Buy Don Bradman Cricket 14

I would like to rate this game a solid 8/10. This game is very much a very good cricket game and has by far surpassed anything that I have experienced before this game. Having saying that, more changes such as catching assists and more boundary catches would rate this game higher. Also the issues that require fixing are the spinners that are done with controllers. One final change I would also like to state would be to fix the uploading servers as I have had issues with trying to log in and not being able to despite having the same username and password that was previously saved and working onto the log in servers. DBC14 was a revolutionary game and as you can see with the number of hours I have put into this game, it has very much not disappointed. After all, it has almost everything a true cricket fan could ask for!

The Best Cricket Game ever.

About time I wrote a review...

Ultra realistic! Shane Watson actually wastes your reviews!

9.5/10
If you are a cricket fan this is the game for you, it is superbly done by Big Ant Studios.

The batting and bowling feel authentic and the ball physics are just spectacular, the only down sides and the are only a few:

- You cant (as yet) change the lineups of squads during a career
- The animations for fielding and catching a little strange sometimes and regular nutty catch angles happen when a straight forward catch would have sufficed.
- The AI is stupidly good at running you out can be a little unfair at times, and in the whole time ive played, mostly simulated for bowling, but I still havent managed to create a runout.
- Animations for quick yes then no calls can result in a buggy player and can sometimes end up in a run out because the batsmen didn't put his bat down.

Update: Recent updates to the game have made it more enjoyable to play, see patch notes for further details.

Finished one of my Careers, a little disappointed in the end, you cant even view your stats at the end of your career.

Very few things would need to be added to make this the game even better:
- Such things would be better stat displays,
- Being able to change lineups during career,
- If possible auto updating database with new players every season,
- More varied and better looking animations for batting, bowling, fielding.
- Dynamic Weather/modified current weather system.

But other then those few things this is in incredible game from this studio, the physics are superb, you actually feel like you earn't the edge behind or that LBW.

Definately would recommend if you are a serious cricket player.

It's rare to find a decent Cricket game since the mid-90s to mid-2000s. During this time it was a battle of two publishers: Electronic Arts and Codemasters. Early iterations of the game were fun and lacked the realism that most sports games demand. If you're considering DBC 14 I also recommend searching for EA's Cricket 96 (PC) or Codemaster's Shane Warne Cricket 99 (PS1) on eBay.

But back to more current matters. DBC 14 is by far the most authentic cricket game since the EA Sports release of Cricket 2005 for the PC and PS2. Running the game for the first time, you are met with an update that thankfully changes all player names to real names. I hope to see an update in the future that contains real stadium names too. Once in the game, you have various game options from 5-over a side to full blown test cricket. You can also create yourself and move up the ranks of world cricket.

The practice arena is great too, reminiscent of a training nets session. From time to time I find myself relaxing in the nets just having a hit. I've only accumulated a few hours on the PC version but I did so, migrating from the XBOX 360 version. DBC 14 has a solid frame rate and feels very smooth. One aspect that still needs improving is the commentary. While not bad, it's not great. It's certainly not as annoying as other sports games (like PES) but not as smooth or free flowing.

I love the camera angles in this game. When playing solo, you are shown your player from the 3rd person perspective. While this is standard fare for bowling in all cricket games, it's quite refreshing for batting and makes the game feel more authentic. Fielding is decent too and the camera angles during play are superb.

At the time of writing this, I'm in search for games during the Steam sale. However I was quite willing to drop the full price for this game for two reasons: Supporting not just a local developer, but one that is willing to put the time and effort to capture a sport that itself has captured millions around the world.

As someone who doesn't come from a background steeped in cricket knowledge or history (I'm American), I wasn't really sure what to expect, but cricket holds a certain novelty for me, and I wanted to give this game a try. Not only am I glad I did, but it has become one of my favorite sports games of all-time.

Tl;dr - If you're a fan of the sport, this is simply a must-have. If you have a passing interest, this game could actually help your understanding of the sport and also happens to be extremely fun and satisfying.

On the surface, just like baseball, cricket is a simple game: throw the ball, hit the ball, catch the ball, curse under your breath when you're out. Just like baseball, though, there is an immense amount of strategic subtlety, and unlike America's pastime, cricket has a much wider range of strategic nuance, offering endless combinations of fielders and bowling styles. DBC14 captures the essence of that strategy by putting players in complete control of their fielding alignments and customizing them for bowlers, batsmen, or both.

