Like It Or Not?

[-JJ-]

I think we need a poll for the people who aren't sure whether to get it or not.

For me: I like it.

Pros:
Online play good 80% of time.
Plenty of people playing online at the moment.
Franchise will keep me playing for a while after people stop playing it as much online.
New aspects of the game are generally good.
Customizability, especially with options.

Cons:
Online play laggy 20% of time.
Unrealistic serious injury frequency.
Haven't had any judiciary stuff yet. Is it there?
Players don't feel that different. i.e. Props don't drag as many tacklers in as you'd like and things like tha.
It ain't union.
The play the ball area is kinda lame.

 

[esoj]

I like it but there are 3 bugs that stop me from loving it. the winger catching a kick and then runining straight out is one i defintely do not like at all. defending on your own goaline sucks especially when they scoot from dummy half or pass it just one pass off. I know where they will got but i can never select the right defender or when i do he runs the wrong way or does not respond anywhere near quick enough. this sucks in close games as you know you can stop it if you could have better control with the defense.not being able to change the controls is bad as i would love to move my sprint button so i could use it on defence. out of the the 3 though this is proabbly the one you can live with.

on the good side it is like real league you have to be smart and its not acradey like the first one. you have to play smart and use real league tactics to get points which is good. franchsie is simply awesome with lots of features and it is great guiding the team you love and support. you get to buy the players etc and the fate of the team rests with you. the frequecny of injuries is really werid. i had 2 in my first 2 games othing major though luckily and then i made a slight change to training and didn't get any for about 10-12 games and then i have now had 2 injuries although this time spaced out a bit more. i have read reports of people missing players for 14 weeks or more and not just one player but sometimes 2 or 3 at once. not sure on the judicary haven't had any problems yet maybe it occurrs more on higher diffcuilties or in later seasons as i am still in my first on franchise.

online play seems to be good with lots of close games but there are some small bugs with it as well that some people have had. I haven't tried this yet but it does seems like a viable option as the game seems a lot harder to play above reserve grade in franchise etc.

the game is dam easy to mod. most of the image files can be editied in the game as they are .pmg format. there are already some jerseys coming out and one guy even modded the gold coast from scratch into the game. aside from images it seems other things can be edited like lots of the player stats that you can't edit in game can be in another file outside of the game. also responeivness seems like it could be modded but the added benefits are hard to see or say at this point in time

overall a worthy squel and a step in the right direction. unfortunately some small bugs stop this from being the next lomu but at least it is progress. there is possibly good news on the horzion with the possiblty sidhe might release a patch to fix some bugs which imo would make the game really good. franchise should keep most going and the possiblty of either sidhe patch or community patch to fix the gameplay combined with the sliders means this game should be awesome and keep you busy for a long time

 

[umosay]

I like it, but gameplay wise it seems like your not in control. It's definitely the best looking rugby game made (visually), has the best features but yeah something about the gameplay just doesn't seem quite right.

Some passes are a bit floaty (especially to the guy at first receiver) and when you make a break (rarely) you feel like your player is almost getting away from you! Also you can't change direction well enough to beat the fullback.

 

[CeeJay]

I like it, and also think that there are many bugs that keep me from loving it. the winger picking up the ball and running out is one of many. Sometimes when you tackle the opposition in their own in goal, they get up and play the ball (in their own in goal!)like nothing happend! and somtimes when you get tackled over the goal line for a try, you just get up and walk back on the field and play the ball! Sometimes when you draw the fullback and pass to the winger, the winger catches the ball and stops dead just long enough for the opportunity to break down. When you do a perfect intercept and think that youll go all the way for sure this time, your player desides to run backwards!?!

there are many more too. They dont happen often enough to ruin the game, but often enough to **** you off. especially in a close one, and one of them costs you the game.

 

[esoj]

yeah for sure like the winger running out it is just wrong and some of the passing is not quite right. when you make a break you better hope you have support or are in the clear other wise passing results in loss of possesion most of the time.

 

[CeeJay]

Yeah, ha ha !! You make a break and go to the trouble of holding down the pass button to bring up the icons, then push corresponding icon only to hav the ball go to ground behind him?

 

[esoj]

yep or pass in the hope or knowledge that someone will be there only for there to be no one.

 

[sanzar]

Originally posted by CeeJay@Dec 11 2005, 09:20 PM
I like it, and also think that there are many bugs that keep me from loving it. the winger picking up the ball and running out is one of many. Sometimes when you tackle the opposition in their own in goal, they get up and play the ball (in their own in goal!)like nothing happend! and somtimes when you get tackled over the goal line for a try, you just get up and walk back on the field and play the ball! Sometimes when you draw the fullback and pass to the winger, the winger catches the ball and stops dead just long enough for the opportunity to break down. When you do a perfect intercept and think that youll go all the way for sure this time, your player desides to run backwards!?!

there are many more too. They dont happen often enough to ruin the game, but often enough to **** you off. especially in a close one, and one of them costs you the game.

I have to say I'm pretty much of the same opinion... there are a few things like sideline detection etc that get on your nerves, but I'm thoroughly enjoying this game so far.

 

[St Helens RLFC]

I like this game. I haven't played it THAT much yet but what I've seen and felt I'm more than happy with, although it is far from perfect. And I haven't yet cranked the levels of difficulty up. But for now, it's a lot of fun.

 

[sambãd5]

mayn. i dont like it aye. ive hired it out and i was like

the game is so stiff. and defence is just a mess. its all stiff and then you get a speed burst and then you run passed the player.

anyone recomend some sliders?

