Cricket Captain 2018

I enjoyed the fast simulation and realistic gameplay.

If you love cricket then this is the game for you

It is a little slow paced. Takes too long to work out the best team to play, But once in the actually matches the game play is fantastic.

Game engine needs a desperate update but gotta appreciate the amount of data this one has about different aspects of the game.

Admittedly not much handholding, but incredibly good value for a game which is "Football Manager, but for people who like cricket".

Losing a T20i by 72 runs with 8 wickets in hand, despite telling every single batsman to take risks and score at the maximum rate they can the entire match? Sure, I can believe that. They're taking so many risks that they're scoring at a massive 6 an over and not losing their wickets. It's literally impossible to win when the game's that unrealistic.

old game modern players. Nice how it doesn't change.

Look, I could go 50/50 on this game as to whether or not I'd give it a recommendation or not. If you're new to the series, then you really can't go wrong in terms of what this game has to offer. It's pretty easy to pick up, gives you a huge range of countries to take control of (ie. you can take the reigns of an Australian state team, English county club and so forth...), you can play all forms of the game and make all the key decisions you could wish for, such as signing players, developing them, changing the type of pitch you want, deciding on your line up and so on. I'm giving this a positive review because of the above as this is, hands down, the best of it's type on the market. You really won't find better. However, for repeat buyers of this series, you'll find yourself disappointed as to the progression the developers have made to the game over the last 4-5 years. While they have added more countries, updated the UI a little and given us the chance to coach a team through T20, ODI and tests, they haven't really done much else. You could potentially play Cricket Captain 2014 and have essentially the same game. I think the developers need to challenge themselves a little as I think they're getting lazy. For example, the one major thing that is lacking in this game is the ability to see a players skill level. After all this time, how can you not have this in the game? Are they too scared to do it, or do they not have the capacity? By now they should have at least something like a 'five star skill and potential level', where you can see their skill level now, and what they could improve to. It's as simple as that. When signing young players it is nigh on impossible to know if they'll be good or not. You can sometimes go by their average, but that still doesn't tell you much. Also, the match engine has been the same for so long. The commentary as well. I think I can recall playing Cricket Captain 2 and hearing the exact same commentary then. Isn't it time for an update? Couldn't they put aside the little things they say they do and look to overhaul how the game looks a little? I think I've seen enough pull shots go through mid off to last a life time. Again, if you're new to this series then you can't go wrong. If you want to manage a cricket team, then this is the game for you. However, seasoned players could be encouraged to steer clear. For me, I don't think I'll buy another iteration of this game until they make some serious changes, especially with how you can see the ability level of a player. Until they do that then it will just feel as though I'm playing the same game year after year after year.

fun game