After almost 3 yrs since it's release, Rugby Challenge 2 is now on next gen consoles. Well, apart from a couple of minor add ons and extra modes that's pretty much what it is. I want to give a fair assessment on this my experience with this game so far.
The added game modes give this some extra playability. Sevens, Be a Pro and Fan Hub are all great additions to the RC series.
SevensAfter almost 3 yrs since it's release, Rugby Challenge 2 is now on next gen consoles. Well, apart from a couple of minor add ons and extra modes that's pretty much what it is. I want to give a fair assessment on this my experience with this game so far.
The added game modes give this some extra playability. Sevens, Be a Pro and Fan Hub are all great additions to the RC series.
Sevens is a faster paced game with high scores due to the amount of runaway tries that are scored in this form of the game. The rucks are faster and quick turnovers keep you on your toes. You may want to change the match time to 10 mins instead of the default 14 otherwise expect a good 90 or so points to be scored which is pretty ridiculous. Even on 10 mins I beat Australia with France 89-14 in a cup final. Granted I was playing on normal but that's just stupid.
Be a Pro is pretty much the standard in any sports game now where you start in the lower leagues and work your way up through the ranks as a single player. Good concept however these modes are always hit and miss due to the fact that you also have to rely on the AI team mates to play well or it can get pretty frustrating and slow.
Fan Hub is a great addition as it allows you to download teams and players created by other users that reflect current 2016 rosters across both international and club squads. This is handy due to the fact that the licensed teams in this game have 2015 squads and non-licensed are pretty much made up. you can go to the customise section and actually link these downloaded teams to the actual competitions in the game. Only downside here is you can only have 30 downloaded teams stored at one time.
The animations are pretty good however they still have the same pre-determined ones between attacker and defender that doesn't change whether you are in play or over the try line. e.g. You could be running for a try and the defender gets to you just as you get there only for your player to try to high-step out of the tackle and run straight out all while you are mashing buttons to try and get your player to simply ground the ball for a try. On the other hand you could tackle someone straight onto their back in goal and it's still a try. the next time they are tackled and fall forwards, clearly grounding the ball, and the ref will go to a video review. Passing can be frustrating. If you want to draw and pass make sure you send the ball early otherwise your player will start the tackle animation when they get within a few metres and the pass will more than likely fall short of your intended player. If this happens or the pass goes to ground for any reason you will more than likely see the the player that was supposed to receive the ball simply stand and watch it roll past them to allow the opposition to try and pick it up or it simply rolls into touch.
Offloads in a tackle often get called forward only to be shown clearly back in the replay. Also, no manual replay feature.Only the auto replay for tries, forward passes etc.
95% of lineouts aren't straight by miles but will only get called if it's due to you not getting the marker in the little blue area on the throw. This gets unnecessarily faster with harder game difficulties whereas the goal kicking system is much easier while using almost the same system. Why can't kicking just get harder the further from the posts you are and leave everything else alone? So simple.
I didn't expect this game to be miles ahead of RC2 in gameplay but to see no improvement at all and if anything more bugs was really disappointing. I've been fended off by a player who then ran into touch as a result only for them to get the lineout throw. I was given a 22m drop out from the 45m. If a player throws a dummy while you are chasing them down your player will fall for it and hesitate even though the dummy is thrown over their head to no one and usually towards the sideline. There's no lifting on the kickoffs. It's just about hitting X a bunch and hoping you win the 1 on 1 jump contest (if your player responds and jumps). Last time I checked lifting happens on every real rugby kickoff, even most times in Sevens.
Online is horrible. Played one game, had full connectivity with the opponent and it was still really glitchy.
Overall the game does not justify a 3 year absence. New game modes add value however nothing else has changed since RC2. I just don't find it fair to the community that wait years for these games in hope of a game that reflects the changes we've all been calling for yet only to be hugely let down again and again. I'm also sick of seeing them test it out with actual pro players to make it look better than it is so the rest of us that have to pay for it go and spend $90 or trade in games towards an overpriced and severely outdated product. I gave this a 6 simply because I feel like I'm actually just scoring the original RC from 2011 just with newer players, some more game modes and it's now in HD.… Expand
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