Rain stops play
So we’re down to the last over before poor light stops play and it’s time to bundle my thoughts into a coherent whole. As such, I’ll have to say that Cricket 2005 is a reasonable game, but no more than that. The unbalanced gameplay is it’s biggest problem by far, with the ease of bowling serving only to highlight just how hard it is to hit the ball. You’ll find as you play that your timing tends you towards playing a particular shot, and you’ll not be able to help but keep playing the same shot because then at least you get to hit the ball. Why there’s such a range of shots in here is beyond me as the split second timing required to play them will be utterly beyond most gamers abilities. I’m sure many will disagree and say they can play any shot they fancy, but the point of batting is to be able to stick the ball where you want it to go given the ball bowled at you. The batting system in Cricket 2005 makes this a very ‘hit and miss’ affair… with far more misses than hits.
Cricket 2005’s other big problem is the AI. Sure it’s an improvement on past attempts and the ‘sweet spot’ for bowling AI out has gone. But EA have gone too far the other way this time and the AI are all demons at the wicket and in the field. There seems to be very little in the way of errors programmed in and the game feels like you’re playing a computer. Just like those shoddy racing games where the AI cars take a perfect driving line and never crash, the AI players in Cricket 2005 have lightning fast reactions and catching and throwing skills beyond that of us mere mortals. But it’s clear the AI is just a basic set of trajectory calculations as they don’t actually have any brains. Bowl the ball at the same point each time and the AI will play the same shot, regardless of player skill or confidence. It’s almost as if the game has been programmed by people who’ve read a rule book and a training manual but never actually been to a live match or played a game… You could well be better off waiting for the Codemasters’ Brian Lara International Cricket 2005 and seeing what that has to offer.
And I would’ve left it there but for one thing… I found out this has been coded by HB Studios based in Canada and EA Canada also based in, erm... Canada, a country hardly world renowned for its cricket, hey? So now we know why Cricket 2005 feels like it does and on that note, I’ll leave it there, ‘nuff said, really.
Pros
Comprehensive teams and players
Loads of stadia
Nicely detailed players
Bowling a doddle
Cons
Batting is a nightmare
AI never make mistakes
Graphics oddly ‘blurry’
AI routines never vary
Commentary becomes repetitive very quickly
Fielding up in the ‘superhuman’ league
Like catching a googly in the googlies, it's just not cricket.
