Pro Cycling Manager 2020 is the yearly updated version of the long-lasting manager simulation game. With 14 years of expertise, this version claims to be the best one yet.
Decide everything
Now to me, cycling feels like a heroic sport in which current day gladiators reach their limits in order to be the best of the pack. Racing for long distances while muscles are getting sorer with each inch the finish line gets closer, is something I would never attempt. The fact that the cyclists often do this for multiple races day after day is beyond me. As heroic as the cyclists might be, there is a whole team behind them supporting the cyclists in every way possible to make the difference during race days. All these cogs in the machine can potentially augment the team.
Managing all these pieces is done by a team leader who has a lot of pressure on his/her shoulder to make sure everything leads to potential more success. In Pro Cycling Manager 2020 you are the team leader who has to take all the decisions and who will ultimately be responsible for success or failure.
Never change a winning team
Pro Cycling Manager 2020 isn’t a giant leap from its 2019 version. The development team knows what worked and what could be improved. Since a lot of time is spent maneuvering through menus, these have been updated a bit to further facilitate this process. I have to say, everything looked slick. Although I was a bit overwhelmed by the number of menus I could check, I quickly found my way. Besides these small adjustments, Pro Cycling Manager 2020 has finally added the official Tour De France race to the already big roster.
Career mode
Although Pro Cycling Manager 2020 can be played as a cyclist whose goal is to maximize his career, career mode is where it’s at. In career mode, morale is introduced. When your cyclists have good or bad morale, it can reflect on the potential outcome of the races. Keeping every cyclists’ morale high by choosing the right races and reacting well on certain requests, will make a big difference. Granting a certain key cyclist in your team that high-cost new contract might be what was needed to win the next race. Directly linked to morale is “motivation”. When your team is performing good and no other team can get in your way, it reflects on the team in a good way. Holding the leader jersey can, for instance, give a boost to the team to make it even harder for other teams to catch up.
Assistant
In previous versions of Pro Cycling Manager 2020, it took a while to get started. You had to decide a lot of things before you could even begin prepping for an actual race. In this version, an assistant is introduced who can make these decisions for you. Making this tedious process obsolete if you don’t want to do it. Of course, the option to just override what your assistant has decided is obviously present. You are ultimately the one who decides everything. So no worries if you were looking forward to deciding which frame and what type of tires you want to use for each race.
3D race
Pro Cycling Manager 2020 is in essence all about numbers and graphs. You make decisions based on all the data available to you. In a manager game that’s basically the only thing you need. 3D races stick out like a sore thumb in my opinion. It’s cool to see the actual race in 3D but I wouldn’t recommend it more than once. The 3D race takes forever to load and still manages to look awful. The fact that all you can do during a race can be done without the 3D race and it’s way quicker without it makes this option useless.
Conclusion
Pro Cycling Manager 2020 is not for everyone. If you happen to love management games and are into the cycling sport, this might be right up your alley. You might even have a previous version and are looking for an update. If you happen to own the 2019 version and you’re not a die-hard fan, I would skip this version because the difference is minute. On the other hand, if you want an updated roster filled with unlicensed names… go for it.
5,5/10
Tested on Shadow
