Cricket 2004 - my views

cricketfan1

School Cricketer
Joined
Oct 26, 2003
Location
uk
Online Cricket Games Owned
Heres a sort of receit or assesment of my thought on cricket 2004 after the interview with EA's Andrew Wilson, ive taken out a few key quotes from the interview and give some of my views:-

"The content changes are major, especially with the introduction of the Pura and ING cups, and the English county cricket, as well as the domestic seasons that are part of that environment"

-ive always wanted a game with domestic cricket and also many others have since the days of BLC 95 on SEGA - and here we have it. also some major content changes sound interesting

"The player editor is another big content jump. There's a lot more gameplay in 2004 than in 2002?

- to be fair to EA game play was the HUGE problem that people were complaining about in the last release, they have taken note and done some work for the new release, sounds promising. Also the player editor came in for a huge slating by almost everyone who has played this game! the new player editor sound absolutely fascinating with different weights hair etc....


?as the new title has been build using the Renderware engine?

-i done a little research on renderware engine and i found out it has greater prospects for more detailed graphics than Alpha and other builds, hopefully this means greater graphical prospects for the new game

?AI wasn't there." he said. "It is now.?

-now come on guys... lets be honest who didn't take a pop at the pathetic AI in 2002? - 'i score double-century's with Mcgrath or Murali...' ive heard that being said so many times in reviews and views of the game!! maybe that's more to do with game play, but the AI is also woeful with fielding and the unrealistic scoring rates, strategies and so on - so its great to see EA have improved AI for 2004.

?We've also improved the rain, which was another area that people complained about in Cricket forums."?

- for me this is the key quote of the bunch, it shows that EA have taken note of what WE think in cricket forum as we do know best! and also WE HAVE RAIN AT LAST!

?Cricket 2004 will feature a season mode in common with other EA Sports franchise modes.??

- now this is a feature that will have the die hard cricket fans dribbling at the mouth, to play domesticly or international in a season mode, a domestic season with all trophies, imagine how great that would be

"The one new thing that I love is the batting confidence meter.?

- what more can i say than fantastic, this sounds like a great feature and once more it shows EA have taken notice of our opinions as ive heared numerous people stressing the inclusion of this for future realeases and here we have it.

"There's a lot that we've implemented into the game in the current build, which is still in development"

- ' the proof is in the pudding' as they say, and this quote is the pudding. It is telling some people who have put the writing on the wall for this game before release that it IS NOT YET FINISHED

?Cricket 2004 was a significantly better looking game than its predecessor, and even at this early stage it looked better than Rugby 2004?

- This is great news that a first hand gamer has said its better than Rugby2004 in the Alpha build, thats really promising. And ive played Rugby and its not as Bad as people give it credit for so Cricket sounds even more promising.

"The whole game looks better; if you've seen Rugby 2004, well, there's a lot more detail going into Cricket 2004."

- Once more hits home the point that this game has had more work than the Rugby game which is currently out, and i notice that theres not just more detail going into cricket, but a LOT more detail and Detail is what creates the finer elements of a good solid game.

?improvements from Cricket 2002 are immediately evident.

- once more this is the view of a first hand gamer who has played the early Alpha build, this is very promising

?the game moves much more smoothly and realistically now.?

- i know you would all agree that realism is what seperates the great games from the good games and especially in games as delicate such as cricket, and also its good to hear it will run more smoothly as there was never nough frames per second in the last version and slo motion re-plays were painful to watch!

?build players from 13 nations, with 11 different body types, 24 faces (which included skin tones).?

- to me this just sounds amazing, to have an editor as good as say the FIFA editor of 2002 would be awsome for a cricket fan. implemented into a cricket title (for once!) after the dissapointment of the solo name changing in last times effort, 13 nationalities, 11 bodys 24 faces and skin that sounds really intriguing
?13 different batting and 15 different bowling attributes, as well as fielding and miscellaneous attributes.?

- once again this is something that a lot of us have asked for in the new game, the abillity for batters and bowlers alike to have different strategys and techniques (attributres) and 15 and 13 sounds really good

?Australian and English domestic teams as well as a number of special teams such as the Prime Minister's XI.?

- im certain this will be a big hit with the gamers, county cricket and state cricket will be the ultimate feature for really big cricket fans who follow local teams, and also a mouth-watering prospect is touring with e.g England and playing a president XI to warm up for the first Test, sounds great.

?with an early Alpha build of the game?

- once more this just emphasises that the game isnt being previewed in its final build, far from it in fact, and that means improvements before release

?the nets are a good first berth; in-between deliveries they'll give specific help on improving your skills.?

- This sounds excellent, the abillity to have a coach giving you tips in between deliveries in the net practice mode

?As promised, the wicket keeper did indeed field intelligently?

- Good to hear a gamer who is testing the game saying that the wicket Keeper doesent field like a zombie like in 2002. It would be great to see the keeper fielding more accurately on run outs and stumpings

?the commentary audio responded well to the onfield action and certainly adds to the authentic atmosphere of the game.?

- after the glitches and bugs of last times commentary it would be good to see some commentary on the same wave length as the play. Once again this is really promising for the new game

After looking at these quotes that is my assesment of the game. I believe that EA may give us a little suprise and pull a rabbitt out of the hat on this one. With the numerous new features included and the basic adjustments from the last version in AI, gameplay etc... this has all the hallmars of a classic game.

I think this game sounds like a really promising product, and i hope some of you care to reply with your own views on the matter
 

bomber

Club Cricketer
Joined
Nov 28, 2001
Location
Adelaide, Australia.
Online Cricket Games Owned
It does sound promising, hopefully EA will start making Cricket games with all the features of Fifa titles? I think we all will have a good idea after Cricket 2004 has been released?

Good to see the County & State teams included in this one. Everything sounds perfect, hopefully it will be!!

Thanks for all the info & your thoughts Cricketfan1.
 

cricketfan1

School Cricketer
Joined
Oct 26, 2003
Location
uk
Online Cricket Games Owned
To me its obvious that EA has done some homework on this one, and with a little logic its clear that a game such as cricket2002 after the tattering that it took in Forums and reviews worldwide is going to be highly improved, especially as there was 2 years in between games (cricket '02 - 04') where as Fifa and other games release annually. This gives the producers more time to prepare

Im a great believer in 'giving and then improving' - basically meaning releasing a game time after time e.g. 2000, 2002, 2004....Before long the game will of course improve. And because of this EA will get rapped once more by many of us for cricket 2004, we will give them stick over this release undoubtedly, that is what makes the games get better they enjoy our views, i heared Andrew Wilson saying that the cricket market keeps him in a job because of the huge demand of cricket fans.

However im still going to sit on the fence over weather this will be a GREAT game, because im sure many of us will be critical and dissapointed, im certain it will be much more playable than 2002 and will be well polished and improved.
 

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