RUGBY Rugby 22

Only 3 reviews so far on Steam, but they are surprisingly positive. Early days, obviously.
Also, the game is pretty cheap at $31.99. That's 20% off until Feb 3rd.
 
If I remember correctly, it was about 4 years ago.
That is a long time ago and obviously the decision was overturned but some changes going against making a game.
Only 3 reviews so far on Steam, but they are surprisingly positive. Early days, obviously.
Also, the game is pretty cheap at $31.99. That's 20% off until Feb 3rd.
Yes, I did see and they were pretty decent and discussed the game play so does look positive.
 
That is a long time ago and obviously the decision was overturned but some changes going against making a game.

Yes, I did see and they were pretty decent and discussed the game play so does look positive.
Watched some walk throughs on YouTube , looks very like Rugby20 with same gaming options , Career mode the same etc , gameplay looks ok , not sure I like props doing 360 pirouettes on official trailer and with no player editor/creator , longevity looks limited , shame as desperate for a decent union game with a bit of depth :( , might pick up later if reduced…
 
Watched some walk throughs on YouTube , looks very like Rugby20 with same gaming options , Career mode the same etc , gameplay looks ok , not sure I like props doing 360 pirouettes on official trailer and with no player editor/creator , longevity looks limited , shame as desperate for a decent union game with a bit of depth :( , might pick up later if reduced…
I have seen no more about this and guess it has died a death, sadly.
 
I have seen no more about this and guess it has died a death, sadly.
Seen a few tweets from developers , a few positive gameplay comments but nothing to make me want to buy it , no player editor seems so strange as that would have been a persuasive factor for me to get the game , and help longevity, now we have to wait and see what Big Ant have coming up on the rugby front , a long wait unfortunately
 
Almost inevitably, the Steam reviews have gone from "positive" to "mixed", as more people buy the game.
And finding out there is no longevity in this game at all. Meaning, little effort has been placed in it's long term value, as another has said a simple player editor would have extended the life span somewhat.
 
An interesting review from someone on Reddit. I don't have the game, so I can't comment.



My thoughts on the gameplay

Just bought it a few days ago and have played a few amateur and semi pro games then when I thought I had the basics down, went into a pro difficulty URC league. Here are my thoughts on the gameplay.

Rucks

I like how they've implemented them. I like that you have control over how many enter the ruck as well as the impact of the hit when you enter, as well as jackalling. Its quite technical without being overly complicated. You have to work to secure possession. My only complaint is that the "extract" option has a tendency to appear for a fraction of a nano second and then disappear before your thumb can even move to the button. Then you get turned over, but there was no way to push the extract button on time. Hugely frustrating. I think they should be a little bit more generous with the amount of time you have to extract, and rucks would be great.


Scrums

Scrums are good. I like how they're implemented too. A few issues though. It's probably a bit to easy to win against the head (maybe because I was Leinster?). And I can't execute set plays off the scrum, even when I select one before the scrum. I have no idea why. Because the in game tutorial has not explained this. I'm completely in the dark. Tutorial needs to be better.


Lineouts/mauls

These are good. A bit to easy to win lineouts against the throw. And an option to pull down a maul would be nice. Would be fun to see if you could get away with it or concede a yellow card or penalty try.


Goal kicking

Fine. They could look at some golf games for good ways to implement setting up your aim and then striking a shot. But there's nothing bad about the way it's implemented here.


Tactical kicking

The ball physics are not very realistic. One of the most satisfying things in a rugby game should be kicking a perfectly executed kick that spirals and bounces in field and then goes into touch. Especially now that the 50-22 rule is place. But the ball barely bouces at al,l making it next impossible to do this with any confidence. Maybe I'm just bad at it, but theresno training or tutorial to help me with that. The up and under is good. The punt is way overpowered once you get one on one with a winger. Again more realistic unpredictable ball physics should mitigate this.


Tactics

It's cool that they put all these offensive and defensive tactics in the game. But as a casual rugby fan who has never played the game in real life, I have no idea what any of them mean or what the upsides or downsides of them are. Especially the offensive ones. They're just not explained at all. Particularly PASS CHAIN and POD SHAPE, the game needs to tell us what these are and why we should use one over the other, but it doesn't.


AI

The AI of your players and opponents is pretty good. Their positioning is good and they normally kick or run when they should. It feels like real rugby.


Tackling/Contact

The AI basically has a 100% tackle success rate. It would be nice if they fell off the odd one to give you a line break. You can sidestep them. Using stiff arm gains you Ground but never knocks them off you and breaks the tackle. Maybe I'm doing it wrong but if so, that's because the game has not explained it. In the controls section it just says "Use 'R' in different ways to confound the defence" and that's it. There is no training or tutorial. Using the prepare for contact button should make it easier to secure the ruck but it doesn't seem to make a difference.


Set plays

They're pretty cool. However they rarely work. Again there is no tutorial of any depth to explain when it's best to use one over the other or is it equally valid to use any at any time? But I think the main reason they rarely work is because of my last point, and the worst part of the game.


Passing

The passing is terrible. It should be waaaay tighter for this game to be really fun. I like how holding the button longer increases the length of the pass. But I hate how when you release the pass button it starts the passing animation and there is a significant delay before they actually pass. A massive amount of the passes I attempt, never get executed because I've pressed pass, but there's this long delay and I'm tackled before my players passes. Very annoying. The player should pass as soon as you release the pass button. Maybe a delay might be acceptable for really long passes. But for me, this is the biggest problem with the game. The passing overall just feels bad to me. I have no confidence a pass I make will even leave the hands of my player, let alone make it to the player I want it to go to at the time I wanted to. I often pass it and it doesn't go to the player right beside me but another player on the other side of the pitch. I often pass it and it just goes to nobody and an opposition player just picks it up. I often try a return pass and the player either passes it forward or even more bizarrely fires the ball like a howitzer to the complete opposite side of the pitch. Its basically impossible to string more than three passes together without something going horribly wrong. The passing is just awful. I also see switch pass, pass backwards and return pass in the controls menu. I get pass backwards and return pass, but switch pass is not explained very well. When should I use it? Again no training or tutorial for any of this.



Overall

I've made complaints about the game above but the only reason I bothered is because I think it's actually got the kernel of a great rugby game (finally). The best since Rugby 08 easily. They've done a lot right. For such a technical game they have to have a waaay better tutorial that teaches you every mechanic, and at least a text explanation of what the tactics mean. Its quite frustrating to learn how to play, because the bare bones training just doesn't teach everything well enough and just doesn't even mention others, so your have to put in a lot of time and deal with a lot of frustration just to get competent. And the passing needs to be waaay snappier and way more accurate.

That's my two cents. I hope they keep improving it. I'll probably buy the next one they release.
 

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