Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2311 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Electronic Arts
• Released on: 2005-07-01
• Platform: PlayStation2
• Number of items: 1

Manufacturer's Description
Not only does the game look spectacular, bowlers now have easy to access individual repertoires and batsman have far more control including the ability to dive into the crease to prevent an imminent run out.

All new detail in players' faces and bodies, over 1000 new motion captured animations and a brand new create-a-player facility allow gamers flexibility to play as the stars of the game or create their own.

With TV style presentation, over 35 stadiums from all over the world and commentary from the legendary Richie Benaud this is the definitive interactive Cricket experience.

Customer Reviews

Its better than people seem to give credit for
Cricket is a sport that over the last 4 or 5 years or so i've taken a massive interest in, as i love the tactical side of the game, the building of an innings, the sparing of bowlers against batsmen, mind games... and to be honest, there's none of that in Cricket 2005, but on the other hand, it is still a good play.

Bowling -

Bowling, as bowling goes is good. Its realistic, realistic bounce, spin, reflections, etc. But it shouldn't be so random. Hitting a batsman in the face with a bouncer should make them scared of the next ball, and therefore there should be a build up maybe in confidence for the bowler as well as the batsman.

Taking a wicket however is very satisfying, whether its random or not. Hitting the stumps seems very rare, the main way to take wickets i've found is edging, from defensive shots, or LBW's

There is a sort of cheat that i've found, that once the pitch has started to wear, put the ball, with a decent spinner on a certain patch and you're almost guaranteed an edge.

Batting -

I don't know about anyone else, but i find batting very enjoyable. There is a real essence of building an innings total, and it seems that for the human player, the confidence meter does make some difference, where as it doesn't for the computer.

6's are far too easy with certain players (i.e. flintoff and pieterson), i've had innings totals for both of centuries in under 30 balls on occasions. But well played 4's are very rewarding.

Edges are too random. 1 ball you could hit for 4 or 6, another in the same place could go to 1st slip, its that simple... even on the flatest of pitches.

Computer AI -

basicaly, there isn't any. Field positions begin the same every test match, once a batsman reaches 30+ runs, it changes so there's an extra man down the ground. Then after 80 runs, it spreads out around the boundary making singles easy... Once close to a century, it tightens up again, then back to spaced out.

There's no clever little changes once you exploit gaps, there's no pitching the ball in a certain area, no matter what difficulty. There's no rushing for a win, or holding out for a draw.



All in all its 3 stars, because i keep going back, as its fun to build a total, and make the most out of a good batting game, and generate the opponents innings.

Disappointing
Well this game has really taken a surprising twist to Cricket 2004. I mean whenever I play a shot I seem to edge it to the keeper or if i get it right out of the middle of the bat it balloons up into the air to be caught. In bowling all the batsmen seem to block and when you pich it wide to get and edge like when you're batting they seem to whack it for 4 with absolutely no confidence shown on the top-left corner of the screen. Cricket 2004 was much better. At least they stumped well in Cricket 2004.

???
Batting is more realistic and harder than previous ea games. Playing shots early on will cause alot of edges but playing the old ball is much easier and gives you the chance to enjoy the game. Bowling is rewarding in early overs on green/damp pitches but but can get boring on good batting pitches - thank god for autoplay. Teams are pretty up-to-date with the option of selecting any county player. There are some faults however - Mark Butcher's in the default team, the county season option is a waste of space and wicket keepers are all Geriant Jones standard when it comes to stumpings. Otherwise its a decent game to have which can be improved slightly.