Ultra realistic! Shane Watson actually wastes your reviews!

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.

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.

Looking forward to DBC 17.

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.

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.

Don Bradman Cricket 14 is the greatest cricket game I have ever played.

The developer, Big Ant Studios, have really gone above and beyond to create a cricket game that is vastly different to previous cricket games.

The batting and bowling are completely revamped.

Instead of using the d-pad to choose which direction to hit the ball and the face buttons to choose what type of shot to play, batting involves using both the left and right analog sticks. The left analog stick is used to choose which foot to play (i.e front or back foot) and the right stick dictates which direction you want to play the shot. Holding the bumper buttons and flicking the right stick in the direction you want to hit the ball, produces different shots. For example, holding the left trigger button with the left stick causes you to hit a lofted shot. It takes a bit of getting used to, but once you master the controls, it feels very intuitive, vastly superior to previous cricket game controls and a lot of fun.

Bowling has also been changed for the better. Instead of having a dot on the ground and showing your opponent where you are going to bowl, there is a new control scheme. First, you have to choose the length of the ball that you want to bowl, using the face buttons (i.e A for good length, B for short length or Y for full length). As your bowler approaches the crease, you flick back the right stick and then flick forward in the direction you want to bowl the ball. This is an amazingly new and fresh way to bowl in cricket games. It allows for a more authentic bowling experience and is alot more fun and engaging, then placing a dot on the pitch and just passively pressing buttons. I can't believe the day where I would say that bowling is potentially more fun than batting in a cricket game.

Graphics are nice and crisp. The grounds are rendered really well and the lighting is top-notch.

Sounds of the bat hitting the ball are satisfying to hear and the appeals of bowlings are exciting.

Overall, Don Bradman Cricket 14 is an amazing sports game. It is definitely up there with other sports games such as FIFA and the NBA 2K games, in terms of realism, fun and authenticity.

A must-have for all cricket fans and even just fans of sports in general.

9/10.

The best cricket game, I have ever played.
+ Batting and bowling is quite realistic.
+ With the help of Cricket academy in game, you can get all original players/teams from international as well as club level.
+ Career mode is quite innovative, where you have to play with a batsman/bowler and rise up the ranks to get selected at international level. The only problem in this mode is that, the difficulty can get increased if you start doing well, and you need very good reflexes to bat at difficulties above PRO. Also, you cannot change the batting order of your player, at any point of time in career mode.
+ There are lots of options to customise the game - pitch settings/weather/overs, etc.
+ Game can get real addictive, once you know the basics.
+ Great graphics and animations.

- Online system is quite broken, but if you have friends who own the game, then it's easy to play matches with them.
- I know it's not much, but you cannot see the bowling statistics fully in the scoreboard. Also, some other statistics which were present in the EA versions of cricket are absent.
- No auto save features while playing. You only have an option to Save and Quit the game.
- The AI hardly ever makes a mistake. (//Rant)

Overall 9/10.

Note: You need to own a controller to play the game.

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.

Better than Don Bradman Cricket 17

It Literally is the best cricket video game in the history. It PACKS everything you need.
Best Gameplay Engine? Check.
Best Game Graphics ? Check.
Best Online Versus ? Check.
Best Modding Capability ? Check.
Best Commentary ? Check (Not Completely though :P) It may not have legend commentators, but there are 2 guys who do the job well and exactly same most of the time.I mean repeated dialogues for a shot. But they sound well.