Roby
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Viva la revolution
For almost two decades, cricket, one of the premier sports on the international stage, has never received its due in the gaming arena. Lahore-based Mindstorm Studios Cricket Revolution is the latest attempt by a developer to fill this gaping lacuna and our local boys do an admirable job of outdoing every cricket game that preceded them (with the arguable exception of Ashes 2009, with which it stands at par).
Cricket Revolution is a cricket game meant for the cricket fan and the developers make no bones from the get-go about their seriousness in revolutionizing the market. The problem is, does this game try too hard to be taken seriously?
From the days of Brian Lara Cricket on the Sega Mega Drive, cricket games havent evolved much. Cricket Revolution challenges our prevalent notions of what a cricket game should be and provides the gamer with a realistic playing experience as well as access to a healthy multiplayer community.
Flashy visuals and elaborate graphics are foregone in favour of a keener emphasis on gameplay science. This compromise is fair enough as even the most advanced cricket games will never boast the graphics featured in football games. The online component is a promising addition and the developers seem eager to cater to their internet community, as evidenced by a program in the nets session which teaches players how to time their shots when coping with slow internet connections.
Ultimately however, any cricket game is judged by the quality of its batting mechanics and CR offers the player an embarrassment of riches in its strokeplay. All conventional cricketing shots can be played (including the reverse-sweep). The game also offers the player a grand total of four ways to execute most of its shots: push (emphasis on safety), aggressive, lofted, and finally, slog. Add to this the fact that there are four exclusively defensive shots, and the whole thing starts to get a little convoluted.
For example: you can play a forward defensive; you can push a straight drive past a bowler; you can play a lofted straight drive; you can slog a straight six. One has to question the utility of this variety. Was there any need for a push option? Having both a lofted array of shots as well as a slog set seems redundant. That said, in a sense, this variety is a reflection of why cricket is such a beautiful game: its incredibly nuanced.
Most batsmen do employ a push to cover, a regular cover drive, a lofted cover drive as well as a slog through the same region. So the developers cant be faulted for introducing this aspect of realism. However, one gets the feeling that the right balance has to be struck between realism and practicality.
In light of the elaborate batting mechanics, CR crucially provides its players with a robust nets session. Get this straight, if you want to get the hang of CR, you will be spending a lot of time in the nets (interestingly, another reflection on how it works in the real world). CRs nets allow you to build up shot familiarity as well as work on shot timing, the latter being critical for scoring runs in CR. A click on the tab key during nets will bring up a list of the various shots available to the batsman and I was intimidated to discover that one has access to 34 different shots, each shot being executed by a unique key combo. Its a shame that this list isnt accessible during competitive gameplay.
Moving on to bowling mechanics, CR doesnt depart much from the standard bowling system. The bowler is given a target on the pitch to aim at as well as certain bars for controlling speed and swing/seam/spin. A bowler also has access to two special deliveries which may be executed when the bowler is operating at full adrenalin.
While the bowling certainly isnt a let-down, its a little anti-climactic that the developers left this aspect of the game so modest considering the jumble that is the batting. A more involved bowling system is imperative for a game such as CR, which places a great deal of emphasis on internet and LAN gaming. This obviously implies that, for at least 10 overs, one player will have to be bowling while the other bats. As there can be no escape from the bowling obligation, it was incumbent upon CR to develop a more entertaining bowling mechanic. The plus side here is that, due to the inherent realism in the gameplay, a good ball usually gets rewarded if a false shot is drawn. But then the more seasoned a batsman is with strokeplay and timing, the more unrewarding bowling will inevitably become.
CRs gameplay stands out from any other cricket game on the market. The emphasis given to timing elevates the batting from casual fun to a serious skill. If youre too close to the ball, you will get an inside edge. If you play the ball early, you may generate a leading edge. Batsmen are also given a confidence meter which starts at zero and rises the more you middle the ball and score runs. It may have made things more convenient for certain batsmen to start their innings high on confidence (which would be realistic enough as Im sure guys like Sehwag, Pietersen, Afridi and Umar Akmal hardly begin their innings with a crisis of confidence).
But then that is the drawback of CR the fact that it doesnt let you take things easily and start enjoying the game recreationally. One struggles for a while to come to grips with the batting timing and mechanics (not to mention settling on a good bowling length) before the actual enjoyment begins. Once you get the hang of it, though, coming down the track and slogging your first six off a spin bowler is one of the sweetest feelings in the world. I did it once and have never managed to do it again.
All in all, CR gives the cricket fans what they have been clamoring for: a satisfying cricketing experience (more so with the batting than with bowling). While this may come at the cost of a truly leisurely gaming experience, you cant fault the developers for trying to introduce a modicum of respectability to a gaming genre which has lost most of it due to irritatingly easy batting mechanics.
Theres still work to be done for Mindstorm, though. Rumour has it that the developers are working on a sequel to this game. That is incredibly exciting news as CR is a step in the right direction in cricket gaming. Once Mindstorm strikes the right balance between realism and functionality, it may find that it has unearthed the Holy Grail the perfect cricket video game.
