EA would include 3Dfx in their games, this game is so slow it is impossible to bat and therefor I can't even comment on the batting. They do support 3Dfx via DirectX.
Review by Chris Coughlan. After seeing the other reviews at CricketGames.com I have basically the same disappointments.
Review by Bortoli. Well I ran into the local computer shop grabbing the last copy of CWC they had!! (Its not CWC 99 in Australia just CWC.) When I got back to my house I ran straight to the computer I shoved the CD in the drive and waited. I installed the game and nothing happened. I deleted the game and tried again no luck. It must have been 3rd time lucky because it worked. I watched the opening movie and was thinking wouldn't it be great if they could make the in-game graphics like these. Well to my surprise these were the actual in-game graphics. Its was so real that I had to blink. Well the graphics are the best but because EA had to rush the game, the gameplay is not quite up to the usual EA standard. The batting control is very realistic and it is very hard to make heaps of runs straight away. The bowling is too easy and you will probably get them all out for about 30 first game you play. Well now onto the faults:
With the patch the game will turn into THE BEST cricket game ever! without the patch it is a little below par!
Review by Richard Plimmer. I have always wanted a decent cricket game but unfortunately none have been created until now. When I first heard about this game I was very excited and I am glad to say it has lived up to my expectations with only a few glitches. The first thing I noticed was the graphics. It is hard to describe them with anything less than unbelievable (that is with the highest settings). Players movements are so realistic and the flexibility as far as replays goes is excellent. Where cricket games have really lacked in the past has been the gameplay in my opinion. EA sports have created a cricket game that has good gameplay in some aspects and bad gameplay in some aspects. Bowling in CWC has actually been very cleverly thought out. You are able to control all aspects of bowling including spin, seam and swing and this is done by a golf type method. This is one thing that although clever lacks somewhat. After playing the game I began to master this method and the computer batsmen really have trouble playing my deliveries and quite often get out (infact pretty regularly). Although when you think you've got them totally under control, they lash out and smash you for a few boundaries. Quite unpredictable. The computer has not scored over 100 in any game though and I've played against them even on the highest difficulty setting. Although bowling once mastered limits the computer to low scores, batting in CWC is actually quite a big challenge and reaching even these low scores can be quite difficult. The computer bowling AI is actually quite clever and they seem to try everything to try and dismiss you (e.g. bowl around the wicket if they can't dismiss you). Overall I think this game is pretty good as far as cricket games go but could have been better. Big fans of cricket will definitely relish smacking some of those Aussies to the boundary!
Review by Phil Martin. Well I would have loved to do a long review, telling of all the great game play and action that this game definitely possesses. However my enthusiasm has been squashed but the one underlying fact, that it is impossible to play a convincing game of cricket. The computer AI needs some serious work, and whether or not EA can fix this problem is anyone's guess. If all you want to do is hit balls and take wickets (and believe me, you "will" take wickets) and don't really care about griping match play or what the score is, than this is your game. The actual game play control in this game is better than with Shane Warne Cricket99. However SWC at least gives you the chance to have a reasonable game of cricket. CWC gives you no chance at all. My advice is wait and see if EA does fix this game.
Review by Ian Mond. I don't mean to be negative but I dislike World Cup 99 immensely. Let's get something straight first. My computer is a 200 Pentium with a Voodoo 2 3D card. Now according to the requirements inside the book -- and not on the box -- which is very objectionable, a 233 is recommended. Therefore, it's no surprise that my game runs like a dog. Still, even if I did have a 233, I don't think I'd like CWC. A) I dislike the fact that when you hit the ball the camera immediately changes perspective. It is very disconcerting and adds a jerkiness to the game that might have something to do with computer, or might be inherent within the game. B) All the players are right handed. This is a stupid oversight, which should never have occurred, no matter what the FAQ says about the EA programmers not having the time etc . . C) It's too easy to dismiss the opponent side. On my first try -- and I was only experimenting at the time -- I dismissed Zimbabwe for 22 using Kenya. I'm sorry, but this is not even remotely realistic . . . a real disappointment. D) The batting makes little sense. The cone thing is a nice idea . . . but the ball doesn't seem to go where it should not matter how I time it . . . and the shot selection looks a little strange, still this might have something to do with my abilities rather then game. Even so, it was very easy to run down the pitch and a hit a 4 runs off every ball and score 50 in three overs (using the power stroke). Very reminiscent of EA '97. E) The commentary is boring, more so than SW99. I didn't expect much, but I hate the fact that Richie makes that damn Larry Doolie comment again. (Just a personal gripe). F) The pitch conditions vary between Wet and Dry. This is also another one of those, "hey guys we didn't have the time, but there will be a patch to fix this up" type of situation. Of course, this nullifies the whole idea of playing in the same conditions as those played in during the real World Cup games. Also the idea of resorting to patches to fix problems that should never have existed, is extremely irritating. G) And why are there no player averages. I might have missed this, but from what I could see all the player average are displayed through a yellow bar. Not good at all. H) When you hit a shot and it goes into the outfield and the fielder throws back to the keeper or bowler, the camera does not track the ball. It stays on the fielder. Therefore, everyone looks tiny . . . and there is the possibility of getting run out coz you have no idea where the ball or where you players are on the pitch. I) And for that matter, when you did hit the ball, the camera moves so quickly, sometimes it hard to pick up where it's going - this mainly happens when you hit a boundary. I think that's enough gripes for the moment. (Oh, there wide and no ball system is also a little screwy . . . the legside wide is rarely ever given unless its 5ft outside leg stump). But I think you might see why I dislike the game even excluding the fact that it doesn't run well on my computer. SW99, looks better and plays better. And this really shits me coz I really wanted to like CWC. Anyway, that's my two cents worth.
