Cricket Captain 2015

Everything you want from a realistic cricket simulation... apart from one thing. You are only allowed to win once in a while by total random luck. No mattter how poor you opponent is or how great you are for the first 75% of the match, the simulation becomes a nonsense for the remainder of the game. The computer will score 200 runs for no wicket in the last session, or you will lose 8 wickets if you are batting. This game is not a simulation it is a script, and like most repetative stories it eventually becomes boring.

This is without a doubt the worst £20 I have ever spent in my life, bored after one t20 match,awful graphics, would have got more satisfaction by going outside & putting £20 down the drain!

ultimate pile of horse **** and thats all you need to know about this sorry excuse of a game

Great game that any cricket fan would enjoy!

I’ve never played any of the previous games in this series, so my review is based solely on this game. If you’re a fan of cricket (and if you’re checking out the game, then I’d assume that’s a given) then it’s fun to pick real players to play in your games. You can also pick young up and coming players, and if they turn out to be good enough, you can watch them progress, hopefully into great players. Firstly, the UI looks dated. It really could do with an update. There’s relatively limited ways in which you can influence what’s going on during a match, so a lot of it is out of your hands. That in itself isn’t so bad, since that’s basically what happens with Football Manager. Probably the biggest problem I have with the game, though, is lack of information. There’s limited stats available to help you to make informed decisions. For example, there seems to be no way to judge which wicket keeper is better than any other, since there’s no actual wicket keeping stats available, not that I’ve ever found. You can assign trainers to players, but it’s extremely difficult to tell if it’s having any affect. In Football Manager, for instance, you can quite easily see what affect your trainer is having on the player, and whether you’re wasting your time trying to improve that area of the player. You also can’t hire and fire trainers, since they’re nameless and faceless. The game is fun, but really could be a lot more fun, and only if it undergoes a serious make-over, and it really does need one. If there’s a 2016 version of this game, and it still essentially looks and plays the same, then there’s no way I’d buy it. An updated player database wouldn’t be enough to make me put down the dollars.

I've played every Cricket Captain game since it's inception many years ago and I've thoroughly enjoyed the series. I probably don't need to get each edition as some have been nothing more than a databse update with a few minor additions, but this is clearly the best cricket management game on the market. Nothing comes close. So should you buy it? The short answer is yes. The three major leagues in England, India and Australia are all well covered and there are plenty of options to play both in and out of the game. You can be a hands on coach and play every ball, go a little less with every over or even sim through games you don't feel you need to play. It really is good stuff and you can get hours of enjoyment out of it. With a few seasons under my belt I've been able to build a very handy side in all three formats as the contract system works well. There are, however, a few things that need to be mentioned that haven't been fixed in years. 1. - There is no true way to see just how good a player is or the potential they have. The only way you can tell is at the end of the season when you sign their contract - if they ask for a higher amount (eg. above $50,000) then you can be assured you are generally getting a good player. However outside of this it's hit and miss. I've signed players for big bucks that have been a huge disappointement. Why? I don't really know. Adding in a system like this would be sensational and help decide the make up of your team better. 2. - There are some incosistencies with the AI. There seem to be far too many LBW's and often when you change a batsman's aggressiveness they can go out in the next over. The AI is generally pretty good but be prepared for the odd frustration here and there. 3. - The training system is only decent. There are plenty of options to choose from but there is no way to tell how well things are working. This ties into being able to see how good a player is or the potential of how good they CAN be with the right training. Fixing this would be excellent. Outside of those criticism's this is an excellent game and if you can sink some time into it you'll thoroughly enjoy it.

This is not a bad game, but suffers from a few flaws which demands too much of a time investment from the casual cricket fan in order to do well, and which will frustrate the avid cricket fan. Being an avid cricket fan myself, I will write from that perspective. For this type of fan, it is better for your team overall (and more rewarding) to captain and control what happens during matches (rather than letting matches play out by themselves). When batting, there is not enough control over the approach which batsmen take, both with regard to the field settings and with regard to the match situation; all you are able to do is set their aggression level, which can be frustrating in the sense that a high aggression level can force batsmen to ostensibly lose their shape through slogging, while lowing the aggression level slightly can cause batsmen not to play a stroke, even in the dying stages of an innings when chasing a target. When bowling, there are a number of frustrations. Being able to set your own fields is great for the avid fan, but it would be nice if bowlers could bowl to them. With setting a general bowling line and length, the bowler still has a great deal of freedom as to where they place the ball, and often chooses to bowl deliveries which are totally inappropriate for the field setting (leading to a proliferation of boundaries with field settings which should enable you to squeeze). Field settings also auto-reset to a default with the slightest change in line, length, or level of bowling aggression, which can be very annoying. Overall, a game with a great deal of potential. The developers have done a pretty good job to develop the game to where it is, but there are still a few kinks to sort out in later editions.

I bought this randomly a couple of years ago, and decided to give it a crack just recently. I have to say I am genuinely surprised at the quality of the game. There is many hours of gameplay, with three different league systems. The graphics, though repetitive in both play and commentary, are still very good. Recommended for any cricket fan, but perhaps go far the newer versions as they have more leagues. NOTE: You don't play the game, your more like a desicion maker (Football Manager Style).

This is a wonderful cricket simulation game - hands down the best I've ever played. I think I've sunk something like 400 hours into this game and its 2014 predecessor, more than any other game I own on steam. This game has two weaknesses that I think account for most of the negative reviews on steam. Its true that this game lacks some of the wider elements of sports management that other high profile titles have. Its strength is its match engine though, which performs well across all forms of the game (one dayers, tests and T20s) and can still give the occassional surprise. Seriously, I've played this game for 400 hours plus, and every game is still a nailbiter. The other weakness is the fact that the game is evolving only slowly - I think most of the negative reviews on steam relate to disappointment from people who have bought previous editions and were hoping for more from the latest. That seems to be true to a degree, but doesnt change the fact that this is a great cricket management game. Its also the case that the game is developed by a very small team - I imagine it cant be easy to make a living out of a game like this. So for me I'm happy to pay for updates to keep the game moving forward. If you love cricket, do yourself a favour and buy this game.