Cricket Revolution
Review
The rookie with some promise
by William Thompson
reviewed on PC
Not just AI opponents
Then there is the online component of Cricket Revolution. There are, in fact, two online modes available. If you are connected to friends via a LAN, then you can simply set up a game. But if you don’t have any friends available to play, you can play an opponent from the Revolution Online facility. The online feature also tracks your performance and statistics which can be viewed on the Cricket Revolution leaderboards.
Batting
After selecting the game mode, it is time to get down to business. Batting is always the most fun part of a cricket game, having the chance to smash the bowlers all over the park. Many cricket games look at batting in an arcade light, allowing gamers to rack up huge scores in quick time. Cricket Revolution goes about it differently, requiring the batsman to become settled before making the big shots easier. Sure you can go for the big shots as soon as you reach the crease, but the chances are that unless you time the shot exactly right, you’ll be giving the fielding team catching practise. Becoming a settled batsman is simply a matter of playing ground strokes and gradually increasing the batsman’s score as well as his confidence meter. Once the batsman is settled in, it is much easier to hit the lofted or slog shots.
Controlling the batsman has been designed really well in this game, with a wide array of shots available to the batsman, depending on button combinations. For example, a single press of the right arrow (for a right handed batsman) will result in a leg glance. A double press of the right arrow will result in an aggressive pull shot which runs along the ground. A double press of the right arrow in conjunction with the Loft button (Right-shift by default) results in a lofted pull shot. The variation in shots is great.
But of course, as in real life, hitting a superb shot is all for nothing if the ball goes directly to a fielder. Thus placement is also important. Whilst the bowler is running in, you have the option to direct where you’d like to hit the ball. Unfortunately, placement is one of the problematic issues I have with Cricket Revolution. It seems the shot selection determines the degree of angle in the placement. So even though the placement diagram is showing a particular direction, the shot will not necessarily go in that direction. I also had an issue with the timing of the placement selection. As I mentioned, the shot placement is selected during the bowler’s run up. If you are still placing the direction of your shot as the bowler releases the ball, the keystroke will be detected as your batting shot, and will thus result in a mistimed shot. This could be simply rectified by using separate keys (such as the WASD keys) for placement.
6.8
fun score
Pros
Huge range of batting shots, combined with relatively intuitive controls make batting realistic.
Cons
The bowling marker makes it difficult to bowl exactly where you’d like. No commentary. Batting placement doesn’t seem to work as intended.
