Comments on: The Wicket Man: Cricket Revolution

By: MD

MD — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:01:42 +0000

(In other words, the general gaming public would probably also agree that numbers are boring, but a review of Football Manager that opened with those words and went on to slate the game for being difficult to get the hang of, and feeling unintuitive and clumsy after FIFA, would not do anyone much good.

That’s not to say that you should ignore the mainstream and pay no heed to mass appeal in your reviews — I actually got a bit annoyed after glowing reviews of one of the Championship Managers overwhelmed my common sense long enough to convince me to buy the game, before remembering that I enjoy neither management games nor soccer; this could have been avoided by a couple of lines reminding me that ‘this review was written by and for people who like this sort of thing, and if you’re not sure then chances are you’re not one of them’ — but if the entire is review written from the perspective of someone who was never going to like that sort of game regardless of its quality, that’s pretty frustrating for those who DO fall into the general ‘target audience’ and want to know whether the game succeeds at doing what it does. When the review is so overhwhelmingly and ‘authoritatively’ negative, and pretty much tells the world ‘this is shit, and that’s my expert opinion’, it’s even harder to swallow.)

By: MD

MD — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 21:46:15 +0000

Sure, but I think that’s part of the problem here. Unless I’m misjudging like crazy, Cricket Revolution is pretty clearly targeted at a specific niche, a niche composed of people who a) are cricket fans, and b) want something more involved and challenging than the usual cricket-game fare. Reviewing the game from a perspective that seems to share neither of those characteristics is a bit of a waste, as it’s unhelpful to those who fall into the niche and want to know how well executed the game is, doesn’t tell the others anything they didn’t already know (or at least, anything that couldn’t have been communicated in a couple of sentences at the start/end of a review), and may put people off who would otherwise have been mildly interested (those with one foot in the niche, perhaps).

By: Chris Evans

Chris Evans — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 12:47:02 +0000

My choice of opening probably wasn’t the best for the die-hard fans to read, however it is something I feel that the general gaming public would agree with.

By: Pedwarpump

Pedwarpump — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 10:33:36 +0000

‘Horrendous bowling action’ is the first thing that popped into my head upon viewing that video…

By: poop

poop — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 10:33:05 +0000

it is pretty much baseball except real countries play it and its moderately less entertaining

By: John

John — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 10:08:42 +0000

I’ve been pretty impressed with the demo, actually. Theres a lot of depth to the batting/bowling. However, since the demo doesn’t let you even play a game, its hard to say if it will remain fun.

By: Vaerriek

Vaerriek — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 08:26:44 +0000

This is the first time I’ve ever seen or read anything about cricket. (American) And, i must say that looks like a cross between bowling and golf.

also it looks like it teleported from a decade ago

By: Sisyphus

Sisyphus — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 06:12:49 +0000

It’s not a cricket game unless you can play Shane Warne’s wife.

By: Jayt

Jayt — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 05:54:45 +0000

Cricket season is in full swing brah.

By: ChaosSmurf

ChaosSmurf — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 04:03:44 +0000

God I wish that was the ball.

By: MD

MD — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:39:56 +0000

Just tried the demo, it feels great to me! I still can’t be sure how it all comes together, but the basic mechanics seem well realised, with plenty of depth. Pretty much the antithesis of EA 2010 or whatever they’re up to now.

By: MD

MD — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:00:14 +0000

To be fair though, prefacing your review with “Cricket’s a confusing game at the best of times and utterly mind boggling at the worst” suggests that maybe you’re not the best person to be reviewing a cricket game, especially one that appears to be targeting a relatively small niche. That said, though, members of that niche should probably realise that your view quite possibly won’t reflect their view, and try the demo for themselves. (Reviewer subjectivity is inevitable, and IMO the important thing is being open about one’s own starting point and personal biases when approaching a game.)