For almost two decades, cricket, one of the premier sports on the international stage, has never received its due in the gaming arena. Lahore-based Mindstorm Studios Cricket Revolution is the latest attempt by a developer to fill this gaping lacuna and our local boys do an admirable job of outdoing every cricket game that preceded them (with the arguable exception of Ashes 2009, with which it stands at par).
Cricket Revolution is a cricket game meant for the cricket fan and the developers make no bones from the get-go about their seriousness in revolutionizing the market. The problem is, does this game try too hard to be taken seriously?
From the days of Brian Lara Cricket on the Sega Mega Drive, cricket games havent evolved much. Cricket Revolution challenges our prevalent notions of what a cricket game should be and provides the gamer with a realistic playing experience as well as access to a healthy multiplayer community.
Flashy visuals and elaborate graphics are foregone in favour of a keener emphasis on gameplay science. This compromise is fair enough as even the most advanced cricket games will never boast the graphics featured in football games. The online component is a promising addition and the developers seem eager to cater to their internet community, as evidenced by a program in the nets session which teaches players how to time their shots when coping with slow internet connections.
Ultimately however, any cricket game is judged by the quality of its batting mechanics and CR offers the player an embarrassment of riches in its strokeplay. All conventional cricketing shots can be played (including the reverse-sweep). The game also offers the player a grand total of four ways to execute most of its shots: push (emphasis on safety), aggressive, lofted, and finally, slog. Add to this the fact that there are four exclusively defensive shots, and the whole thing starts to get a little convoluted.
For example: you can play a forward defensive; you can push a straight drive past a bowler; you can play a lofted straight drive; you can slog a straight six. One has to question the utility of this variety. Was there any need for a push option? Having both a lofted array of shots as well as a slog set seems redundant. That said, in a sense, this variety is a reflection of why cricket is such a beautiful game: its incredibly nuanced.
Most batsmen do employ a push to cover, a regular cover drive, a lofted cover drive as well as a slog through the same region. So the developers cant be faulted for introducing this aspect of realism. However, one gets the feeling that the right balance has to be struck between realism and practicality.
In light of the elaborate batting mechanics, CR crucially provides its players with a robust nets session. Get this straight, if you want to get the hang of CR, you will be spending a lot of time in the nets (interestingly, another reflection on how it works in the real world). CRs nets allow you to build up shot familiarity as well as work on shot timing, the latter being critical for scoring runs in CR. A click on the tab key during nets will bring up a list of the various shots available to the batsman and I was intimidated to discover that one has access to 34 different shots, each shot being executed by a unique key combo. Its a shame that this list isnt accessible during competitive gameplay.
Moving on to bowling mechanics, CR doesnt depart much from the standard bowling system. The bowler is given a target on the pitch to aim at as well as certain bars for controlling speed and swing/seam/spin. A bowler also has access to two special deliveries which may be executed when the bowler is operating at full adrenalin.
While the bowling certainly isnt a let-down, its a little anti-climactic that the developers left this aspect of the game so modest considering the jumble that is the batting. A more involved bowling system is imperative for a game such as CR, which places a great deal of emphasis on internet and LAN gaming. This obviously implies that, for at least 10 overs, one player will have to be bowling while the other bats. As there can be no escape from the bowling obligation, it was incumbent upon CR to develop a more entertaining bowling mechanic. The plus side here is that, due to the inherent realism in the gameplay, a good ball usually gets rewarded if a false shot is drawn. But then the more seasoned a batsman is with strokeplay and timing, the more unrewarding bowling will inevitably become.
CRs gameplay stands out from any other cricket game on the market. The emphasis given to timing elevates the batting from casual fun to a serious skill. If youre too close to the ball, you will get an inside edge. If you play the ball early, you may generate a leading edge. Batsmen are also given a confidence meter which starts at zero and rises the more you middle the ball and score runs. It may have made things more convenient for certain batsmen to start their innings high on confidence (which would be realistic enough as Im sure guys like Sehwag, Pietersen, Afridi and Umar Akmal hardly begin their innings with a crisis of confidence).
But then that is the drawback of CR the fact that it doesnt let you take things easily and start enjoying the game recreationally. One struggles for a while to come to grips with the batting timing and mechanics (not to mention settling on a good bowling length) before the actual enjoyment begins. Once you get the hang of it, though, coming down the track and slogging your first six off a spin bowler is one of the sweetest feelings in the world. I did it once and have never managed to do it again.
All in all, CR gives the cricket fans what they have been clamoring for: a satisfying cricketing experience (more so with the batting than with bowling). While this may come at the cost of a truly leisurely gaming experience, you cant fault the developers for trying to introduce a modicum of respectability to a gaming genre which has lost most of it due to irritatingly easy batting mechanics.
Theres still work to be done for Mindstorm, though. Rumour has it that the developers are working on a sequel to this game. That is incredibly exciting news as CR is a step in the right direction in cricket gaming. Once Mindstorm strikes the right balance between realism and functionality, it may find that it has unearthed the Holy Grail the perfect cricket video game.
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