Ashes Cricket review: Enthralling and entertaining, the best console cricket game yet has arrived

Joe Root. Mitchell Starc. Ellyse Perry. Sarah Taylor. Those names can only mean one thing.

It’s Ashes time – and while we can’t all be Down Under to watch the visitors attempt to hold on to the urn, BigAnt have done their best to bring the experience to England.

Brought to you by the developers of the Don Bradman series, Ashes Cricket will feature fully licensed men’s and women’s national teams of both Ashes competitors.

Sold as the most ‘authentic and realistic cricket game ever made’, 2017’s second cricket game from BigAnt will not disappoint with boosted visuals and gameplay providing a genuine feel.

Play against a friend or take on the new and improved AI in an Ashes feature series as new control options help maximise the enjoyability of the game.

With both classic and new options, players can resort to the more advanced Don Bradman 17-style set of controls or beginners can be induced with a more basic set.

Like the previous Bradman series, casual game modes include options to manipulate the length of overs, wickets available and more.

And the gameplay itself is both visually stunning and vastly improved. Now, we can’t all play at the Melbourne Cricket Ground but the alternative of setting up a game at the ‘G is still pretty fun.

The licensed grounds – every Ashes stadium to be used across both series – have been built off stunning 3D models.

In addition, with advances on the control of the ball you can now decide which direction to face the seam while also analysing the state of the ball throughout the match.

All of which combines to make a cracking game experience. Play as Jimmy Anderson and swing the ball in to and away from the opposing batsman.

Or, if you’re me, beat the outside edge with Josh Hazlewood time and time again and go up for the appeal. Over-use of the system or accurately recreating the Australian side? You decide.

The multi-player fun doesn’t need to end mid-series either, as the Tests (as with other formats) can be saved at any point to resume a marathon slog against your mate at a later time.

We’re also informed the AI knows when to bat for a draw. This is especially useful if ‘Pez’ has just smashed a double century against you. It also means no more batting collapse off the back of one wicket falling. Drats.

And speaking of the Women’s Ashes, the game has stayed true to form and replicates the format of three ODIs, three T20Is and one Test match.

Big Ant CEO Ross Symons has previously said: ‘We wanted this game to build on the years of experience that we’ve had in developing cricket games,’ and there is a pretty clear indication this is the case.

Plenty of the previous glitches have been ironed out. At the time of trying the game, Australia’s under-pressure wicketkeeper Matthew Wade missed almost every delivery down leg in one session.

Now, although that’s a genuine contender for most realistic nuance of the year, it’s likely not intentional.

But rest assured, we are told a day one patch should help clear minor irritations.

‘Photo-realism’

BigAnt’s new proprietary photogrammetry technology has helped ensure each licensed player’s realism, with the developers working with the likes of Glenn Maxwell and Alastair Cook to produce inch-perfect virtual clones.

You may have seen Maxwell himself and Australia men’s skipper Steve Smith face off in a semi-viral video earlier this year.

Those were produced while acting for motion capture cameras – the very same used in-game to advanced the feel of player’s actions.

In short, we have photo-like impressions of players who perform shots just as they do in real-life. In stadiums which are hosting the Ashes. It’s a wonderful experience.

And don’t fear that the game is short-sighted, either. As in the Don Bradman games, an in-depth career mode lets any budding cricketer begin a campaign to captain their nation after starting from the bottom.

Training modes and tutorials are available to help build your skills before playing, while the online mode returns.

Cricket Academy will also return with Ashes Cricket – the mode which allows users to create players, umpires, stadiums, teams, logos and uniforms.

Users can share their creations with the community and allow others to download them – a particularly nifty feature.

All in all, it’s great fun, it’s addictive, and will have you hooked for a significant portion of your life. You were warned.

Ashes Cricket will be available on PlayStation®4, Xbox One and PC on November 16.