<meta charset="utf-8">[h=6]Guys, heres an email reply I got from a guy at PSM3 mag whos actually played RWC, thought u might like the write up- Technically, there's a decent attention to detail in the game.
The rucking works on an effort system – essentially, you tap X to commit forwards to each ruck. As you probably know, it's therefore a balancing act between securing the ball and not over-committing. Wasn't that impressed with the ruck animations – it just looked like a glorified scrum. There are ruck tactics too, which you set using the D-pad. Can't quite remember their names, but you can opt to 'Heavily commit forwards', 'Lightly commit forwards' or have 'Nearest man' (if you want to play a quicker game and your backs are built for rucking). Scrums are ok, as are line-outs. They don't feel fast, but they're technically well executed. I asked, and you can take quick throw-ins to another player eg. Wing to full-back, or to yourself, which is cool. The physics of stuff like tackling and passing feels a little animation lead (passes are on triggers – interestingly L1 passes left to a near-by forward, while L2 spreads the ball wide left). I like this – it lets you play tactically when you're near the try-line, or if you're trying to shut a tight game out. Tackling is either automatic (eg – run your tackler into the opponent and the hit happens) or dive tackles are done on X. Felt pretty easy to do, and it works. They have worked in the idea that if you get tackled out-wide, and you're isolated from your forwards, it's much easier to lose the ball. I played a man who knows nothing about rugby (from another Future mag here) and thrashed him. The main reason was that while he just span the ball out wide then got caught and turned over, I cut back in and caught up with my back-row, thereby retaining the ball. It was good to see. Elsewhere, there are plenty of kicking options (chips, up and unders, touch-line kicks, grubbers etc) which seemed to work ok, although I was pretty crap at using them. Looks wise? It's ok. It ain't Madden standard. It's missing that nice sheen it would have had if EA were producing it, but it's passable. The likenesses are OK, but not stunning. All the licensed teams are there, though. We saw England, Wales, Ireland, and South Africa and their teams/kit were correct. No player editor though – shame. So you can't add anyone to each nation's 30 man squad. Is it any good? If you like rugby, then yes. It won't score massive, but I think there's enough depth in there to keep fans happy. Reckon if you stick it on Hard difficulty and really get into the tactical side, and play like a fan, you'll get plenty out of it.
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