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Please send me your own reviews of Cricket 2002 for the PS/2. Online Reviews Review by Cricket Web. Review by Future Gamez. Review by Games Domain. Review by GameSpot UK. Review by GamerXtreme. Magazine Reviews Review by
PlayNation - 7 Good Reviews Review by Ghassan Elgorr. My Review of Cricket 2002 Here is a short review after 1 month of playing the game. It is divided into 3 sections Section 1 Graphics The stadium detail is very good, you can really identify them because each one has its own features, the crowd detail is also good because you can even see them clapping when someone reaches 50 or 100. Sadly the player detail isn't as spectacular, everyone has the same face which looks demented and dreary. The ball looks very realistic as you can see the seam even when it's flying through the air. The kits look very real, but what's all this with the EA Sports bat and stumps, talk about self promotion. Section 2 Gameplay The gameplay is very simple to learn but very hard to master. As usual batting is all about timing, so don't worry if you get out for 10 the first time you play. (my top score is still only 102) Spending some time in the batting nets should help you out. A welcome inclusion though is the charge button so now you will be able to run out of your crease and smack it for six, but this also means if you miss it when playing a spinner you will get stumped. Bowling is much more tricky especially in a test match were the batsman don't try and slog as much. You must learn all about line and length so just firing in yorkers all the time won't work. Also you must learn how to bowl spin and swing correctly to. But when you finally learn it (like my mate has) you'll be able to go through the joy of canning the Aussies 5-0 in Australia in a test series. There are 7 pitch types. From Hard being a batsmens heaven with a very fast outfield, to Dusty which is a weird and irregular pitch which spinners will love to, Wet which is rubbish to bat and bowl except you do get the occasional irregular one which again is an advantage to spinners. The ball gets effected by how old it is e.g. a ball that is less than 15 overs old spin less than a 30-45 over old ball A new ball will get an incredible amount of swing but a ball which is over 50 overs old will get none. You can pick from all 10 test playing nations plus Kenya and Scotland, to play in a large variety of options from a 10 over slog fest to a 5 match test series. You can also compete in 4 Unique One day tournaments which are
Section 3 Multiplayer The multiplayer is good but it will give you enjoyment in One day 10 or 20 over slog fest as no one really wants to play a 5 match test series when they come round. The option of manual Fielding is quite fun when you are both crap at it. The verdict Graphics 7/10
Review by Glenn Stiemens. After many hours of playing EA's other attempts at creating an 'ultimate' cricket game, I was hoping EA might just get it right - and I wasn't disappointed. OPTIONS The game includes several different game modes Exhibition, World Cup, Test Series, World Series and Knockout. The Sharjah trophy is also included but the World Cup has to be won to unlock this. Disappointingly, no test championship feature is included and no classic matches or scenarios have been included. Practice Nets have also been included and have a meter that tells the batsman how well they are timing their shots. Which is very helpful when you are trying to perfect the timing of your shots. Only international teams are included (12 of these) and some bonus teams that need to be unlocked by winning certain challenges. No data editor was included which is disappointing but names can be changed. The squads are reasonably up to date and each country appears to have 20 players in their squad. Statistics are only tracked inside competitions which is frustrating - why didn't EA make it track over all matches? During the matches saving the game is very quick and easy, which is good because it is very wise to save often due to the game freezing every now and then. SOUND The commentary is provided by Richie Benaud and Jim Maxwell. This is perhaps the weakest part of the game. It has flaws that should really have been picked up during testing. For example, both commentators contradict each other (and sometimes themselves) when something happens in the game. Crowd noises are nothing special but do help create an atmosphere when playing in the West Indies etc. GRAPHICS The graphics in Cricket 2002 are good. The stadiums are accurately modelled as well as the players. In one-day internationals numbers appear on the back of player's shirts and the kits are well represented. Players wear caps, jumpers etc. One disappointing thing is that the wicket-keepers gloves look like those baseball glove things. Pitches have rough patches appearing during test matches but these are not kept after you save and quit the match. STATS Many different graphs are useful during the game including worm graphs, manhattans, runs scoring charts. Scorecards and other displays are very clear and easy to read. GAMEPLAY Whilst in general the gameplay is good, some annoying flaws do exist, such as fielders turning 180 degrees when throwing in the ball. For LBW appeals, EA have included the strip that runs wicket to wicket, although hawk-eye is missing. In my opinion, Cricket 2002 has the most sophisticated control system seen on a cricket game. When Batting you can chose to play eight different shots either on the back foot or on the front shot. Timing is essentially the key but good placement can get many runs at the beginning of an innings when the CPU has most of the fielders in close. You can also use powerboost on your shots or leave or duck the delivery. When running there is a nice feature called 'Run Assist' that displays how many runs can be achieved - this can help stop those unnecessary third runs that result in a run out. Bowling is essentially the same to BLC/SWC in that four different delivery types exist. EA have added 'over-stepping' because now you have to stop a meter filling up which alters the pace of the delivery. After the length/line of the delivery has been fixed a movement marker can be adjusted which effects the seam/spin/swing of a delivery. These small additions make bowling less of a mind-less process that was previously boring on BLC/SWC. Fielding set-ups are excellent. Cricket 2002 includes the feature to set your own fields. Although annoyingly, these can be lost when you change the other bowlers field set-up. Hopefully, EA will allow you to save field setting in Cricket 2003. ROUND-UP + Controls - No editor FINAL SCORE Graphics 7.5/10 OVERALL 8/10 - a very decent attempt by EA and the best representation of the game yet. Hopefully in Cricket 2003 (if it is released), they will include a player editor and domestic sides. In my opinion, this game is well worth the money if you are cricket fan, although, some might find it's flaws very annoying. |
Revised:
Saturday, 16 March 2013. |
