Rugby Challenge 3 Announced, Coming to Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3, PC Later This Year

[Krebstar]

Quote: Originally Posted by strawberryshortcake

issects the Rugby Challenge 3 gameplay footage, it's only a one on one tackle situation. Unfortunately, I don't see multiple tacklers on the ball carrier. [/color] (2) Video game Rugby League has both "lines" still so far apart when the play is in motion (i.e. when the ball carrier is on his feet running forward). Real Life rubgy league has both "lines" converging closer to each other, almost forming a V-shape, closing the gap on the ball carrier. The V pointing towards the ball carrier. Everything in real life rugby league still seems to be more compact while the video game rubgy league seems to be more spacious. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's simply my (have no clue about the rules and regulations of rugby) mind's observation. Rugby League real life footage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6g_WMYaRk0

You're not wrong, but it's also not the best way to evaluate what is happening in RLL3. Are the players often far more compressed in a real game? Yes.

Do players being less compressed in RLL3 make it easier to gain meters? No. Just because there is more space does not affect the realism of the game. It's actually harder to gain meters without passing wide in RLL3 than it is in an actual league game.

As bad_philanthropy said, all of your other points are strictly differences between how the two sports are played, not differences between how well made the games are.

I've played RLL2, RLL3, RC, RC2, and watched lots of footage of RC3 and I can say without a doubt that RLL3 is a far better representation of rugby league than RC3 is of rugby union.

To me that is as close of an apples to apples comparison that you can get—which one is the closest representation of their sport.

[bad_philanthropy]

I should echo Krebstar's point about RLL being a better representation of the its code.

I have RC3 because it is the best union game available, and I am a longtime player irl, and supporter of rugby games because I want them to continue existing and progressing. That said, RC3 is essentially the exact same as RC2. It does some things well, but most fundamental aspects like back play, the kicking game, general control and player movement is not very good. The AI doesn't generally seem to know wtf is going on, and this causes the game to be too chaotic and making forward and back play almost indistinguishable. Combine this with some dodgy collision detection and animation and it gets to feel like a pretty low-end experience at times.

Additionally the quick strategies are completely unreliable. Sometimes I press the d-pad arrows or L2+d-pad and the menu doesn't even come up. Further, often the strategies don't seem to make my players execute what I selected.

I'd say the gameplay is behind that of Rugby 06 and Rugby 08 by EA.

Overally, you can do some decent things with sliders, there are some good licenses, career mode is close to being quite good but is ultimately a miss due to no player progression, Be-a-Pro is ok, and there is some sustained fun to be had for rugby enthusiasts because its rugby union. As far as a sports video game, rugby simulation, or just contemporary video game in general it's not a very good game. I'll play it a lot because I love the sport and it fulfills a niche interest of mine somewhat.

[theEDGE5]

As a massive fan of both union (which I played for many years in school) and league I am extremely disappointed with this game. RLL3 is far from perfect and there are some things it could do better (such as the hit-up mechanism), but on the whole it is just a vastly better representation of it's code. I don't expect an amazing game on par with the stuff that EA or 2K puts out, but when you compare to RLL3 or even older Union games it falls pretty short. Apart from the addition of sevens and a be pro it's essentially the same as RC2 and given the length of time it took between the two, the fact that this was delayed and the amount of money it costs I think it's very poor...in fact if anything it's a step back from RC2 from my point of view, because it has less licenses and so I can't even have fun using my own team.

I mean, don't get me wrong the game is still somewhat fun because it is rugby on some level, but it's just ridiculously 'arcade' like. The AI is pretty terrible and forwards will just stand aimlessly around the ruck, there are no pick and drive options (forwards don't form pods anyway). This is less noticeable when you can control all the players but when you play be a pro you notice how truly woeful the AI is. Forwards will often just stand there, not joining the ruck while the ball is being turned over for example.

As for back play, again it's not great and is often little more than a game of hot potato, shoveling the ball across the line. There are no dummy runners and unless I just haven't found it, no option to run attacking moves (like wrap around's and so on). I think the kicking mechanism is decent, it's better than RLL3s actually. The worst thing is the passing itself though, players just fling passes about with reckless abandon and can throw it huge distances even in mid-tackle but then you'll get simple passes that will be inexplicably knocked-on.

All in all, not very good but at the end of the day...it's still rugby, so I'll play it while I pray something better will come along. I am also not surprised to learn that this was developed by 'Wicked Witch' rather than 'Sidhe' who made RC2, as they are the company responsible for butchering AFL Live 2 after Big Ant made a solid first attempt.

[theEDGE5]

The more I try to play Be A Pro mode the more I realise it's absolutely terrible. The AI in this game is pathetic, it's honestly a joke that they even included the mode because teammates are just so ******** it barely resembles rugby.

[baconbits11]

It appears a patch has been released under the radar. On consoles it is 3MB. I see a harder kicking meter (goes much faster) and sound issues fixed. Some report other gameplay improvements. Is anyone else seeing this (or still playing the game)?

[bad_philanthropy]

Quote: Originally Posted by baconbits11

It appears a patch has been released under the radar. On consoles it is 3MB. I see a harder kicking meter (goes much faster) and sound issues fixed. Some report other gameplay improvements. Is anyone else seeing this (or still playing the game)?

I think this was released about a month ago.

Kicking is a bit harder and player AI seems a bit better, and the animations feel a bit less slide-y.

[thekodinator]

where can I find a copy of this in the states? Having a hard time purchasing in USA

[baconbits11]

Quote: Originally Posted by thekodinator

where can I find a copy of this in the states? Having a hard time purchasing in USA

It's on XBOX Live, Playstation Store for consoles, and Steam for PC.

Links on page 1.