Review by Karan Kamdar. I just bought the CWC 99 CD ROM.But I am not too pleased the way it works.I would rate it 5/10. There are some defects which are as follows: 1) It's true that there are no left-handers in the game. This hopefully will be fixed later. 2) The camera is ugly. It's I call it "a nightmare". Cricket 97 had got a much better camera. Although there are several cameras which Cricket 97 lacked, the camera that is used while a user plays is mounted.You cannot see the ball clearly and also the shot which the batsman plays. You can't tell where the ball is after it is hit by the batsman. Is it a 4 or a 6 remains a secret unless the commentator speaks something. You need to have a good sight. But this puts a lot of strain. That's bad. 3) Once we select a different camera to play a ball, it is not the same for the next ball. It means that our selected camera remains temporary for just one ball. The camera is then again switched back to default. That's bad!! 4) When the shot is hit by a batsman there is a slight interruption. Can anyone spot this? 5) The fielder always catches the ball running backwards which looks ugly. 6) Even though EA Sports have criticised Codemasters they need to look out for their own defects.
Review by Colin Gray. Still very early days for me - only about 6 - 7 hours so far. First impressions quite positive. The control mechanism for bowling and batting gives plenty of flexibility - with practice I think it will feel pretty natural. Grounds look great - players slightly weird at times with legs out in front of the torso, but the movement is good. Sound a mixture - crowd noise is a bit subdued (especially in comparison to the real thing in WI v Pakistan today !)and not always in time with the action. The commentary is ok - will get repetitive quickly - but occasionally comes up trumps with Benaud dropping in a relevant comment with the bowlers name etc. The AI is ok - but the computer controlled batsmen seem to hit everything straight for 4 or 6, or sweep from off stump for 4 or 6. Very few quick singles taken by the computer - mind you when you try to take them when you are batting they tend to run you out with direct hits, or when they (rarely) miss you get 4 overthrows ! Other observations include no left handed batsmen, and when bowlers go around the wicket the non striker stays on the same side of the wicket ! Also Vettori the NZ spinner comes in on a medium pace run up. Despite the criticisms I must admit it is great fun, and I have just scratched the surface on medium skill settings. I imagine that as a two player game it will be fantastic. It is the best action cricket game I have played and I look forward to really giving it some time. Certainly a base from which further improvements could be made.
Review by Shannon Rowe. I couldn't wait to pick this game up and got hold of it the day it came into the shop, unfortunately it was a little bit disappointing. There are no left hand batsmen, bowling couldn't be easier ( you have to try to bowl badly to make the computer score over 20 runs, even in the hardest difficulty setting), and a lot of un-true statistics for the players ratings. On a higher note the graphics are pretty good, and the commentary and atmosphere is also good. Overall it is probably the best cricket game on the market in my opinion.
