With the FIFA World Cup currently breaking hearts in South Africa it seems like a difficult time to launch a sports game that isn’t about kicking a bag of air into a bag of holes. There are minor concessions for slapping a fuzzy yellow ball around a field but that is about as far as most people’s sporting attentions are stretched this summer.
The press and populace seem gripped by the English football failures and British hopes for something other than abject failure at Wimbledon. I would urge you all to remember the cricket. We can win at cricket. This very summer England are orchestrating a one-day whitewash of Australia which only needs two more victories.
Cricket is the quintessential summer sport. Reliable, tactical, paced and measured. Cricket is about judgements of fractions of an inch rather than whether balls have bounced two feet over a line or not. Cricket has Hawk-Eye. Yes, there are those of you who will object to the slow pace of test matches. There will be those who don’t think that “one-day” counts as a pared-down, speedier way of playing a match. Cricket isn’t for everyone. But it could be.
In the early nineties I learned the rules and nuances of many sports by playing video games. John Madden taught me about Hail Marys and Shotguns. Jeremy Roenick showed me slapshots and dekes. I learned about travelling and dunking with the superstars of the NBA and Hardball taught me the joys of a double play or a stolen base in the ninth. With International Cricket 2010 Codemasters could provide the same service for Cricket.
The game isn’t as polished as some of the EA Sports big-hitters. Character models are recognisable but perhaps not to the level of detail in Madden or even FIFA. Animations are slightly stilted in places and in irrelevant areas (i.e. not the stumps or pads) the collision detection is non-existant. The menu is the only place to feature music and it’s the same few bars from Kasabian’s Fast Fuse. Even the commentary, from some of the game’s greats, is delivered without confidence and features the same limited stock of phrases read by everyone. Presentation is not this title’s strong point.
There are a wealth of game modes from the quick-fire twenty20 games to full Tests and tournaments featuring limited overs or One-Day Internationals. Team selection rounds up every nation you can think of that likes to swing willow. The major nations are there – England, Australia, India etc. But there are also a plethora of the lesser-known players on the cricket stage – Bermuda, Ireland, Netherlands etc. as well as some teams just to bulk up numbers (Devils, Thunder etc.). There are licenses from the ECB and Cricket Australia as well as the MCC but not for every team.
There are plenty of stadia (all seem accurately modelled) and weather options to give a decent level of variation to the game. Add to that the multitude of un-lockable kit and there is a decent amount of variety to fill out the game. You can edit players and squads so the lack of comprehensive licensing doesn’t have to be a major problem.
After playing through the tutorials (which can take up to two hours and is heavily encouraged) you will have a sound knowledge of how to control the game and the best strategies to unsettle your opponents. You will also be beginning to get to grips with some of the terminology which can be foreign to cricket newcomers. The game guides you through the meaning of leg-side and off-side, slips, covers, spin, swing, bouncers, yorkers and doosras without preaching to you or becoming bogged-down in encyclopaedic presentations. You learn by playing.
Each game, even the twenty20 games which are limited to twenty overs each (six balls bowled in an over) can take a while to complete. Luckily, there is a genius option to save your game at any point (or simulate overs, innings or entire match if you just want to see the result) so you can get four hours into a test match and save your progress for another day. This means that you can jump in to play a couple of overs and then save and switch off again. It takes what is traditionally seen as one of the slowest (and, by the uninitiated, boring) sports and makes it far quicker to play than a game of FIFA with four minute halves.
Impressively, the game tracks a huge amount of data. You are shown Hawk-Eye simulations or the path taken by the last twenty-five scoring hits between overs. You can call up statistics during play to view the scorecard and determine the best way of bowling to a batsman or hitting boundaries off a particular bowler. It’s easy to play but, if you wish, there is a wealth of statistical data being tracked to allow you to get minutely tactical about it.
The game is played, by default from a close-up third-person viewpoint. This allows for ease of control and makes the player feel close to the action but it can also mean that you’re not totally aware of everything on the field of play. Holding the triggers while running as a batsman enables you to see either your own crease or your running partner but the default view of the ball position often makes it slightly disorienting when running.
Pros:
- Eases you into the complicated world of cricket.
- Intuitive controls.
- Makes the sport more accessible than ever in a video game.
Cons:
- Presentation could be better.
- Viewpoint is often a bit disorienting.
- Takes a while to get comfortable with.
International Cricket 2010 is the most playable cricket game available to date. There is still some room for improvement but for those who love cricket this is the best you can hope for until next year and it really is quite an enjoyable simulation. For newcomers to the sport this will serve as a perfect tutorial and a welcoming way to get to grips with what can be quite a daunting set of rules and terminologies.
