Cricket 2000

INFORMATION                                                     
Publisher: EA Sports                                      
Genre: Sports
Reviewer:Salman  Siddiqui                                                                                                                          

INTRODUCTION
To all the cricket aficionados, here we are again. Last year we treated with Brian Lara Cricket, International Cricket Captain 2, and Cricket 99. Brian Lara Cricket from Codemasters had a few shortcomings here and there, but overall it managed to depict cricket simulation and arcade play in an excellent and even now, unsurpassed fashion. International Cricket Captain 2 added a plethora of new features added and it is by far the best cricket simulation/management yet to date. With all the glory of the World Cup, EA Sports had promised us with so much, yet they released a product that was incomplete and in retrospect nothing more than a piece of graphical glamour. So, one year later here we are again. As soon as I received Cricket 2000, I became nervous. I looked at the back of the box and noticed a few new features such as night games and international stadia, expert mode, additional batting method and international squads and statistics. The most important note on the box is "Note: Upgraded version of Cricket World Cup 99". This statement gives a good idea of what you should be expecting.

GRAPHICS – 80
Cricket World Cup uses the same graphics engine from CWC99. As in last year's version, the only facet that is good about Cricket World Cricket 2000 are the graphics. The graphics still look great, but still some fine-tuning could have been done. I don't see the difference between any of the stadiums, in terms of the way the pitch looks. The only thing that is missing this year are the player names from their kits, instead all you see are numbers that have been assigned to the players. The night games are another added facet that add little flare to the game.

INTERFACE and Controls. - 65
The interface is the same as it was in Cricket World Cup 99. The menus are still easy to navigate through as it was in last year's version. Unfortunately, you still can't make permanent substitutions to your squad. Every game you have to go back and change the squads if you don't like the squad the computer has chosen. Last years bowling control is back and if you got it right the first time, then there is no need to fix it. Once again, Cricket 2000, like its predecessor has the best bowling control of any cricket game on the market. Read my review of Cricket World Cup 99 here to see what I mean. On the batting front, you have two choices. Like last years you can use the cone batting system, which wasn't all that great to begin with in terms of control. This year a new batting system has been devised similar to the one that was in Cricket 97. The problem is, other than playing a straight shot it's too difficult to hit the ball where you want. If I want to hit an onside to square leg or midon, using the normal shot the ball is not going to travel very far. If you want to score runs, just simply smash the ball straight and you will have no trouble tallying up runs on the board.

GAMEPLAY - 40
If you had Cricket World Cup 99 and you downloaded the two patches you now have Cricket 2000 minus the additions of the new stadiums. The same problems exist. You can still bowl out the computer very easily; you still have all the game mode options from last year. You can play a one day match, super six competition, training mode and of course the world cup. The test option is still missing, which really amazes me since cricket began with the test match. Once again the weather or pitch conditions do not have any impact when you are bowling. The batsmen can hit a four almost every ball on the expert difficulty settings. The only plus side of the gameplay is the updated, yet still inconsistent rosters. For example, if you look at the stats for some players you will notice that high scores are for test matches and some are for one-day matches. If a test match option does not even exists in the game, then why did Creative Assembly opt to include them in a strictly one day game? The simulation mode is still the same as last year, and yes just as I mentioned last year the interface is very difficult to get use to and does not seem responsive. A good example is, why cant I save my fielding formations and I have noticed that often times if I am playing a fifty over match the fielders can be placed outside the circle. Another buy that I have noticed is that if you are the batsmen and you decide to charge up to hit against the bowler, there will be a no ball called if it hits the batsmen. Just to make sure this held true, for two consecutive overs I charged the wicket, got hit while attempting a six and a no ball was called. That's it, you have patched version of Cricket World Cup 99, just as it has been stated on the box.

AUDIO - 30
The audio department is lacking. I did not notice any changes in the commentary. Both Richie Beanud and David Gower still make inconsistent remarks in regards to the match taking place. The crowd is very monotone and only gets excited at the beginning of the match. What really surprises me is last year when the ball hit the bat; the sound was hollow, nothing like real cricket with the sound of leather on willow. Surely an extra sound byte could have been added to give a better feel of cricket!

DIFFICULTY – 15
Some of you may recall, that last year the second patch for Cricket World Cup 99 had a new expert mode. Well, EA Sports is once again touting this as "new" when in fact its nothing. The expert mode is still a joke. You can assure your self that you can hit a six every other ball without getting out. This is annoying problem when the computer poses no challenge. Another quirk is that the computer will start out with the same two fast bowlers, and use them up for the first twenty over of the match. This is not cricket strategy. Part of the intricacies in my opinion is that the bowling method is too strong, while the batting is lacking. For example, I can bowl out the computer on the hardest difficulty with relative easy. While playing in the world cup, I bowled out India in the final for thirty runs in a fifty over match. My suggestion to the developers (Creative Assembly) is that if a balance is to be made, you have to map each and every single bowling possibility for the computer batsmen, otherwise the human will ALWAYS get the computer batsmen out.

OVERALL - 46
As aforementioned, Cricket 2000 is an upgrade and I cannot warrant this title a purchase especially if you already have Cricket World Cup 99 with the two patches installed. I was hoping things would be different this time around. Why does EA Sports do this to the cricket fans? In the past Cricket 97 was released, then a mere upgrade Cricket 97 Ashes Tour Edition was released and then again Cricket 97 Special Edition was released. All of these were essentially the same games! Imagine if EA Sports started releasing FIFA 2000 for the next three years and slapped it on a new box. This is analogous to what has been done with the cricket series in the last three years. Shame on you EA!