Which brings me to the crux of cricket and of DBC14 - what goes on at that little brown strip in the middle of the field. Bowlers are offered a wide array of options, especially pace bowlers. Toy with line and length, swing the ball to and fro, whatever you want to do to go for wickets. All this complexity is broken down into a relatively straightforward control scheme that is easy to learn but difficult to master. Pace bowling is definitely harder to get the timing on than spin bowling, but it's the pace men who offer the most excitement and get the most wickets.

Batting is also somewhat straightforward. Batsmen have the ability to survey the field and get ideas on how to attack it, can choose to go for a shot in the air or along the ground or play a sweep. It's all mapped out quite cleanly, but the big key I found was timing; especially with pace bowlers, getting a good feel for the rhythm of the deliverly lets batsmen time the ball up and crush it. If the player is in rhythm, it's not difficult to churn out 20-30 runs an over, especially in T20 when bowlers are more aggressive. By that same token, mistime a big swing for the ropes, and you're down a wicket. Bowling AI is smart and will adjust even within overs to cover areas where you're consistently putting the ball, forcing you to stay on your toes and play an all-round innings at the crease.

I will say that running and fielding felt a bit clunky. It was tough to know if I had hit the ball right to a man in the field because of the way the camera swings around, and (at least early on) I had a few run-outs because I got a little trigger-happy, but I also missed out on runs because I couldn't see where the ball was. It'd be helpful, too, when fielding, to have a diagram of where each button throws the ball. I still don't have it down and will find my fielder throwing at the bowler's stumps when the keeper has the other batsman dead to rights. Ultimately, though, I can forgive those things because the most important aspects of the on-field experience are just so strong.

The game has a variety of ways to play the sport, with all the Test nations, the three major domestic leagues (England, Australia, and India), and a bevy of formats covered, and if you don't like what's on offer, players can create their own content through the Don Bradman Academy, a robust customization engine where everything can be tweaked. (And, since this game contains little or no licensed content, players can create their own approximations of modern cricketers and teams). Players can also create their own leagues, tournaments, tour schedules, and even formats of the game through the DBA. It's a wonderful little tool that adds tremendous depth to what could have otherwise been a rather pedestrian between-match experience, and it might be my favorite feature of the entire game.

I guess my biggest complaints are the lack of licensed content (addressed by the Don Bradman Academy system, but it's not quite the same), and the menu music. They only included a handful of tracks that get quite tiresome after a while, and I haven't found any way to add custom music to the game. That would be a wonderful feature that would keep me playing this game forever. Heck, I'm probably playing this game forever anyway. Run, don't walk, to buy Don Bradman Cricket 14.

Best Cricket game ever made, if not one of the best sports games i have ever played!

Very addictive, you cant just play 1 game at a time. Just starting out in a career as a 16 year old fast bowler/batsman. The ability to simulate the game until it is your turn to bat or bowl is good if you don't want to sit around and watch the others pile on the runs while you sit in the pavilion waiting your turn.

Big thumbs up to Big Ant Studios for producing an amazing game.
If you love Cricket then this is a must, if you don't this is still a great sports game and a great way to set foot in the the amazing sport.

Well and truly the best cricket game ever made.

It still has problems, of course, but there has never been such an in depth cricket game. Don Bradman Cricket 14 is very challenging no matter the difficultly, and when you win you feel a real sense of achievement. Avid cricket fans will love this, as there is so much to it. It's as much a cricket simulation as there might ever be.

Well done, Big Ant Studios.

Arguably the best Cricket game ever, and I've played many. If not, it's certainly near the top.

Nice graphics, excellent gameplay, patches released on a regular basis. There is realism, depth (batting especially will take a little while to get the hang of), and room for the community to step in and create players, teams and umpires. And there is a long-awaited CAREER MODE, where you start as a 16 year old and work your way up from County/State/Province-level to International selection.

There isn't a large amount of stadia, but this is to be expected of a first release. Clearly gameplay has been the focus and DBC14 is better for it.

In my opinion, DBC14 is worthy of the 'Don Bradman' branding. Well done Big Ant on hitting this one for six.

P.S. You will need a controller, which I think is a good move, I couldn't imagine playing this on a keyboard.