IC2010 hands-on gameplay review

[ThandaMilk]

Funny that, when I set up a thread highlighting many of these points, it seemed to induce an orgy of abuse.

Its not the points you made that induced what you call an orgy of abuse. Given how smart you are and all that jazz, am sure I don't need to spell out for you what did.

ThandaMilk added 5 Minutes and 25 Seconds later...

Got my hands on the game yesterday and played for around 6 hrs or so and have to say I have been extremely underwhelmed by the game so far. Maybe it was coz of all the great reviews and feedback I saw on PC and had high expectations to begin with.

Great review. I'm in a similar boat as yourself - feeling a little underwhelmed. I agree with most of the issues you've raised, and appreciate the fact that you've offered some constructive comments.

Started off with the tutorials - weren't too different from AC09 and the main difference was Action Cam as that was my default view. Went through the batting, bowling and fielding tutorials without much trouble.

One thing I've not really understood about Tutorials in both AC09 and IC10, is why they've been structured in a linear manner - i.e. I need to go through the basic tutorials to access the more advanced ones. Its a very minor point, but since we were on tutorials thought I'd mention it anyhow. Perhaps in future iterations they might consider making the tutorials section more open from the get go.

Then started off with a Test against Eng with me as India in Hard mode and minimal HUD. By the way didn't see too much difference between minimal and full HUD while batting. Stuggled a bit in the first couple of overs as I mistimed shots but by the 3rd over was getting the hang of timing against Anderson and Onions.

Over my first 4-6 hours of playing against the AI, I tried various combinations of difficulty (easy, normal, hard), HUD (full, minimal, off) and camera (action cam, broadcast) options, in the search for what I hoped would be my sweet spot.

I think the number of options in there are bloody fantastic - unparalleled really in terms of other cricket games. As has been oft mentioned by producers and developers of this series, they're trying to cater to both the casual and hardcore gamer; and this variety of options IMHO will form the basis of providing a unique gameplay experience to each of those segments in future editions of the game. (I say future, because in this iteration I think its a noble effort, but one that has some game-breaking issues; more on that below).

Back to the game, I haven't yet found my default go-to option for an enjoyable game of cricket. Here are my notes from the top 3 options I tried:

Hard, Full or Minimal HUD, Action Cam: In this mode more than any other, I found that timing the button press is king. Once I started picking up the pace of the ball, and understood the slightly exaggerated difference in timing windows if the ball is short, good length or full, it became easier to bat. I left the first test match and T20 (batting first) unfinished because I felt unsatisfied with the batting (not as much difficulty, as what the batting mechanics were asking me to focus on - i.e. timing the button press); and headed back to the menu to see how the other combinations felt.

Easy or Normal, No HUD, Action Cam: Before going into Hard with No HUD, I thought it best to give it a run on the easier difficulty levels - hoping I would get used to the system and then graduate to the next level. What I found was similar to what cricket_online has outlined in his post. I could time the ball better on these modes than I would subsequently on hard (because the timing window is more forgiving), but it wasn't as if I was picking the ball out of the bowlers hand, or was basing my shot selection on where the bowling marker appeared just before the ball landed.

Hard, No HUD, Action Cam: VERY tough to bat in IF I try and bat how you're supposed to - i.e. pick up the line, length and pace and execute a shot based on match situation, field settings etc. I've found it neigh impossible to do this so far. I'm hoping I'll get better with time, but I've found it difficult for two reasons:

1. I'm unable to pick the length of the ball soon after its out of the bowler's hand, and therefore have to rely entirely on the pitch mark appearing a split second before I have to play the ball

2. I don't (yet) have enough time to compute all that I need to (line, length, pace, field settings, match situation etc.) in that split second to be able to play a shot on merit. Also, as the only thing that changes in Easy and Normal compared to Hard is the timing window of your shot, I can't do this in either of those modes either.

Now, if I stop trying to play this mode (Hard, HUD Off, Action Cam) like I would normal cricket; I start faring better. Here's how and why:

I drop foot selection (one less thing for me to compute in the time provided); I pre-meditate whether its going to be a defended, ground or lofted stroke (again, a decision I'd rather make after the ball has been released out of the bowler's hand. Agreed, there are situations when you pre-meditate, but not every ball) and I decide to play only in the V. This, unfortunately, dumbs down this mode as well to timing the button press.

Mind you, these are simply initial impressions. Perhaps I'm hungover from Ashes 09, and the change is just too much to get used to in a day. I'm hoping that with time I'll start picking up the ball out of the bowler's hand, or develop better reflexes to be able to make meaningful strokemaking decisions in the limited time after the marker appears.

I'm convinced that a HUD-less or minimized HUD display is ultimately good for cricket gaming. The current system, IMHO, will need to be fundamentally reviewed in future editions of the game for it to provide a gaming experience that's closer to the real thing. The question to be asked is, how do we tweak the system we've built and make changes that reward the right skills - picking line and length, moving front or back, choosing to defend or attack etc., rather than encourage pre-meditation.

I'm actually very impressed with the progress Wealey has been making (per updates on another thread) with his batting in HUD Off. Perhaps a comment from him about whether he's been able to develop an ability to pick the ball and choose shots appropriately, or if he is relying on pre-determined shots in the V, might help me decide whether to keep at HUD off in this game.

More thoughts later, as I get time to gather them and post. Especially around bowling and Online play.

Again, great review cricket_online - meaningful and constructive.

