Sports games spread far and wide around the industry, from table tennis to Hockey to Football, gamers have a full Pfeiffer of games to buy whichever is there passion. One of those sports is Rugby, but Rugby has never had a franchise or a game in all honesty which has taken off and been successful. It seems as if developers just can’t get the concept onto the console, as we have had nothing to give Rugby fans hope of a FIFA or Madden style franchise giving them something to play day in day out.
However, developers are still trying and with the Rugby World Cup they get the perfect base to start making the game up from the ground up once again. So here go again then? Will this be the platform for a sporting giant to have a game be successful on the next generation or will Rugby World Cup 2015 be just another rugby game that fails to impress.
Rugby World Cup 2015 takes place in England this time around however none of the English stadia make its way onto the final game which is a real shame, but I’ll ignore that for now. The teams on the other hand are fully licensed and all players feature, no false names thankfully, and all are individually rated to give teams an overall rating, just like one of the successful sporting franchises.
That is where the positives end sadly. I’m sorry to disappoint rugby fans but the game is not great at all to be honest. I’ll start with the visuals, following on from the above about the stadia, they are not pretty in all honesty, the crowd is similar to something taken from around 2008 and little effort has been put into the visuals on that part.
The players look very retro and that is not a good point either. Each player looks similar if not the same as the player stood next to him and it is hard to see the numbers on the backs of players too. Kits wise, its simply colours, there are no definitions to the kits at all, which is a real shame, I’m not sure if it is licensing issue or whether it is simply out of the budget for this game but it really detracts from the whole issue. Aside from the graphics, the audio is good, it is a fair shout to ask for more fan chants in the games but we do get some recognisable sound bites.
Gameplay wise, it’s not a blockbuster. The amount of times I gave away penalties for offside because the AI would not get back in line with me so infuriating to say the least. Rucks and Mauls work well and the rules are implemented well also, which is refreshing. Passing is very hit and miss, as the videos below show, my performance with the ball in hand is pretty sporadic, as I had no idea where the ball would go at times.
Running with the ball is pretty smooth and the defenders do make some good plays but the inconsistency is another major factor here as well, defenders often make the tackle but leave major holes in which it is easy for you to skip on through for a 100 yard play down the field. This happens all too often, more often than anything I have seen in reality, it can put a real downer on a game which is reasonably contested. The thumbstick mechanics work well for rucks, mauls and scums as well as line outs, there are simplistic yet effective in controlling the players without any sizeable issues.
However for gains in the gameplay there simply is not enough modes to keep you coming back for more and more. The only true game mode is the Rugby World Cup, and that’s it. No qualification or online play available, you can do one on one local but aside from that, it’s pretty poor. And in all honesty there is not much more to say, Rugby World Cup is blissfully short, it’s poor graphics make it a tad harsh on the eye, but the mechanics for gameplay should be copied by those hoping to bring Rugby into true next generation form. For fans of the sport it really isn’t worth your hard earned cash and the wait for a solid enjoyable Rugby game continues.
Thanks to XCN and Microsoft for allowing me to review Rugby World Cup.
http://www.twitch.tv/danlh16/v/18818771
Full one hour session on Rugby World Cup 2015, check it out!