RWC 2011 Game - Not impressed

[Terak]

So, I managed to get my pre-order yesterday, as another supplier broke release date.

I have owned every rugby game since Francois Pienaar Rugby.

I must say.... I am pissed off!!!!

/flame suit on!

In all honesty, this is a HD version of Rugby 08. And calling it an HD version is pushing it. It seems like all they did was add shiny details to the jerseys. Most of the players dont look remotely close to their real life counterparts. I think HB studios is in fact embarrased of their own game. At intermissions during the gameplay, the camera never foucses on the player faces, almost as if HB is ashamed of their poor performance in rendering the players.

What pisses me off the most, is that HB studios have had 4 years to make and improve this game. Sure, the gameplay is changed a little bit by being able to steal the ball at the breakdown, or take quick lineouts. But everything else is exactly the same. From the animations, right down to stupid stuff the AI does. It looks as though HB spent 4 years improving the textures used for the grass and jerseys.

If anything, the AI has been dumbed down even more. Players still catch the ball standing still, or sometimes ignore the ball completely when its passed to them. During some of the "set moves", the ai on your team would pass the ball to nobody. At many a time, right off a scrum near the goal line, I would pass the ball to the blind side, only to have the opposition's to sprint to the other side of the scrum, leaving it completely open. Its crap like this that makes me angry. The game is just as clunky and frustrating to play as Rugby 08.

The sad part is that how on earth did HB acquire the rights to the teams. Beforehand I could understand, as EA was in charge. But the gameplay is shocking. In the previous rugby games, there were career modes, leagues and tournaments. All this is here this time round is world cup, exhibition, warm up games, and penalty shootout.

Oh, and wanna know what happens when you win the world cup? Nothing. Your team runs around for 4 seconds celebrating, then a nice "photo shot" of them posing with the cup. No fancy confetti, no crazy animations, just that. Not even an unlock.

I dont understand how crap like this gets recycled. Yes, sure, Fifa is in the same boat, the game get recycled with new features every year. BUT, at least FIFA is a good, solid game.

I cant believe I wasted R550 on this piece of crap. Sometimes I wish we could get refunded for the crap they let out of game studios. AAARRRRRGHH!!!!!

/flame off

[Xero]

Terak, Don't buy sports games lol
As you can see, nothing relaxing about them :P

[Terak]

Lol, I think you are right Xero.

No but what irritates me is that I enjoyed the previous iterations. But it just feels like the same game over and over. Sure plenty of game recycle lots of stuff, but when it plays exactly the same, it irritates me!

I hope Rugby Challenge will be better, hopefully I can trade this in for something decent!

[Zev01f]

Well unless it has incorporated the impact engine like in fifa2012, The gameplay dynamics will be very similar to previous releases. Also, world cup titles fall under the "movie game" catagory. They are just developed as a quick cash cow to be released with a big event. No real effort goes into changing gameplay or graphics unless it is the actual annual release version of the game.

[Kalahari.com]

Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge is a much better game:
http://www.kalahari.com/games/Jonah-.../41840544.aspx

[Xero]

Kalahari, I get that you are advertising the name and brand etc, but next time you want to make a suggestion, use a link to an actual review that the user will find helpful instead of punting your sales portal, what you just did was contribute absolutely nothing to this thread or to the user in question

Terak
Have you read this comparison ?
http://www.xboxgaming.co.za/news/rug...t-screenshots/

[Kalahari.com]

Kalahari, I get that you are advertising the name and brand etc, but next time you want to make a suggestion, use a link to an actual review that the user will find helpful instead of punting your sales portal, what you just did was contribute absolutely nothing to this thread or to the user in question

Terak
Have you read this comparison ?
http://www.xboxgaming.co.za/news/rug...t-screenshots/

Apologies Xero, I meant to post this link too: http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2011/07/...gby-challenge/

[Xero]

The question with Sport titles is though, How much more can they revamp something?
I mean in Rugby's case, the ball is still the same shape, still the same general rules and still the same amount of players, that's why I prefer other genres to Sports, its the same thing every year, marketed with some new gameplay feature that is designed to disguise the fact that it is a slightly more polished version of EXACTLY what you got last year

[Terak]

Xero I understand your argument, and I agree fully. As time goes on games will get more and more realistic and what not. My argument, is that the gameplay is crap. Rugby is awesome, I'm sure most of the SA population can agree, but when you make a shitty game of something you enjoy, its really frikkin frustrating!

[TheAvenged87]

Xero I understand your argument, and I agree fully. As time goes on games will get more and more realistic and what not. My argument, is that the gameplay is crap. Rugby is awesome, I'm sure most of the SA population can agree, but when you make a shitty game of something you enjoy, its really frikkin frustrating!

Thanks for the heads up. I was really looking forward to this game...but I think I'll get it once the price goes down a bit. In the meantime, I'll check out Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge, as it has (from the start) looked more promising with a lot more game modes and teams. Sucks that the Springboks are licensed for RWC 2011 though...