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International Test Cricket
INFORMATION
Published and Developed by Dan Thomas
Sport: Cricket
Reviewer: Salman Siddiqui
INTRODUCTION
What the heck! Cricket! That is the bug that I smash with my shoe all time!
My fellow Americans and friends around the world, I am talking about
cricket, the sport that was founded in Britain and now is played all over
the world. Though most Americans are not aware of how the game is
played, I have had the chance to play a lot of cricket in my days. Cricket
has an enormous following all over the world, though most people in the
United States are unaware of it. Cricket is a game that requires
tremendous amounts of concentration, patience, strategy and skill. There
have been many cricket games for the PC; International Test Cricket is a
simulation and not some sort of an arcade game. There is a serious lack
of good arcade games, so people like Dan Thomas have taken them
upon themselves to make a product that enables the player to control
almost every aspect of cricket strategically with out the graphical glitter
and blitz.
GRAPHICS
International Test Cricket (ITC) simulates the game of cricket. Judging
this game on graphics does not make any sense. ITC displays a ball by
ball output of each game as you manage your team. If something
significant in the game take place such as a player were bowled then you
are notified by the ball by ball output indicating a broken wicket; hence a
player has been bowled.
Score - N/A
INTERFACE
The interface and controls are very well done in International Test Cricket.
Although you are not actually controlling the player the menus on the
screen are self - explanatory. I found it easy changing the game options
or settings to a particular level. Through the course of reviewing ITC, I
really tried to find a glitch in the interface. However, there are none to my
knowledge. Everything is mouse controlled and the controls are intuitive.
Score - 92
GAMEPLAY
The primary objective in ITC is to pick one of the nine international test
teams (Australia,India,Pakistan,England,West Indies,New Zealand,South
Africa,Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe) and guide them to series of test
matches in hopes of becoming champions of the world. After selecting
your squad of players you are led into the main game screen once you
begin to ball or bat you decide to set the aggression level of your team. If
you are bowling then you select the two bowlers to open the match. All
bowlers and batsmen have their aggression levels set to default. It's also
your job to set the aggression levels for each bowler or batsmen
respectively. Obviously you have to take in to consideration how good
your bowler is and how good the batsmen is. As the match progresses
the ball wears down as the does the pitch, so one must always rotate their
bowlers in accordance to the fatigue of the bowler, weather and the skill
of the batsmen. This requires complete knowledge of cricket. For every
delivery you face or every ball you bowl you must take into consideration
of how the match is going. For example, I was facing Zimbabwe and
having good batsmen on the Pakistani side, I set the batting aggression
levels to high. Immediately I was in trouble down 5/100 and my unbeaten
streak dashing away. Luckily I barely won the match by two wickets. ITC
also allows you to play via PBEM (Play by email) which is loads of fun
particularly when playing in league. The added player editor enhances the
gameplay as well. The only drawback about the gameplay is not being
able to play a one -day match. Personally the one-day matches are more
enjoyable and fast paced and I would have loved to see a whole new
different level of strategy involved.
Score - 85
AUDIO
To put it simply, there is no audio; it's a pure simulation people. Work with
me here!
Score - N/A
DIFFICULTY
ITC is a very difficult game to master. One must possess a through
knowledge of test cricket and how to manage and lead his/her team at all
times. Don't expect to crush your opponents, the AI is very smart and acts
accordingly to almost any given situation. I recommend keeping
aggression level low for your batsmen so an adequate target can be
reached. ITC demands patience, as it should, since cricket is a game of
patience. For every ball you bowl or every delivery you face you must
make a decision based on your cricket experience. If you think you know
a lot about test cricket and consider yourself a master, then I dare you to
take Zimbabwe all the way!
Score - 90
OVERALL
If you like test cricket simulation, I would highly recommend this game. I
myself was skeptical about ITC but after a few matches one begins to
realize the complexity and the strategy that's why any die-hard cricket fan
should buy this game.
Score - 89%
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System
Requirements:
Required:
Win3.X/95/98
386sx
6.5MB+
4MB RAM
Recommended:
486DX2
8 RAM
VGA Card
Cons:
- No one-day match
-Some graphics
would have been
nice.
- How about a
commentator like a
radio broadcast of
the game for the
audio!
Pros:
- Excellent
simulation
- Great AI
- Addicting
Coolinfo
Bottom Line:
- A must for the test
cricket lover.
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