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Please send me your own reviews of International Cricket Captain 2. Review by 'Dizzy' Gillespie. After updating ICC constantly and playing ACC til my eyes boggled, I was in need of a new version of ICC with the possibility of being able to captain any nation with the bonus of the English county sides. This possibility became a reality when I purchased a copy of ICC 2.It offered twice as much as ICC with a fresher and new-improved look.Living in Australia, I purchased the game for a mere AUD$21.95 (which is equivalent to about 8 or 9 pounds, I think). Since I picked it up, I have never looked back, as Empire have created a much improved list of features, both in gameplay and graphics. The ability to to captain any nation is what grabbed me at first, being a die-hard cricket fan. I could captain not only the mother country (like in ACC) plus manage my other favoured nations such as Zimbabwe and try and do the inevitable, that is win a test series. Playing the World Cup is also an added bonus as it is not included in the match fixtures for the 1999 season on ICC or ACC. These options provide infinite hours of fun and would keep any cricket lover occupied both in the English and Aussie summers. Furthermore, the gameplay is more challenging than in ICC. More options required by the captain calls for more decisions to be made. The addition of being able to bowl round the wicket is now a tactic which can be employed to combat different left or right handed batsmen. ICC2 makes the captain work for a victory, instead of just clicking over by over. The graphics have been improved to create more lifelike fielder animations such as spectacular diving catches. Jonathon Agnew's vocabulary has increased dramatically making the highlights very much a fun and realistic aspect of the game. The addition of a third umpire is also a bonus, which was not seen in ICC. All in all, ICC2 is a large improvement on ICC, with an extended list of features and aspects required in captaining a first class or international side. It provides entertainment end on end for any lover of cricket, whether you are captain of Zimbabwe or Derbyshire. And if ICC 2000 is any better than this, the moment it arrives in Australia, I'll be sprinting down to the shops to grab myself a copy. Rating A solid and commemorative 4.5 out of 5.
Review by Andrew Drinkwater (Indigo webmaster). A wise man once said that the best things come to those who wait. For fourteen months now, we have waited for the successor to the ‘biggest selling PC cricket game in the UK’. A small but perfectly formed team of four have rattled away, and finally here is the end product. After all the previews, demos, screenshots and anticipation, I can report that the game is. . . well. . . OK, really. Rather than rebuild the entire game from scratch, Empire have worked on the basis that ‘if it ain’t broke. . .’ Instead of making huge, earth-shattering changes, they have worked on adding the features and touches that fans have requested, and have then polished the game to a shine. In addition to the original game’s county-only gameplay, we now have, predictably, the entire World Cup, and a full International mode, whereby you take control of an International side before the ‘Carnival of Cricket’ and guide them through 20 seasons. These are both welcome additions, and extend the lifespan of the game well beyond the original games. So, to the major changes. First and foremost, we have a full 1999 update, including the new formats for the Natwest Trophy, National League and Super Cup, with a notable absence of County Board XIs from the former. In my opinion, the biggest advances have been made with the database. Not only do we have complete and up-to-date XIs for each English county, but also for every single state and province side in the nine test playing countries. This makes for much more realistic overseas player signing, and also means that the international sides include some lesser names that have made their way to the forefront, rather than the same team all the way through the game until the players retire. Much has been made of the new Youth Team, Coach and Physio feature, but closer inspection reveals that the team haven’t quite gone the whole hog and included hireable staff, but they have a funding feature, which makes for interesting gameplay. You can either channel money into the Youth side and reap the rewards within two seasons, or hang onto the cash and buy players who are already on the county circuit. Pumping money into coaching gives you more training sessions for players, which can be a godsend towards the end of the season, and the physiotherapy feature really seems to make a difference to the length of time that players are injured for, and it can often shave a week or two off lengthy injuries. You can only alter funding of these at the start of the season, when you sign players, as opposed to the end, as in the original. The transfer system has been rebuilt from the ground up. Other counties are now much more competitive, and will often force you to go way above a player’s asking price to get your man. One gripe that I have is that because the counties are more aggressive, they tend to hang on to their players more, leaving the very worst of the county players available to sign - of course, you don’t know this until you’ve finished with your contract renewal, so if you release a player, thinking that you can replace him with someone better, you’ll simply be left signing a player that no-one else wants. The interface, which was applauded for its simplicity and intuitiveness, has been