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Review: Ricky Ponting International Cricket 2007

by Mike Bantick

Tuesday, 10 April 2007

Ricky Ponting International Cricket 2007
	Developer	Codemasters
	Publisher	Atari
	Rating	G

PC, Xbox, PS2, PS3, Reviewed on Xbox 360

Known under the Brian Lara moniker in other parts of the cricketing world, this new release brings a lot of the gentleman's game to the virtual gaming crease.

Right at this very moment, Ricky Ponting and the rest of the Australian Cricket Team are in the Caribbean, kicking the stuffing out of cricketing minnow and giant nations alike.

In this offering from Atari you can play through the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup, Champions Trophy from 2006, a Custom Test match, One Day International or Twenty-Twenty match.
rpcricket2

Reading through the manual gave me a laugh as I came to realise how involved the game of Cricket is, and how difficult it would be explaining the game to somebody who had not grown up with the game. The manual may well do a good job of this, but I would imagine that RPIC 2007 is best suited to an aficionado rather than the cricketing newbie.

Graphics wise, RPIC 2007 gets its message across, the camera angles, shadowing, textures and animations are definitely authentic looking and aid the player where timing is the essence of gameplay. Generally speaking the player models are adequate, with Andrew Symonds and his clown like appearance being the most recognisable.

In this version of the game, players can control, batting, with the thumbstick used to pierce the outfield with a well-timed stroke. There is even a dance-down-the-pitch option to choose, along with sweep shots.

Bowling is simply a matter of selecting field placements, choosing a pitch point and type of delivery, then timing the release with a later release resulting in a better delivery, but increased chance of a no-ball from overstepping the crease. rpcricket1

Quick reflexes are required to catch or effect a run-out whilst fielding, and you will lose patients with the wicket keeper taking the bails off when the ball is returned, regardless of how safe the batsmen is.

In essence that is the game, of course there is online play, and multiplayer that, as with all sports offerings, increases the appeal of the title. Solo the game just seems a little easy. Once you work through Tony Greig's tutorial, you will soon be able to bury anything but the most competent CPU directed side. Mind you, this is assuming you pick Australia as your team rather than Scotland. 3.5/5
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