With the game being out for a few weeks now and having an opportunity to plough plenty of hours into the career mode I thought now would be a good time to share my impressions on what is good, what is not and what could be changed to make it awesome.
To start with a few points to take into consideration -
- I have owned every cricket (except for Big Bash Boom), Rugby League, AFL and tennis game developed/published by Big Ant (BA).
- I think what BA achieve as a small studio is excellent, especially in the way they have been able to navigate around the lack of licensing for some games to allow a passionate community to create content to fill the void and this has been built on year on year but.........
- I also believe BA sometimes use the "small studio" argument to wallpaper over cracks and release games that should not have been released. AO Tennis is a great example of a game that had a release date but was not finished and in many ways not playable.
- BA produce the best cricket games on the market hands down...............but thats like saying Will Ferrell makes the best Will Ferrell movies.
- I dont play games competitively online, I dont play on the hardest game modes, I play for the enjoyment and to live out the fantasy of being F1 World Champion, the greatest player in MLB history or in this case the best cricketer in the world. Its not realistic but I believe if you pay your $99 you play the game the way you want to play it.
I've started 3 career modes. The first I abandoned as the fast bowling all rounder wasnt enjoyable (no fault of the game), the second as a spin bowling allrounder was good but with my player just being selected to tour Bangladesh the save file corrupted and kept crashing the game. I decided this time round to go with a lower order spin bowler so I could just concentrate on one discipline (bowling) and just be a crazy slogger with the bat - go big or get out!
What is good -
I like when starting the game and playing through you have the option to manage the difficulty of selection. If this was purely based on stats it would take so long to progress to national selection that you would be in your 30's and your international career would be over before it has begun. Also setting up your player with a little bit more depth with things like preferred fielding positions, strengths and weaknesses make it feel like your player is a lot more fleshed out as an individual.
For me the progression was fairly reasonable from grade cricket to state and then international was satisfying. My player - Nick Macgill, (nephew of the great Stuart Macgill in my own fantasy world) had spent a couple of seasons in grade cricket for Mosman before playing for NSW right at the end of the second season and playing 1 BBL game for the Sixers. He then went to the CPL and was playing county cricket when he was called up for the first test of the Ashes. I imagined Australia's first choice spinner had been injured and he was a shock call up a la Mike Whitney in the 80's. There was a cool cutscene (we will talk more about cutscenes later) where Nick Macgill got his baggy green handed to him...............by an invisible man! Great stuff BA.
Overall I think BA has tried to make you feel like you are in an immersive career where you are a part of a fantastic world of cricket but...........................
What is not good -
Sadly where do I start......
- For a mode where immersion is spoken of so much it immediately gets broken with old mate from the "cricket talent agency". It doesnt feel realistic in anyway and at this point in my career, having played for NSW and Australia I havent heard from him since.
- Also why would I call him to tell him this information and the club I've chosen if I'm already there waiting for the coach? It just seems to be there for the sake of having a cutscene. On the other hand meeting the coach you get to talk about preferred fielding positions, strengths and weaknesses etc which makes perfect sense.
- The gym you have at the club is the same as state and national level. If the gym was a little ratty at club level and then improved moving up the grades would be good.
- As a player you live your life in 2 sets of clothes, your playing gear and a pair of non descript whites. All coaches wear red shirts.
- There is very little guidance on what training and fatigue management has to do with your stats. It just feels like there are mini games to say "Hey we have mini games for training like NBA2k!".
- The net sessions seem to have no time limit or structure. Bowling to nobody without an actual goal is just pointless. At least with the old bowling minigame you had to bowl deliveries that had to pass through coloured areas.
- This seems to have come and gone but I was playing for Australia and went to relive my fatigue and get a massage and Dave Warner was behind the counter. When I was at the Sixers it was Josh Phillipe. Openers must be hard up for cash.
- If you sim through games your level increases but you receive no stats boosts. Previously you could sim games and at least get some sort of boost to your stats to help progress your player.
- As I dont want to play every single ball when my team is bowling my fielding stats dont change.
- There is no clear outline of how perks effect your players stats. Has my abilities increase with this perk? Who knows!!!!
- I'm 4 years into a career and 72 rated - all my perks are level 1.
- If you are named man of the match in a club game you get a cheque for $1000. If you get man of the match in an Ashes test you get $1000. Club cricket pays well.
