With international cricket being the dream of quite a few children it’s great to be taught by one of the world’s finest players, Brian Lara.
Well, OK, it’s not quite like a 1-on-1 coaching lesson by one of the game’s biggest names, but you’d be forgiven for thinking so by the way this game puts you through your paces. From the tutorial (which is definitely a must for anyone to start with). Regardless of your experience of playing other cricket titles available for the handheld market you will certainly need to prepare yourself for the different nuances and subtleties that will eclipse these other games with this fantastically in depth and all-round attractive and enjoyable game.
Once you’ve got to grips with the basics and feel ready to defend the honour of your team, you will be able to take to the crease and aim for as many boundary busting fours and sixes as you possibly can within the number of overs available. You can of course try your luck (and indeed skill as your practice pays off) at challenges, one-off matches or full tournaments. For me the challenges mode offers some of the most fun and rewarding areas of play. In this setting you can be challenged either batting or bowling, for example bowl two people out before they hit the six runs they need to win and hit 36 runs to win a match with just six overs (36 balls) to go.
Match play allows you pit your wits against either the big or small squads available and tournament mode lets you do the same in a knock-out style competition.
Amusingly and a little frustratingly no other player bar the star himself have been licensed for the game so if you fancy being Pieterson or Flintoff then alas you will have to settle for some rather bizarrely spelt alternatives (but hey, we’ve forgiven Pro Evolution Soccer for this quirk).
As intimated earlier, for both batting and bowling practice is key, not just in picking your shots but also placing your batsman correctly and timing when smashing the ball. If you are in the wrong place, you will quite likely end up being called as LBW and given your marching orders for an early shower. If you are able to hit the ball, you also get to control the running between the wickets – which shouldn’t be underestimated; every cheekily stolen run could make the difference between winning and losing – particularly when you may be struggling to make many balls reach the boundary, like myself. Far from making this game frustrating and sapping the enjoyment factor, it actually helps intensify it – particularly as you have to try to score as many runs as possible, which risks you getting run out!
When bowling, you are given a slightly different task of moving a circle to a designated length and line before selecting the power. Additionally little has been left to the imagination here as you will be able to select through your directional controls the different style of bowls.
Fielding is not quite all as straight forward as you may expect. You will have to hit the OK or 5 button when the gauge becomes available when the ball is near a fielding player. By pressing the key at the right time you will make a good catch or a decent throw – failure to do so will start to cause you to drop the ball or even miss it altogether!
In brief then, this game is certainly not one for the faint hearted. You will be challenged undoubtedly in terms of skill and timing and practice is the only sure way of getting a respectable score. So if you’re prepared to put your back in to it you will get the most out of this game. If you want a far easier to play game give Cricket T20 World Championship a closer look.
Rating 88%
Positives
A much more polished and advanced level of game compared to others on the market
Tests skill and reflexes
Great playing either as batting or bowling side
Fielding keeps you on your toes as much as anything else
Good mini-games/challenges not just epic matches
Negatives
Funny named players
Not easy to play and achieve great results by just hitting buttons randomly
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