 

[umosay]

Ok it really does seem to lack now.

Gameplay - Least responsive control system ever! Very bad. Floaty passes look terrible and the players generally warp everywhere. When you make a break their is no support. Gameplay really lets this game down badly, 5/10

Graphics - Best in any game so far, like the dynamic light range of the field when using behind close view. 9/10

Unfortunately though, gameplay is where games are won and lost... may need to play it a bit more, but online their hasnt been more than a 2 tries scored by a player in the games i've played, lag was real bad aswell.

 

[davidson]

i gave it a chance. i played it all weekend, opened everything. its now safely back in its box ready to be traded in for rugby 2006. huge disapointment. its exactly the same game as before!
sure it looks a bit better, there are a few more options and little extras, but sidhe should have stripped it back to the basic game and sorted out all the stupid players skating through tackles etc.

the one redeeming feature about the game is its a licenced league game. other than that, either people are contented to score the same try over and over and are in serious denial or they are all seeing something im not. and i really tried to like it.

sidhe - you cant pollish a turd.

 

[C A Iversen]

Originally posted by CeeJay@Dec 11 2005, 10:34 PM
Yeah, ha ha !! You make a break and go to the trouble of holding down the pass button to bring up the icons, then push corresponding icon only to hav the ball go to ground behind him?

Hey CeeJay,

There was someting I tried with passing when I hired the game, that seemed to work, as I never had it for long enough to tinker with the sliders.

When passing I found that holding the pass button for just a little longer than necessary seemed to help accuracy, and quick flicks of the button were more likely to go to ground. I'm not sure if it is the answer, as I didn't have long enough with the game.

 

[sambãd5]

Originally posted by davidson@Dec 12 2005, 09:57 PM
are in serious denial or they are all seeing something im not. and i really tried to like it.

thats my view. i think if you put enough time into the sliders, it woud become a below average game at best. i cant see what you all see in it. imo, its worse than rugby 2005, and when 06 comes out, its gonna **** all over it. dont even get me started on how much rc2006 is going to cain it.

 

[CeeJay]

Holding down passes longer does seem to make passes more accurate, you just have to let it go before the d gets to you so sometimes you cant hold on.

there arent many here that think the game is great, but I think its ok, very dissapointing, but id rather hav it than not. Its anything but the same game, I would be happy if it was, if this was just RL1 with the new animations, passing system, graphics and franchise i would be happy as a pig in s**t.

 

[Parore]

You know what could be useful if the sliders were only affecting the CPU or your team, that way you could make your players much quicker, and the CPU break the line more often.

 

[MightyQuin]

So far I'm also a bit disappointed - just seems to lack the polish I was hoping for.

Gameplay aside, there are some easy little things they could have done to improve it.

- save more than one competition game at a time (could do in RL1)

- get the playoff structure right in the SuperLeague comp (I qualified in 6th, won first elimation game, then was granted a home match for the next round - plus the final claims to be at Headingley not "manchester" which is included)

- Stop updating the league table after the regular season has finished with results from the playoffs

- Have more than 2 competitions available from the start!! Great way to show how global rugby league is, by only having 2 comps available. At least the Tri-Series should have been available from the start, if not all of them - I want unlockables to be bonus "nice to have" content, not stuff I would expect to be there from the start. Would be like Tiger Woods starting with a 3 Iron and a putter, and forcing you to play to unlock the rest of the clubs!!!

 

[knowsleyroader]

I really have come to the conclusion that no matter how you mess with the sliders, then underlying gameplay and lack of control is still there.

There really is no way to mask this so if anyone thinks that a thinker with the sliders will fix problems, it wont.

I could have put up with bugs as I did with RL1, but the total lack of player control has destroyed this game.

 

[toup]

It is a real shame, because the potential is there- the passing system is incredibly innovative, and the graphics are absolutely awesome, but going to have to agree that the lack of player responiveness kills the game. Attacking you can put up with for a short while before you throw down the controller in frustration, defending is just a case for me, of leaving the AI to get on with it.

My only hope is that this can be fixed by a patch on the PC, or in an Xbox version. I find it all the more frustrating knowing that with just a small adjustment to the player physics (I don't know programming, but assume this would not be too difiicult) this could have been a very good game indeed.

 

[knowsleyroader]

Originally posted by toup@Dec 13 2005, 02:57 AM
It is a real shame, because the potential is there- the passing system is incredibly innovative, and the graphics are absolutely awesome, but going to have to agree that the lack of player responiveness kills the game. Attacking you can put up with for a short while before you throw down the controller in frustration, defending is just a case for me, of leaving the AI to get on with it.

My only hope is that this can be fixed by a patch on the PC, or in an Xbox version. I find it all the more frustrating knowing that with just a small adjustment to the player physics (I don't know programming, but assume this would not be too difiicult) this could have been a very good game indeed.

I certainly dont think they will alter this in an xbox version and I also dont think its just a case of altering the player physics.

The problem will probably lie with the fact that they have built the whole game around these physics and the player physics themselves affect the difficulty of the game itself.

Suddenly fix all the player movement and you would likely see this game get so easy it would be ridiculous. They would have to alter the AI and everything that goes with the game if they fixed the player control.

The game should be designed from scratch around a great control of players like in Rugby 05 or RC2006 or even WCR for that matter. Then you base how difficult the Ai must be to challenge gamers etc.

Most of the difficulty challenge in this product actually lies in the fact that you have very little control over your players.

It really does smack this time around of a company that doesnt know what a sports game needs to be.

League fans get ****** in the ass again !