 

[79cricket]

Yeah i agree a good review from cricket_online. He did not tease and laugh at the game. He said its better than ashes and we new it would be, but its not perfect but i think most of the problems you guys are saying can be fixed in a patch. Cricket is so hard to program and codemasters have yet to get it fully right. But i feel they are on the right track. I hope to here from trickstar before oct. If they listen and work with us then im not to upset. Still about 70% of people like the game a lot of that number is going down.ps god i need the game so i can see for myself:banana2

 

[Brook]

When it comes to HUD off, hard, action cam it is difficult. I'd really suggest it only for tests. I don't think it's as difficult as you make out though. Maybe your reflexes have to be faster

 

[cricket_online]

@ThandaMilk,
I share your feelings with respect to tutorials. Can't understand why we can't select a specific tutorial. E.g., if I am struggling with 'Advance down the wicket' shot, i shouldn't be forced to go through all the 10 other 'lessons' before I get to the one I really need. Didn't mention it as it was a minor inconvenience but yeah the ideal way would be to let users select whichever lesson they want to go with.

As for the mode the only realistic one for me, and am assuming for folks who played AC09 extensively, was Hard mode. And tried all the options with respect to HUD on Hard mode - full, minimal and Off. The best one I found out was Minimal HUD.

I would have really wanted to play HUD Off mode but as I explained in my review above this mode increases difficulty in an artificial manner. Don't get me wrong as this is not the case of 'sour grapes' and that I can't score in HUD Off mode. In fact try playing the way I described above - step all the way to the leg side every time and play towards off. In case there is a big gap on the off side, don't select footwork and go with 'Automatic'. In case there's a small gap, opt for Backfoot since you can play almost any delivery off the backfoot in this game.

You will see you can still score runs using this approach, maybe not quickly but you still can. But this approach takes away a lot of fun with respect to gameplay. For me cricket is a game where you need to think and then decide what to do. Every delivery requires batsman to judge line & length, factor in field placing and then decide what shot to play. Similarly everything you do on a cricket field - be it bowling, captaincy or field placement needs one to make an intelligent decision based on various factors. Unfortunately with HUD Off and the approach I described for batting requires pre-mediation in terms of shot selection (target off no matter what) and thus takes a lot away from cricket. Maybe codies should have slider system with HUD Off that allows user to select how early or late they want the bowling marker to show up on screen.

Maybe 'HUD Off' really is a great mode and it's just me who is struggling with it. Then my comment to codies would be why not allow everyone to tweak it so that the mode works for them? Slider system a la Madden is the way to go. In fact they can add sliders to solve other issues as well. For example Codies can have a slider for fielding - 0% means players are slow as zombies while 100% means fielders transform into Usain Bolt on steroids. At least this will allow us to customize the game to suit our needs. Currently I get frustrated when I play a shot to deep cover or deep mid wicket and get 2 most of the times though it should really be one

As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that this is a decent game but there's no way it's good enough to rate 8 or higher, and for cricket fans it's a 'MUST HAVE'. But that being said I still think EA Cricket 07 with 360 degree shot selection would have been a better game than IC10 IMHO. The flicks off the leg and cover drives (front & back foot) were a thing of beauty in EA 07 and these things add a lot to the gameplay.

P.S. - Maybe I am feeling let down as this game is pretty close to the best cricketing simulation ever. A little bit of work on animations, tweaking HUD Off mode and improving fielding along with under-powering back foot shots (hate it when over-pitched and full-pitched deliveries are hit off the back foot for 6 ) will go a long way in enhancing the gameplay exponentially

 

[ThandaMilk]

I don't think it's as difficult as you make out though. Maybe your reflexes have to be faster

Probably. Need to spend more time with HUD off.

Are you able to pick out deliveries and play a full range of shots?

 

[Supershtuffthat]

fantastic review cricket online, I think you are spot on with your comments about the hud-off mode, and the game in general. But saying this, I'm still enjoying the game. I still prefer to play in the normal broadcast mode for batting and bowling, with minimal hud. The AI is competitive and thats what makes the game.

With your large scores - out of interest, what stadiums are you playing at?

 

[cricket_online]

fantastic review cricket online, I think you are spot on with your comments about the hud-off mode, and the game in general. But saying this, I'm still enjoying the game. I still prefer to play in the normal broadcast mode for batting and bowling, with minimal hud. The AI is competitive and thats what makes the game.

With your large scores - out of interest, what stadiums are you playing at?

I played at Edgbaston or Headingley (can't remember which one), Johannesberg and Melbourne

 

[Supershtuffthat]

I definitely think each ground affects scoring rate, as size of the boundary and outfield speed vary from stadium to stadium - which I think is a positive.

 

[angad]

'HUD Off' is a nice idea but implementation left a lot to be desired IMO. You tend to see the bowling marker/reticule way too late for you to judge and play a shot. Initially I thought I wasn't seeing the marker early so changed the setting back to minimal HUD and batted till my batsmen (Gambhir and Dravid) reached full confidence. Switched to HUD Off mode again and didn't see too much difference this time as well - if confidence is a factor in how early you can see the bowling marker in HUD Off mode, I am sorry to say I wasn't able to see any perceptible difference. The problem with current implementation of HUD Off mode is that you see the bowling marker way too late for you to play an intelligent shot based on the line and length. And the reason for the same is that against fast bowlers you are supposed to press 'X', 'O' or 'Square' nearly as soon as the bowler releases the ball so you need to decide your footwork (front or back) and shot direction & power before the bowler releases the ball and by that time the marker is not even visible most of the time, or even if it is it's way too late to act upon.

Totally Agree with you on this! Its exactly wht i felt about HUD off...that you need to pre-meditate the shots or just play down the ground!

angad added 11 Minutes and 53 Seconds later...

Funny that, when I set up a thread highlighting many of these points, it seemed to induce an orgy of abuse.

After playing the game I do agree with 'most' of what you said!! But overall, all those issues do not take away the fun that this game brings in!! It is the best cricket game since blc99....and its damn fun to play!!