Nacon brings us the latest updated version of Cycling Manager. A title we had already tested in its 2022 version and which returns to us with quite a few updates. Especially as the title passed through the hands of a number of publishers before making its way to Nacon.
Roll on, and you’ll see how round the world is.
With the Tour de France just around the corner and every cycling season in between, Nacon took the opportunity to release its new version of Pro Cycling Manager. We knew in advance that the title wasn’t a complete overhaul, but a comprehensive, in-depth improvement with additions eagerly awaited by the community.
New features include the management of our cyclist’s training via the Pro Cyclist world. This mode will enable us to create our own cyclist and develop him or her in various competitions. This mode has already been present in the past, but here we find an enrichment of the entire system with a much more modern feel. Basically, you’re going to have to set yourself goals and plan as best you can to achieve them. And yes, rest is also part of the equation. If you train too hard, you’ll have achieved your training goals, but you’ll also have a tired cyclist who’ll start his competition at the worst. Fortunately, you can get your trainer to manage this for you. I’m happy to say that, like us, this has helped us, as our first training sessions were catastrophic. Yes, just because you’ve done the previous titles doesn’t mean you’re any good at them…
It’s worth noting that, overall, the AI has been greatly improved to offer better reactions during races. Climbs, breakaways, descents… But it’s not all perfect. The AI still sometimes takes a kip and exhausts its stamina for no reason. Especially in passages where it knows it needs to save itself. Well, this should be corrected with various patches or in the 2024 version.
As for content, the title doesn’t handicap itself with anything. Except for various names. But that’s subjective, and you’ll still find the official jerseys, which, admittedly, is great. In terms of content, there are so many game modes that there’s something for everyone. You can go through the career as well as launch a quick race. We’ve already told you about the Pro Cyclist, with its single rider mode. It’s worth noting that the career modes are ultra-complete, to the point of making you spend many hours in various menus before even launching a race. And that’s its great strength. It lets you get your hands on everything that surrounds the world of cycling. It’s up to you whether you want to take part in the race and see the cyclists in action, or whether you want to play through the simulation and gain many hours of gameplay. The only drawback is that doing so won’t give you any bonuses that could save your career.
In terms of graphics, let’s face it, Pro Cycling Manager 2023 isn’t the prettiest. And of course, that’s not where it should shine. But when you have to watch a race for long minutes. We’d have liked to have been spared recycling. Which quickly made us forget to use this mode, and just do simulations. In theend, PCM 23 is, and remains, the ultimate simulation of the genre, which is not lacking in generosity. But it could do with a major graphics overhaul. With a few AI fixes, we feel that the next edition will be the ultimate simulation of the genre.
