Cricket 07

Cricket 07 is a popular Cricket simulation game. Released in 2006, it is still a fan’s favorite and people still keep coming back to it regardless of the several cricket games that have been released since then.

Gameplay

Cricket 07 features several game types including full-length test matches of 5 days, 4-day first class matches and limited overs matches with 5, 10, 20 and 50 overs. The game has a lot of game modes that cover international and domestic games. You have popular tournament, cups, series, championships, international tours, quick matches, practice mode and The Ashes. You can also relive precious cricket moments through some scenarios represented in the game with real life footage. Cricket 07 also has 2-player multiplayer.

Cricket 07 doesn’t have as much licenses as the prior games in the series. Only four teams have full licenses for names and kits. The remaining 14 international teams in the game use random generic names and kits. But, if you still got that itch to play with real player names, you can edit the names in the Team Management mode. You can also download a third-party roster update online for that. The game graphics looks good with the stadiums and players well depicted.

Several pitches are available with varying weather conditions and match venues. You can adjust the pitch type and the weather condition. The venues available are recognizable international venues. The commentary is good and will keep you company while you slug it out. The player control and the stroke play in the game has improved from prior iterations of the EA Cricket Series, but they could be better. The AI is good and plays like a human opponent. You’ll see the AI make overthrows, fumbles and dropped catches. You can choose from five difficulty modes.

You can choose whether your batsman will play on the back or front foot. Your batsman has a confidence meter that needs to be monitored. Conservative shots at the beginning of a game are often preferred to wild shots later in the game. Player stats often reflect in their game and inexperienced batsmen will make more errors. Running between wickets is easy and you have to choose the right time for your batsman to run. Batting and fielding are fairly easy to execute in Cricket 07. Bowling is more technical, or even frustrating to execute.

Update patches and Mods

Cricket 07 is one of the most loved cricket games by fans. Tons of people still play the game over 13 years after its release. There are several patches and mods released by the game’s modding community. The mods add recent tournaments, teams, roster updates, uniforms, meu design and other features to the game. It is arguably the cricket videogame with the largest support community. Some mods also fix the control issues the game had.

Pros

• Realistic gameplay
• Several game modes available
• Lots of update patches and mods

Cons

• Loss of licensing for several teams
• Controls could be better

The Clocks Have gone back, Christmas decorations pollute the shops and we're reviewing a cricket game? A cruel reminder of blue skies and short trousers, this has of course been released to cash in on The Ashes series in Australia, which may actually be taking place as you clutch this magazine to your bosom. Providing it's after midnight and you've got Sky, go and have a look.

Was it on? If so, imagine a similar scenario on your PC monitor, with the key difference that you control some of the players, and it doesn't have to go on for five days.

The game may carry the generic 'cricket' title, but to all intents and purposes this is the official game of The Ashes, in which our plucky lads travel to the land of thieves to - probably - meekly surrender the symbolic urn that we earned in that glorious summer of 2005. Those heady days can be replayed in full, along with specific scenarios - and of course you can play along with this winter's action. Or you could ignore the whole thing and play out some dreary county match.

Apart from The Ashes shenanigans, the big thing this year is the dualanalog Century Stick batting system. Providing you can achieve the holy grail of getting a dual-analog stick to work on your PC, it does make a difference, although to be honest the batting could scarcely have been any worse than last year's effort. This time, it's the bowling that's a bit flaky. Oh well, there's always next year...