I know I'm almost a year late to the mix, but I just got the game for the ps4. Maybe if someone else finds the game for cheap, and decides to check out the reviews, hopefully they will stumble into what I'm writing. And if you did, mate I can tell you, without a doubt, this is the best cricket game I've played. It is arguably the best cricket game ever created.
If you've played previous iterations like the classic Don Bradman 14, then you'll feel right at home. There are new controls, but they are completely optional and you can chose between classic and standard (the new variation). Personally, I found standard for batting to be a fantastic affair. Originally, I was worried that using the face buttons instead of the classic joystick for shot type selection would be too simple and easy. But it feels better. You never feel you lost your wicket cheaply (almost never, but more on that later). I never thought I could feel so much joy from timing a shot right, they nailed the sound effects. The core gameplay is near perfect. The shot timing makes more sense than it did in Bradman 14, and shot placement feels natural, like how you would play a shot in real life. If you were Steve Smith that is.
But you can be Steve Smith. The licensed players look fantastic. They even nailed down quirks like Steve Smith's posture before a shot. You can check it out even if you don't own the game, there are videos on Youtube showing how they motion captured shots with Smith and Glen Maxwell. Big Ant were able to do this for the the first time because they partnered with the English and Australian cricket boards. To my understanding, as almost a promotion to the upcoming Ashes tournament. While they couldn't include other players from other countries, they found another way. Allowing community made teams to be downloaded. What a genius way to circumvent licensing issues. Awesome. There is room for improvement with the player models though. The players show their emotion with their body movements such as swinging their bat after getting out, or jumping after taking a wicket, but they seem to be dead on the inside. By that I mean expressions of sheer joy or grief didn't really find their way in this game. A small thing, considering the amazing gameplay, but very hard to miss when the cutscene shows a closeup of someone's face after getting out. That said, the amount of customization in this game is insane. From creating your character detail by detail, (and I really mean that, I have not encountered another game with such a detailed and complex character creator, although I feel they missed a few shades of brown), to choosing and customizing your (LICENSED!) bat, or making your stadium, the amount of freedom you have in a sports game is fresh and feels fantastic.
Something I wish they improve in the next iteration of the game is the commentary. If you watch cricket you know commentary makes up a huge part of the game. Through all forms of the game: Test, T20, ODI; the insights provided by the commentators is unparalleled in sports. Discussing everything from team fitness, team selection, context, current forms and histories of players, to dissecting the unique stroke play of a batsman and adding another layer of excitement to the game. Commentators are literally the voice of cricket. While there are official commentators in the Ashes game, they are very lackluster. They can be silent for uncomfortably long periods of time. Once or twice during a match I've thought of checking the menu to see if I turned them off and forgot about it. They have a limited amount of phrases they though around, which is adequate, but what irks me and other players is that the commentators get it wrong a majority of the time. For example, when you bat, the game gives you feedback on your stroke, timing, shot selection, and foot-placement. Even if you have everything at the highest rating, the commentators will complain that you didn't hit the ball well enough. If you cancel a run right after calling for one, they talk about how you were almost run out. Reaching a half-century in test in just 70 balls and the commentators complain that you played slow. It wouldn't be that big of a deal, but like I said, commentators are the voice of cricket. Hearing them say the wrong thing baffles the player completely and takes them out of the moment. Although I can understand that due to the nature of Big Ant studios financial and labor restraints, they can't produce commentary quality that matches other sports game.
It is passable, but barely. However, I would not recommend turning it off like the official review of Gamespot suggests. It does add some life to the game, albeit a confusing one.
Another thing to improve would be the running between the wickets. I've been run out multiple times, and less than a handful felt genuine. Sometimes the player didn't put his bat down fast enough when reaching the crease. Sometimes they'll dive after nearly reaching the crease, and because they're in the air, they're given out. It ends up feeling cheap. Other than a few times I was direct hit, it never felt genuine. It does stop you from running twos every ball, but it feels like the game is stopping you, not your opponent.
I've gone on quite a long rant here on small things, but there is something major Big Ant improved on. The pace of the game. Cricket tends to be a slow game. A very slow game. I mean Test matches are played over 5 days. But when you play Ashes Cricket, it feels fast paced. That is because they've made it so easy to cut to the action in Career mode. If you're a batsman for example, pressing square will simulate the game in seconds till the moment you have to bat. Even when you switch from being on strike to being the runner, you can skip the running and simply go batting with the click of the button. This is ineffably useful for Test cricket, which you'll be playing a lot of in Career, as the batsman on strike can and usually does defend the whole over. Same with bowling, if you're a bowler, then it will simulate the game till you have to bowl. There is never any waiting around.
The namesake of the game, Ashes, is of course, the main attraction of the game. You can take control of a cricketer or control the whole team. I can't thank Big Ant for giving us the option to do that. (You can even do it in Career mode, although I would recommend against it because you destroy a bit of the magic of how your team performs) Talking about options, you can even play as the female teams. That, I find to be an amazing move on Big Ant's part. I'm sure that the partnership with the cricket boards helped, but having female cricketers in a video game is a big step forward for the niche which plays cricket video games, and in the long run, the sport itself.
After my considerable ramblings about how good this game is, I should warn that this game isn't for everyone. But I feel that's a bit obvious. The game is purely cricket, nothing else. If you aren't a fan of cricket you won't be a fan of the game. Simple enough.
While this game may not be a masterpiece when compared to all video-games, it is definitely a masterpiece in the cricket genre of video games. Nothing better has come out. Ever. The only reason I give it a nine instead of a ten is because of the aforementioned reasons: commentary, running, and fielding (which I didn't find so problematic as to write about it, but definitely one of the iffy components of the game).
As a huge cricket fan, I'm glad Big Ant keeps improving their releases. I hope they improve this one too, because they have been killing it. Any game that is released in the future, and is better than this, would be a masterpiece, because Ashes Cricket is near perfection. If you're a cricket fan who enjoys video games as well, I simply can not recommend this game enough. It is fantastic. Leading your favorite team to victory, and doing it with this level of gameplay, is something only Ashes Cricket can give you.