Review by Stephen Westmore. EASports World Cup Cricket came out on the 14th May 1999, and I was down at my local vendor, eager to grab my copy. I must admit that being an avid cricket fan, I have been eagerly awaiting this titles release. The previews and graphic shots that appeared in regards to World Cup Cricket, had set my expectations high!! On arrival home I unpacked the CD and proceeded to load the game up, and it was a pleasant surprise to see a truly professional presentation, as the game loads you are treated to a discussion between Richie Benaud and David Gower about the history of the World Cup. The game finally loaded, the option is given to whether you want to run the game, Hell YES!!!. And then alas, the disappointments begin, firstly the menu is appalling, terrible fonts and extremely bland, compared to other EA efforts this is well below Par, BUT we are here to play cricket not look at fancy Menu Screens, so of course, I ignore my Disappointment and move on to a game. However, because you are exposed to this awful menu screens over and over again in relation to setting up for your game, you just can ignore the fact, crappy interface. BUT what about the game, well, once all your options are adjusted (screen resolution, team selection, length of game, etc) you are transported to the cricket pitch for the coin toss, the graphics at this stage look promising. Hey I won the toss, we are going to bat. So out come my to openers, Gilchrist and Waugh (Mark that is), the graphics are good, nice animations and textures. Now the batting interface, this looks promising a new way to hit the ball, you are provided with this cone that protrudes from you batsman bat, no depending where the cone is positioned will determine what type of shot you will play, however, it does not work that way no matter where you point the cone the batting animation is the same, unless you execute a very late cut. This destroys any atmosphere the game might of had during batting. Sorry EA but Codemasters have done a better job in Shane Warnes Cricket. The Bowling, is a little better, in that, you can do quite alot with the ball, however, it is way to easy to get teams out, playing at 75% of full difficulty, I have managed to ball out Scotland for 16, New Zealand for 19 and England for 23. Again, atmosphere destroying stuff. This is a brief cover of the faults I have noticed so far in the Game, it is still an enjoyable game, but with the points I have outlined above and the inclusion of several bugs, the worst being if you are run out, you are still awarded the run that you were running for. Considering the build up and from whom the game was coming from, I would have to say that EA have let their fans and themselves down. If you own a copy of Shane Warnes Cricket(or Brian Lara's for you Brits) keep it and wait for EA Cricket 2000.
Review by Geoff Talbot. Well, I have it. And it is slow. I have a P200 w/ a Voodoo2 4mb card and even on the lowest setting (640x480 + low detail) it is slow in a game situation. Oh for a 450mhz machine :( Anyway, on to the game: I only played it on the easiest setting, and found that bowling is ridiculously easy(as in bowl same spot every ball and get a wicket every ball) but batting is quite difficult on the first attempt. The controls are easy for bowling ( move ellipse to select where to bowl, then hold down x and press d-keys to choose type and extremity of delivery, then press z once to start run-up and pace meter, then z again to stop pace meter), and reasonably easy for batting (d-keys to move batter[can come forward or back] then hold x and press left or right to move the hitting cone, then z for normal, x for defensive, or both for aggressive shots). Fielding is controlled entirely by the computer, with no option to change this. There are unlimited camera positions without entering cheat codes :) . All the graphs etc. are included and the wagon wheels (batting charts) are 3d so you can see the trajectory of the shot also. And there is NOT an editor.However judging by the look of the team and player stats, and the file structure, it should be possible to make one. Running between the wickets involves pressing z to start each run, and pressing it repeatedly to sprint during a run, or just once to slow the batsmen to an amble. Fielding placements are completely editable and saveable. Simulation of an innings is possible, as is simulating just one over, and there are options to show highlights as the innings or over progresses (i.e. wickets, chances, boundaries, or even run rates). However, I have found that once these highlights occur, control of the game seems to be given back to the player. Multiplayer: The only option for multiplayer games is to have one person controlling one team and another the other team. No network or modem support. HUGE PROBLEM THAT MUST BE ADDRESSED: Games can only be saved at the end of a match. Ridiculous to force this upon us whilst making the game a 'simulator' of the WC. It takes too long to play a full 50 over game, and yet they expect us to do this without saving at all!!
Review by Matthew Crawford. I picked up this game in Hobart Australia about an hour before the actual start of the World Cup. The attendant at the store told me I was the first person in the state to get it, so I guess not too many people got to start playing it before the cup began, but at least they stuck to there promise and released it on time. The game cost $50... usually a new release game will cost between $80 - $90 here so I was pleasantly surprised. I've been getting pretty excited leading up to the release of this game, but thankfully it lived up to my expectations... the graphics are great, commentary is good, gameplay is really good with the new control system taking quite a lot of getting used to. The atmosphere of the game is great. Unfortunately, I think they needed about another week in developing this game. The players names are incorrect, for example, Australia does not have players such as Adam Dale, Shane Lee and Damian Martyn in the squad of 20... this is ridiculous! Unfortunately they also get some players attributes mixed up, for example, Ricky Ponting is listed as a batsman, but as a bowler they have him listed as Left arm off spin... while Mark Waugh is listed as a medium pacer. Also, as everybody already seems to know, the graphics of left handers still appear right handed. While these mistakes detract from the initial impression a little bit, it doesn't change the fact that its a great game. Buy it. |
Revised:
Saturday, 16 March 2013. |
