PlayStation 4 Critic Reviews

Like an 80-overs old Dukes ball, Ashes Cricket may be a little rough around the seams. Yet it still manages to impress where it counts: out in the middle. There has never been a cricket game this approachable, fully-featured, or fun, and the inclusion of licensed Ashes squads and stadia is just the icing on what is already an exceedingly customisable cricket cake. With a bit more shine on it via future patches and community-created content it could be well and truly amazing, but even as it stands Ashes Cricket is the best videogame representation of the sport to date.

It may be occasionally janky, and despite best intentions, it isn’t always as easy to understand as it could be, yet Ashes Cricket’s bright spots shine through the flecks of grime. This is not a perfect game of cricket, but it is a good one.

Ashes Cricket has definitely got its issues; bad commentary, some rough presentation, only two licensed teams and a few bugs. But ultimately they can be shaken off, because the feeling of enjoyment I get when I’m playing Ashes Cricket is palpable. I haven’t played or watched the sport in over 10 years, but sitting down to play here feels intuitive and familiar in a way that’s surprisingly comforting. The batting, bowling and fielding all feel better than they have in any other cricket game before, and the sheer variety of game types and customisation offered makes Ashes Cricket, in spite of its issues, a sports game worthy of your time.

The Ashes isn’t going to bowl over non-cricket fans, but it’s a solid representation of the sport, and not that biased against us poms.

Ashes Cricket is a very good cricket game, and very enjoyable once you eventually work out what everything does. It’s just a shame the game doesn’t do enough to explain its depth to the player from the get-go, which leads to a needless opening few hours of frustration and potential misinterpretation. Returning fans won’t have this problem, but considering Big Ant is capitalising on a huge licence, it should really have catered to a wider audience.

Big Ant have managed to enhance last year's effort with some official licensing and, whilst the presentation feels familiar, the player animations look improved and authentic. Fielding remains something of a worry but the batting and bowling experience remains thoroughly engaging and satisfying to succeed at.

Starts slowly before revealing some winning qualities. [Jan 2017, p.87]