Woldog's Review of Rugby15

[The_Wol]

So I decided to purchase a copy of Rugby15 (Actually I have a friend at EB who let me borrow it for two days).
On first viewing of the trailer I could not decide whether to get it on Nintendo 64 or Sega Megadrive, but luckily for me I found out it came with an xBox (Xbox?) One version, so I opted to go with that.

Packaging: The case was very crisp. I had numerous players I immediatly recognised. In fact all three were former man crushes of mine. Matt Giteau, Luke McAlister and Digby Ioane (I'll always love Digby <3). However flipping it over I threw up in my mouth a little. The game had the worst graphics I had seen on a next gen console since the rereleased PacMan. Surely the game would not look this bad once installed (it did).

Installing: Okay so installation was not a quick affair, after some several years waiting for it to install I opted to read the manual to pass the time, it was very informative, if you find **** all information informative.... The game finally installed and I was ready to jump straight in, exciting times were ahead!

Gameplay: I went into this game with very low expectations, like honestly Rugby World Cup 2011 game play low and I was pleasantly surprised, it was even worse than I expected. To put it simply Rugby15 is one of the worst made, simply horrible Rugby games I have played since EA Rugby 2004 (George Gregan on the cover was the best part about that game) Honestly the most fun I had playing this game was uninstalling it and loading NBA 2k15....

Star rating: -10/10
Recommend to friends: No
Recommend to people you hate: Yes
Invite Friends over to play it: Only if you want to lose friends

Its gameplay was horrible, its graphics were horrible, its commentary was horrible. Honestly I am so dissapointed in this game I'm becoming less and less hopeful that a real Rugby game will ever come out.

 

[LittleGuy]

I just don't understand how they could downgrade from RWC 2011 so much, not that the previous game was anything to write home about but it at least played like someone had beta tested it, and at it's core was a gameplay model that could have been tweaked a bit into a fairly decent game. Yet they throw that away and use an even more crapulent game style.

 

[The_Wol]

It's possibly the worst Rugby game I have ever played.

 

[nickdnz]

It's funny but from the first reviews to the last I haven't seen a positive one. I want to support rugby gaming but I returned RC2 based on ridiculous licensing issues - and am not going to bother with this. Played Rugby 08 like a mother**** and I'll jam Rugby Challenge every now and then, but it certainly seems a while before a great game is in the making.

 

[LittleGuy]

That's what I'm seeing as well Nick, the best score I've seen from a professional reviewer is a 4/10 and have seen scores around the 2/10 mark as well which is pretty much at the edge of completely unplayable. I haven't heard any positive things about it from any rugby forums. I think there are one or two positive reviews on Steam but they seem poorly written, probably people avoiding the cognitive dissonance of their terrible decision to purchase.

 

[Mikel92]

Guess I'll save my pennies then. Or at best, rent it out. Kind of a shame that Union and League games are so dreadfully bad. Even just going on youtube and having a look, the attention the detail is just rubbish, haha. Disappointing really.

 

[lionmaull]

If this is game is to carry the IRB RWC sponsor, it will be a true slap in the face to Rugby. The game of Rugby deserves a better game/simulation.

Cheers and Salud

 

[The_Wol]

I thought Rugby League Live 2 was a decent and enjoyable game (Minus the kicks always leading to tries for the other team...)

 

[davsav93]

Star rating: -10/10

Pardon me, at first I mistook it as "Rating - 10/10" and was left utterly bamboozled

 

[RoosTah]

Wow... so after around 18 months in which we've had a constant trickle of information about this game, the reviews are out and they've confirmed what people thought when the very first screenshot came out; namely that this is a 3rd rate game with barely any resources and abysmal quality.

Such a shame, but the older I get the more I think that even in spite of Rugby's relatively strong international appeal, it just doesn't have that critical mass of support in the sort of key market that could justify a developer pouring money into it.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I reinstalled Rugby 08 on my laptop last night - it's like rubbing salt in the wounds playing it.
How they could've gone so far backwards, from decent foundations like that, is just baffling.

I know a lot of people have said it, but I really do agree now: They could've just upped the graphics (or even just updated the rosters/kits) on 08 and re-released that and it would be a MASSIVE upgrade on rugby 15.

 

[davsav93]

I find that the rugby 08 gameplay mechanics are annoying. I hate the way the player gets repetitively mis-tackled into the deadball area and how the players all run in a straight line chasing after the ball carrier. In my opinion, the best rugby game out there is rugby challenge 2. The gameplay has more features and is better than the first game and when the gameplay sliders are set to realistic values it's much better. The pc mods are very good as well so I was able to recently download the patch for licensed six nations and south african teams as well as other kit and roster updates.

At the moment though seeing what is on the Rugby League Live 3 FanHUB player creator and editor on steam that is very exciting indeed if you can tolerate playing a rugby league game until Big Ant hopefully make a rugby union game in a couple of years.

 

[RoosTah]

To be honest, as someone who likes league and union almost equally, I would prefer a League game over a Union game anyway. The reason being I think League as a sport is much more suited to video game adaptation due to the contest for possession effectively not being a factor (a factor that seems to be fairly hard to do justice to in rucks in particular).

 

[Saints1]

that is very exciting indeed if you can tolerate playing a rugby league game until Big Ant hopefully make a rugby union game in a couple of years.

It isn't going to throw acid in your face.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

It isn't going to throw acid in your face.

I can't wait for this, genuinely exited. I saw the difference between RLL and RLL2 and if what I have seen so far continues then I see no doubt the game will be a good one. Agree with you @TRF_Saints on your comment.

 

[davsav93]

apologies I didn't mean to express discontent or the need for toleration on my part

 

[The_Wol]

Rugby League Live 1 was like banging my head off a moving train. Rugby League live 2 was like being the only male invited back to the Victoria Secret After Party.

 

[RoosTah]

Rugby League Live 1 was like banging my head off a moving train. Rugby League live 2 was like being the only male invited back to the Victoria Secret After Party.

That's possibly the best use of contrast I've read for the difference between these games or any major advancement in any product. But totally agree - the leap was a quantum one. Fingers crossed from 2 to 3 is a similarly spectacular jump.

 

[BigAntStudios]

I believe the leap between RLL2 and RLL3 is at least equal to the leap from RLL1 to RLL2, can't wait to get it into your hands.

 

[RoosTah]

That's absolutely brilliant to hear. Seriously can't wait for this game... any hint of a release date?