Today, I’m going to review “Cricket Power,” a 3-D Sci-Fi game with bugs shooting at each other! Wait, that’s not it.
“Cricket Power” is a browser-based cricket sports game developed by Mindstorm Studios and published by Karkadann Games. Players can experience the awesome wonder of the sport of cricket. For those who do not know what cricket is, cricket is a sport that is like a harder version of baseball. The game has a total of ten overs (or innings) per side. The game is played in an oval shaped field. Batters can swing their bats like a golf club or like a baseball bat. The batters try to hit the ball out of the oval, like how a batter in baseball tries to hit the ball out of the park. In order to score, the batter and a runner that is across from the batter must run back and forth to a line called the crease in the middle of the field. There are also ‘home runs,’ which occur when the ball either flies or rolls out of the boundary. Scores can reach into the 200’s in some games. The bowler (the pitcher) tries to throw the ball in such a way that the fielders can catch the ball, or that the ball hits the wicket behind the batter, which has three stumps (sticks) attached to two nonattached bails. Fielders can throw the ball to the wicket-keeper who can hit the wicket, getting the player out. The video game version of the sport, however, is a little off.
The only positives are that the idea is very original, because I have not seen it elsewhere, and that the jingle that starts in the beginning of the game is sweet, because the piece of music is very catchy. Otherwise, I have a lot of complaints.
The very first problem that I have witnessed is the lack of tutorial. When players log onto the game, the first button that they will click is the “play” button. The players then see the controls to the game. The game only tells the players what the controls are, instead of showing the players how the controls work. I had no idea how to use the power up skill until my third game in, which is very annoying to have to find out by yourself. The power up skill only works when the adrenaline meter is full, and the meter only fills when something successful happens, such as a fielder catching a ball or a batter hitting a ‘home run’. In other words, a player can use these power ups only when the other side, the CPU, fails horribly.
The CPU is very difficult to play against. On the first game that I played, I felt like as if my fielders did not have the ability to catch one single ball, while the CPU has some amazing skills that pummel my players into the ground. The CPU is definitely better at bowling than the human player, giving an unfair advantage.
Bowling is harder than batting, because while batting, the player only has to stand right in front of the wickets in order to hit a ball. The timing is easy, because the cursor of the bowler matches the speed of the ball. Additionally, there is an arrow that points to the direction of the ball. In short, the batter always knows what speed and direction the ball is going. The bowler has some problems, because the cursor always moves, which is a pain! If I want to place a ball in a particular area of the pitch, I may miss, which would mess up the whole purpose of my throw. Because it’s so hard to bowl, one must rely on fielders to catch the ball. But they don’t.
All of the characters on field have the tendency to jog, rather than hustle, which is a problem. This leads to bad fielding, which is like the fielding in “Wii Baseball.” The Miis in that game run very slowly, which is annoying, and this is no different.
The last problem in “Cricket Power” has to do with the server connection. Normally, I’m fine with a game disconnecting. But when I only have three opportunities to continue per game (after a loss, like three lives), then I have a problem, because the server disconnections cause the player to lose continues, and that’s not right.
I could continue rambling on and on about the negatives of the game, or I could give some solutions. First off, the player should have the ability to control the fielders. By adding the ability to sprint, dive and move the characters, the player can get a better experience playing cricket. In addition, the game should have a tougher batting system and an easier bowling system. That way, the difficulty levels match. There also should be different difficulty levels, so that beginners can learn more about the game, while experts can get a challenge. Another idea is that the power up usage should be based off the number of throws in the pitch that go over the wicket, and not off the adrenaline level. Players should be able to use the power ups whenever they want to. My final suggestion is that this game should have multiplayer capacities. With more people come more communities, which is a good thing, because more people can talk about the game, making it more popular.
I know that this game can reach to great heights. There is just a lot of work ahead.
Reggie Kwok can be reached at [email protected]
