Highly playable cricket sim with CG animations
Before you can sink into this cricket simulator you'll have to get past the weird uncanny valley of the graphics. The game offers you a simulacrum of a cricket field made up of a static field while the player movements are all generated using live captured animation. This will take a minute to settle in, but after you do, you'll find that the game is a nicely rendered action cricket game, with a markedly arcade feel to it. While hitting the ball, you will have to focus on hitting the go button just at the right moment, as a slider loads. If you hit just the sweet spot chances are you will score. The same type of static interactivity is done on every level of the game, so, at this level, Cricket 2005 is more of a minigames collection. But, at a higher level, using a sound strategy that takes into consideration the level and prowess of your players, matching them with the abilities of your adversaries will lead to victory or defeat. So, Cricket 2005 is an ok cricket sim/arcade game, worth a go for fans. Give Brian Lara International Cricket 2005 to see a slightly different take on the interaction and controls, while the graphics are rather similar.