- Press conferences dont seem to affect anything and the questions are always wrong. "How does it feel to make 100?" I dont know, I didnt! "Do you think being the home team will give you a big advantage?" Maybe but we are the away team so probably not.
- Also I must be the first club cricketer to have a press conference. Note to BA - those Sportsbet ads with The Grubs cricket club having a press conference are not real.
- The same cut scene over and over again with the coach in red giving a one line analysis of the game then walking off with the players standing in a circle looking bemused.
- The cut scene on the bus where the coach says we have to play better.........we are 2-0 up in the series champ.
- The cut scene (almost) every time you sign a contract where you are introduced to the team. Mate I've been playing with the Australian team for 18 months now, you dont need to keep introducing me to the squad.
- There should be a difference between when you get offered the chance to play for a domestic team (BBL, Sheffield Shield, IPL, CPL, County cricket etc) and when you get picked for the national team. You sign a contract to play for club, you get selected to play for your country.
- Overlapping competitions. I was going backwards and forwards between the CPL, County Cricket and playing for Australia!
- If your not in the team you cant see the results or the schedule. It would be great to see how Australia is going while you are trying to make the team.
- The lineups dont change based on performance. Australia beats England in back to back Ashes series 5-0 and no changes to the England eleven. No spinner in the team as well so its Anderson, Broad, Robinson, Stokes, Woakes over and over again.
- No matter what the conditions we are playing the same eleven until you become captain.
- No injuries
- its 2025 and the Australian team is exactly the same as it is currently except I've taken Nathan Lyons spot. Alex Carey is 95 rated, cant get a game.
- Every test of my Ashes series in England I get the newspaper headline about the series being tied and heading to Old Trafford! The series was never tied (except 0-0 in the first test.
- No post game Ashes celebration.
- At the end of a series you cant see the series stats you can only see them during the series. Its great to track player of the series but whats the point if you cant see who finished on top?
- The deal breaker for me Australia scheduled to play an Ashes series in Australia and at the same time a 3 test series vs New Zealand. 2 Boxing Day tests sounds great but unrealistic.
I could go on but I wont but just have a look at what BA and "Bajo" promise us with career mode -
There is just so much BS it is not funny.
How to do it better -
So here are some simple things that could be done to make career mode better -
- No cut scenes. They are repetitive and dont add anything to the game if your going to have them make them matter ie getting your baggy green.
- Replace the cut scenes with a email/sms system to communicate with coaches, managers etc.
- Make training and development clear and easy to understand.
- Have nets sessions with a purpose, for example -Bowl this delivery in this area 10 times out of 20 balls, dont get bowled during your nets session and hit 5 straight drives.
- Make the effect of perks clear and easy to understand.
- Replace pointless minigames with just a simple choose and activity to increase your players skill, similar to the fatigue options.
- No press conferences unless they have a point. And the point is not to build followers on social media. Other games do this and it adds nothing to the experience.
- Dynamic squads and dynamic selection - the wicket is turning, pick 2 spinners. Your opener is averaging single figures, hes dropped. And you shouldnt have to become captain to do this. At the very least allow users to change the CPU lineup.
- Be able to see how all teams are progressing even if you dont play for them. I want to see how the other test nations are going, not just my team. Have a Cricinfo page where you can see updates from your little cricket universe.
- Make the big games feel big. My Ashes series in Australia treated it like any other test. Its just the same cut scenes we have seen in Ashes Cricket and Cricket 19.
Final thoughts -
A lot of people, especially the BA fanboys will disagree with a lot of this. A lot of people will say that I'm asking too much from a small studio. But for me its pretty simple, do the basics right then go and add in 100 cutscenes and training minigames. All these new additions has taken career mode backwards rather than forwards and repetitive cut scenes just become things you skip. To be honest I would pay $120 for an excellent career mode with no cutscenes but the ability to see how I went in my last series or how the New Zealand vs Bangladesh series played out even though I play for Australia. Or even who won the last CPL because I didnt play in it. What about who are the top Batsman and Bowlers in the world based on ICC rankings in the game?
BA are now 5 cricket games and 4 career modes in and can we honestly say it is better than Ashes Cricket or Cricket 19's career modes? Honestly I'd say no. Maybe if a few more players had sent a few more inappropriate photos BA could have delayed the game 6 months and released a better product.
. But you never know with BA. 
