Mine was real good until the coverstock needed a touch-up. After that, I could NEVER get it to react well again.
The ball does well on anything from medium light to medium heavy conditions. Good length and strong motion down lane - but never too much.
Mind needed friction to carry well.
Funny you mention that, but my Critical was the EXACT SAME. It was really strong out of the box and tamed down quite a bit after a few games.
I have my own personal ball oven and spinner, etc. When it came time to touch up the surface the ball was never the same. I tried baking the oil out and doing a full resurface from low grit all the way back to stock surface. For whatever reason, the ball was never the same. It went from one of the stronger balls in my arsenal down to almost nothing.
My original Crux did the same thing to me. None of the other balls that I've owned ever had that issue, though. Weird.