given a good lick of paint. We now have navy blue drop-down menus, animated icons and buttons, and a hyperlink system. This hasn’t been taken to ridiculous extremes a la Championship Manager 3, but owes more to the second game in that trilogy. There is now a remote control for skipping seamlessly between menus, although, to be honest, I hardly used it during play, though this might be the fact that I’m still used to playing the original game. One promised feature was a database editor, and Empire should hang their heads in shame for not including it. The original game’s lifespan was extended for months by a constant stream of expansions made by fans of the game, and an editor was seen as an essential inclusion. A current rumour is that an official editor will emerge as part of a patch within the next few months, though there is no official source on this. Either way, it should have been in the game from the start. Once you’ve made all your financial decisions, and set up a training regime, its time to select your side and take the field. In the original, picking your side was based on your form, and your knowledge of original players. This time, each player that does not make the First XI plays in the Second XI, and therefore has a Second XI average. Fast bowler not pulling his weight? Batsman can’t put a good score together? Drop him to the second team, and wait until he improves enough to get a run in the side. Man-management like this will help you to reach the rich seam of success at the heart of the game. So, finally, you can lead your team out to glory, or not, as the case may be. The system for matches used in the first game has been refined and tuned, and now allows for bowlers to go around the wicket (I am still mystified as to why it was left out of ICC), and incorporates a new replay system, whereby clicking on the fall of any wicket, or any ball in the previous over, will show that ball in glorious technicolour highlights. These, in particular, have been given great attention by the creators, and we now have diving stops and coloured clothing, plus new caught behinds where, as in real life, a player can be out even if the edge is not visibly detectable. Unfortunately when players run through the outfield they seem to be ‘moonwalking’, though this is a very minor point, and the other improvements to the highlights engine make up for this. When batting, you simply control how aggressive your batsman are. Too low, and they risk getting bogged down and scoring slowly - too high, and they’ll give their wicket away. Striking the right balance is the key to the game. Unfortunately, batting is extremely hard in ICC2, much harder than in the original, and it’ll take hours of perseverance and frequent frustration before you can bat together a decent four day championship score. In ICC, batting in one day matches was relatively easy compared to the championship. In rectifying this, the balance has shifted the other way. Once a wicket falls, the entire team seems to fall away, no matter how low the initial aggression is. Heated run-chases are nigh-on impossible as when you up the aggression, you’ll more often than not see your batsman crumble like a nineties England line up. Bowling can also be a challenge. The AI of the computer teams have improved so that they change their tactics during game. They’ll see off your opening quicks, but the very minute you bring on your spinner or fifth bowler, they’ll up the aggression and get after everything. To combat this, the ‘batsman’s preferences’ have been improved immensely, which can force you to think tactically. If a new batsman arrives at your crease with a strong spin preference, it isn’t a good idea to bring on your off-break bowler. Similarly, if a batsman has a leg-side and fast bowling preference, getting your seamers to pound them in at his ankles will see a flurry of boundaries. The engine seems much less random than before, and as such masters of the original will find it much harder going than newcomers - which is possibly a good thing. Unfortunately, there are still some gremlins in the game. The game has a tendancy to crash during matches, especially at the start of the first over. I have had many crashes during testing, though I am assured by the makers that they are working on patches for the game right now. Bear in mind that the technical support of Empire is probably the best I have experienced, and that by the time you read this, the latest bug-fix may well be out on the net, which should fix many of the bugbears that I experienced. However, these are not available at time of writing, so I have no option but to lop off a few marks. So, ICC2 is a more different beast than you would assume after the first glance. It is certainly much more strategic than the original, and the array of new features are most welcome. I would single out the new budget allocation as the most important, and this should be developed into signable staff for the sequel. Lets not get ahead of ourselves though - for now, ICC2 is, dare I say it, the best cricket game on the market. It may well be tough, it may frustrate you at times, but when you clinch that first trophy, it’ll all have been worth it. GOOD POINTS - World Cup Mode - International Captain Mode - Shiny interface - New financial features - Difficulty level - Youth system - Improved highlights - Two player mode - More strategic gameplay - Huge database - Second XI BAD POINTS - Bugs and crashes - No editor - Impossible one-day batting RATING - Improvements across the board make this essential for any cricket fan - the best in the genre. 88% |
Revised:
Saturday, 16 March 2013. |
