5つ星のうち2.0
First Rugby game for current-gen is a very flawed bare-bones release with glitches galore. Buyer beware...
2015年2月25日にアメリカ合衆国でレビュー済み
Outside of Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge (which released stateside on the Xbox 360 a few years ago), this is the only multi-platform Rugby video game to hit our shores since the EA Rugby series of games that were developed by HB Studios in the middle of the last decade. As I recall, those were really quite solid offerings.
Well, HB Studios is back and after a pretty decent track record with the old Rugby games (not to mention solid Cricket titles). They did do work on many of EA's old-gen Madden, NHL, NBA and FIFA titles but this is a bit misleading since they inherited oversight over the respective franchises PS2, PSP and Wii releases when the PS3/Xbox 360 iterations were the main focus.
Now, I've read some pretty bad reviews of Rugby 15, but I decided to buy the game anyway (it's been out in Europe for a couple months already). As someone who doesn't follow the sport much, I still enjoyed the old Rugby games and find it a fun alternative to Madden or FIFA. With that perspective, I will say that I actually have gotten some decent enjoyment out of the game, but I do understand that for ardent fans and followers of the sport, this game does not even come close to expectations.
Let's get the negatives out of the way, and there are a bunch: Graphics are poorly outdated, this would be (at best) middle-of-the-road stuff on the PS3. Gameplay is glitchy, you'll run into a couple of weird things every game, the most common being the player who just stands still after passing him the ball (he's able to pass, but he won't move until after he gets rid of the ball). Every now and then a player will ground the ball for no reason. Going for a try is simple enough (click the right analog/R3), but if your running towards the corner, your player may just fly right out of bounds over the in-goal area when you click R3. Tackling is literally hit or miss when you are closing in on a guy who is about to field a pass or punt (usually, your guy flies right past him/thru him while the guy gains possession). I also feel that the kicking animation is a bit too slow and find myself being tackled during the process more often than not, you really can't kick unless you have quite a bit of space, making drop goal kicks pretty tricky to pull off. The commentary is alright, but quite limited and quickly repetitive. There is also no online play, which is somewhat mystifying this day and age, though I suspect you wouldn't find many people online trying.
As bad as those negatives might sound, a very casual rugby fan (like myself) can admittedly look past those flaws and still enjoy the basic elements of the sport, which is a non-stop, tense, grind-out affair. I had a lot of fun in the matches I've played so far, including a thrilling 17-16 match in which I scored a grueling try in the final moments to win for New Zealand (i.e. playing on hard is probably the way to go, easy mode is just a joke, I've scored on long runs - my favorite being scoring without a single pass after a tap penalty). Breaking tackles is not all that difficult (I've heard some reviews say that you ALWAYS go down once touched by a defender, this is simply not true), and can lead to some thrilling offensive runs. Ruck play is also not that difficult, and while you have to tap a button to let go of the ball (this probably could have just been automated I think), the game is a bit more forgiving to the offensive side because of this (I've read some reviews that say that it is actually much harder for the offensive side to win the ball back, but I win about 70-80% of my possessions back on offense and I gain the ball about half the time on defense). Scrums are a bit trickier, and I often lose them even if I'm the feeder. Kicking conversions and penalties is pretty fluid and simple with the analog stick.
The front-end is nice and crisp, and the game does have the look of a AAA title if you "squint" (so to speak) while perusing the main menus. There really isn't much to the options, but you have full licensing of the Aviva Premiereship (British League), Top 14 and Pro D2 (The top two leagues in France) and the Pro 12 (a league consisting of teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales). The Australian League is included (but completely unlicensed) and many National teams are in there as well (but - I believe -mostly unlicensed). Yes, you can play with Team USA, still one of the bottom feeders in the international scene.
I would not recommend a purchase at $49.99 - this one probably should have immediately retailed at $29.99, especially in the States where Rugby is still very much a fringe sport. I don't want to come off as an apologist for HB and though I hesitate to give this one 2 stars (I'd probably score 2.5) just because I feel there is enough entertainment to be had here for the less-critical casual fan and most fans here would probably fit that description. Despite the relatively messy release of Rugby 15, I do think there is enough of a core here to build on if HB decides to follow through on its intent to release a annual Rugby title. I always felt that the FIFA series only helped to boost popularity of soccer in the States and a solid video game Rugby title may do the same for that sport as well.
UPDATE (3/6/15): I've downgraded my review by one star. I just can't ignore the immense amount of glitching in this game. Sure it is a VERY bare bones release and sure, you can still be entertained by the very simple version of Rugby on display here (I almost feel like this is like Rugby's version of Ice Hockey for NES), but the longer I played this game, the more I uncovered glitch after unbelievable glitch. There obviously was no real care to play test this. How it made it to market in this state is beyond me.
Buyer beware - it may be worth waiting to import Rugby League Live 3 later this year. If you follow any of the teams/leagues in this particular game, I guess you'll have to be satisfied with this...
