- Significant series upgrade delivered
- Improved graphics and animations
- Challenging, rewarding batting mechanics
- Poor fielding mechanics and AI
- Stagnant gameplay experience with bugs
- Frequent game crashes reported
Emotions
Players are highly satisfied with the significant improvements across gameplay, graphics, AI, and overall performance compared to previous titles. Specific praises include enhanced batting, bowling, fielding mechanics, realistic physics, smooth performance with fewer bugs, and a deeper career mode, making it feel like a complete and superior cricket game.
Frustration primarily stems from frequent game crashes, especially at startup or mid-match, and persistent, unresolved bugs like poor AI field settings, broken edge mechanisms, and annoying fielding glitches. Unplayable performance, with some users experiencing extremely low frame rates, and the feeling that the game is an update rather than a new experience also contribute to this emotion.
Players express disappointment over the game's perceived lack of innovation, feeling like a re-release of previous titles with minimal major differences from Cricket 24. Recurring bugs, unoptimized graphics, blurry visuals, and the high price point for a game that doesn't meet expected quality or deliver significant improvements contribute to this sentiment.
Despite current issues, players hold hope that future patches and updates will address the numerous bugs, glitches, and performance problems. There is an anticipation that developers will fix animations, improve fielding mechanics, and potentially add more features, transforming the game into the desired cricket experience.
Excitement is generated by the significant overall improvements over previous games, particularly Cricket 24, and the introduction of new features like the Manager mode. Stunning graphics, enhanced gameplay, improved commentary, and the initial immersive experience contribute to a positive and engaging first impression.
Verdict
Mixed
Summary
Positive 66% · Negative 34%. Score: 34 / 100
Positives:
- Players widely consider this game a substantial improvement over previous titles like Cricket 22 and 24, often hailing it as the best Big Ant cricket game to date. It feels more like a complete, mature release with enhanced gameplay, visuals, and overall experience, rather than just a minor annual update.
- The game features notably better graphics, including sharper visuals, improved lighting, and updated player models with better realism and cloth physics. New, smoother animations for batting, bowling, fielding, and in-game cutscenes contribute to a more fluid and immersive visual experience, complemented by enhanced stadium details and match presentation.
- Batting now feels lighter yet with more weight and improved timing, providing much-needed consistency. It's described as genuinely tough, requiring practice to master, which makes the gameplay more interesting and rewarding due to the increased difficulty and intelligent AI.
- Fielding has received significant attention, with players noting faster, more realistic animations and reactions. The AI fielding also shows marked improvement, making it a standout upgrade compared to previous iterations.
- The game offers a strong sense of realism, balancing familiar elements with fresh additions. Aspects like the immersive Ashes presentation, detailed build-up, and responsive crowd reactions significantly enhance the overall atmosphere and player engagement, giving hope for the future of cricket games.
Negatives:
- Fielding is a major point of contention due to janky animations, unresponsive AI, and general slowness. Fielders often stand idle, make delayed throws, or fumble frequently, leading to unrealistic outcomes like impossible run-outs, too many overthrows, and issues with fielders appearing on top of each other.
- Players report the game offers minimal innovation from previous titles (e.g., Cricket 22/24), reusing assets and gameplay mechanics. Persistent bugs from older games, awkward animations, and a general lack of major improvements contribute to a sense of stagnation and unpolished feel, including missing player interactions in cutscenes.
- A significant number of players report severe stability problems, with the game frequently crashing to desktop. These crashes occur randomly, mid-match, or on startup, often rendering the game unplayable despite troubleshooting attempts, with specific issues noted during match starts.
- Players criticize the game's graphics as dramatically lacking, blurry, and outdated, with visuals comparable to older generation consoles. The absence of modern rendering technologies and poor camera options further highlights a deficiency in visual fidelity compared to contemporary titles.
- Specific gameplay mechanics require refinement, including inconsistent outcomes for well-timed batting shots (too many boundaries or wickets), an unreliable batter confidence meter, and issues with the bowling marker's visibility and impact. Spin bowling also feels nerfed.
Gameplay:
- Players report that batting in the game requires adapting to entirely new techniques, moving away from previous game instincts and demanding a more realistic approach to cricket. Some feedback indicates that Cricket 22 offered a better batting experience, highlighting a potential learning curve or a perceived regression in gameplay.
- The core bowling gameplay and mechanics are largely perceived as similar to previous installments, despite the introduction of new bowling styles. This suggests that while there may be cosmetic additions, the fundamental feel of bowling remains unchanged for many players.
- There is specific feedback indicating a potential balance issue where AI-controlled batsmen hit lofted shots too quickly, leading to an unrealistic number of sixes. This suggests that the AI's batting power for lofted shots might be overtuned.
Performance:
- Multiple players have reported experiencing frequent game crashes within short gameplay sessions. This issue occurs despite users having updated drivers and systems capable of running other demanding AAA titles, suggesting a game-specific stability problem.
- At least one player reported a smooth gameplay experience without stability issues. This indicates that while some users face crashes, the game can run well on certain setups.
Recommendations:
- A significant portion of feedback recommends players wait before purchasing, citing prevalent bugs, crashes, and a current price point not justified by the game's state. Many reviewers are requesting refunds, hoping that expected patches will address these critical issues.
- For dedicated cricket lovers, the game is seen as a compelling purchase, with some even recommending it at full price. There's optimism that with further development and bug fixes, it could evolve into the premier cricket title the community desires.
- Players have expressed a clear wish for the developers to incorporate a greater number of officially licensed teams into the game. This addition is viewed as crucial for enhancing realism and overall player immersion.
Miscellaneous:
- Many players acknowledge the game's current early state and express strong anticipation for developers, Big Ant Studios, to deliver essential patches. These updates are expected to address numerous bugs, glitches, and crashes, as well as introduce more content, indicating player patience and support for ongoing development.
- Players have highlighted a significant issue with game licensing, specifically noting the absence of certain teams (like South Africa and RCB) and the presence of generic player models even within supposedly licensed teams. This lack of authentic representation detracts from the immersive experience.
- While some players have encountered the DLS (Duckworth-Lewis-Stern) method in matches, there is an expectation and desire for more prominent and visually impactful weather effects, such as gloomy conditions. Developers have also confirmed that rain and DLS method improvements are slated for future updates.
- Feedback indicates that current game modes feel basic and lack depth, with calls for more essential features. Players desire additions such as clear toss winner announcements, specific naming for opening batsmen, and in-game milestone tracking to enhance gameplay engagement.
- A specific need for adjustments to gameplay sliders was noted by one reviewer. This suggests that certain in-game parameters may require fine-tuning to achieve a more balanced and enjoyable player experience.
