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Video Games : International Cricket Captain (PS)
Rating: 
- A game for all seasons
I bought this a while back and I still play this as much as any other game I own. There is room for improvement but this definitely holds its own against football management games. I have few serious complaints about this game but there are one or two things that could be improved :
Transfers - in your first season you can only sign youth team players and they can often be a waste of time. They tend to bicker about salaries and are rarely good enough to produce the goods straight away. When the later seasons start the transfers are limited and it can be difficult to balance your squad. It could really do with more options at the initial signing stage as a lot of the teams lack the balance you'd want with maybe too many bowlers or not enough spinners.
Team management - you can set your players training but that doesn't always help in the 1st class environment. You have limited training and physio options which also spoils it a bit, why can't every player train? Player fitness can be a problem and players can be too tired to risk in big games which is bad considering most games are crucial!
Gameplay - getting bowled out by your opponents seamers on a spinner's wicket and finding your own spinners and seamers ineffective happens all too frequently. You can bat cautiously and still get skittled for a low score. Too often the results seem illogical and perhaps could do with a bit of fine tuning. It is also rather annoying when a part-time bowler comes on and picks up wickets which would be more realistic if only it wasn't so frequent. Draws in the County Championship are a killer and quite often that is all that can be achieved. The one day games are a little more realistic but those inexplicable collapses can really get on your nerves
Player and team records - The computer keeps your player records for the season and career but not particularly in-depth. The batsman's highest scores, 100s, 50s etc would be nice to know as would the equivalent bowler's records. The team records remain until you stop, save the game and restart at which point they disappear which is a shame.
World Cup - it's a shame you can't pick your squad and that the game sticks rigidly to the 99 format. You can on the PC version but I always feel happier on the playstation, the gameplay is more realistic
Overall I'm probably being over-critical, this is a terrific game and worth every penny. The 15 block memory card issue as raised is annoying but worth it in my opinion. It would be nice for transfers to happen regularly like in football but that just wouldn't be cricket......
Rating: - International Cricket Captain
I found this game extremely playable and it provides me with a good challenge every time. The small details of player injuries, youth development, coaching and form combined with statistics make it a totally involving game. The matches are realistic enough, though you can find some ridiculous circumstances arising which leave you fuming. Playing one day matches or two innings on a pitch which was helpful to spinners, I found quite often my opponents bowling me out with seamers and then my spinners having no effect whatsoever. The one day matches are far more realistic, though a collapse early on or in mid-innings can ruin an potentially good match. I found the 1999 World Cup good but perhaps too short and lacking any variation - I would have liked to have a go as Kenya or one of the other ICC teams. I did manage to take Northants to the top flight on a few occaisions but found bizarrely that I gained the same rating no matter how I fared, even when winning cups, and regardless of league position. It would have also been nice to sign players in my first season rather than having to complete a season first.
overall I found it challenging, whether as England or as a county team. The slight spoiling factor in gameplay is the seemingly ridiculous one-sidedness of some games but then again, that's cricket!
Rating:
- Same game, sam,e annoyances
...There are some good improvements in terms of training and more options but the crux is how well does this game simulate cricket. In this respect there is no change from the previous version. Extreme cricket leading to extreme frustration. See my review of that one for a few examples. In fact it seems worse. In every one day game I played the innings fell apart at 30 overs -either score no runs or get out. Need five runs of two overs with five wickets left. Failed twice. This would be a once in 1000 event or more. Not a one in two event. How many runs would a team score on the last day on a sharply spinning wicket with extremely variable bounce. Not 450 and not every time (except Australia against England of course). If you can put up with this it's a great game.
- A game for all seasonsI bought this a while back and I still play this as much as any other game I own. There is room for improvement but this definitely holds its own against football management games. I have few serious complaints about this game but there are one or two things that could be improved :
Transfers - in your first season you can only sign youth team players and they can often be a waste of time. They tend to bicker about salaries and are rarely good enough to produce the goods straight away. When the later seasons start the transfers are limited and it can be difficult to balance your squad. It could really do with more options at the initial signing stage as a lot of the teams lack the balance you'd want with maybe too many bowlers or not enough spinners.
Team management - you can set your players training but that doesn't always help in the 1st class environment. You have limited training and physio options which also spoils it a bit, why can't every player train? Player fitness can be a problem and players can be too tired to risk in big games which is bad considering most games are crucial!
Gameplay - getting bowled out by your opponents seamers on a spinner's wicket and finding your own spinners and seamers ineffective happens all too frequently. You can bat cautiously and still get skittled for a low score. Too often the results seem illogical and perhaps could do with a bit of fine tuning. It is also rather annoying when a part-time bowler comes on and picks up wickets which would be more realistic if only it wasn't so frequent. Draws in the County Championship are a killer and quite often that is all that can be achieved. The one day games are a little more realistic but those inexplicable collapses can really get on your nerves
Player and team records - The computer keeps your player records for the season and career but not particularly in-depth. The batsman's highest scores, 100s, 50s etc would be nice to know as would the equivalent bowler's records. The team records remain until you stop, save the game and restart at which point they disappear which is a shame.
World Cup - it's a shame you can't pick your squad and that the game sticks rigidly to the 99 format. You can on the PC version but I always feel happier on the playstation, the gameplay is more realistic
Overall I'm probably being over-critical, this is a terrific game and worth every penny. The 15 block memory card issue as raised is annoying but worth it in my opinion. It would be nice for transfers to happen regularly like in football but that just wouldn't be cricket......
Rating:
- International Cricket CaptainI found this game extremely playable and it provides me with a good challenge every time. The small details of player injuries, youth development, coaching and form combined with statistics make it a totally involving game. The matches are realistic enough, though you can find some ridiculous circumstances arising which leave you fuming. Playing one day matches or two innings on a pitch which was helpful to spinners, I found quite often my opponents bowling me out with seamers and then my spinners having no effect whatsoever. The one day matches are far more realistic, though a collapse early on or in mid-innings can ruin an potentially good match. I found the 1999 World Cup good but perhaps too short and lacking any variation - I would have liked to have a go as Kenya or one of the other ICC teams. I did manage to take Northants to the top flight on a few occaisions but found bizarrely that I gained the same rating no matter how I fared, even when winning cups, and regardless of league position. It would have also been nice to sign players in my first season rather than having to complete a season first.
overall I found it challenging, whether as England or as a county team. The slight spoiling factor in gameplay is the seemingly ridiculous one-sidedness of some games but then again, that's cricket!
Rating:
- Same game, sam,e annoyances...There are some good improvements in terms of training and more options but the crux is how well does this game simulate cricket. In this respect there is no change from the previous version. Extreme cricket leading to extreme frustration. See my review of that one for a few examples. In fact it seems worse. In every one day game I played the innings fell apart at 30 overs -either score no runs or get out. Need five runs of two overs with five wickets left. Failed twice. This would be a once in 1000 event or more. Not a one in two event. How many runs would a team score on the last day on a sharply spinning wicket with extremely variable bounce. Not 450 and not every time (except Australia against England of course). If you can put up with this it's a great game.