RWC 2011 PS3 - A Review

Hi all

I know theres a thread on it. But it has the word "games" in the title so I can't open it at work.

Anyway I downloaded the Rugby World Cup 2011 game on PS3 and played it quite a few times to get a feel of it.

Firstly I thought the setup was very professional, easy to naviagate and the World in Union song in the background is very good. I also like that it displays the controls as the game is loading.

I played the game in HDMI and was fairly impressed with graphics overall. Not amazing but not a problem. Player likeness was not fully accurate but not outrageous either.

Up to this point I was satisfied enough. However I found the gameplay to be extremely poor. Although the developers have gone to efforts to incorporate the various tactics of rugby - punting, drop goal, grubber, crossfield, maul, offloads etc - it is actually detrimental to use these. I found that the best means of success was to either pop up to a forward, break with the scrumhalf or use one of the preset first phase attacks.

These first phase attacks are accurate and effective. However they often take a good 3-4 seconds for the players to align correctly to do it. The player intelligence is also quite poor. It was like an mini rugby game at times with 30 players running after the ball and with no spacial awareness. It doesn't happen in the soccer, American football, basketball or ice hockey games I have played.

I found the set pieces to also be a let down. The scrum is far too tame - already set and the side on view means that it is too easy to wheel your own scrum. The lineout is very static with limited options - throw to front = set up a maul, throw to middle = quick off the top, throw to the tail = catcher isn't even lifted. There also seemed to be no pattern in successfully challenging the lineout.

The rucks were something similar. I really liked the ability to snaffle up ball after a tackle before a ruck forms. However that aside its just button bashing.

Although many aspects of the game were very good such as the time gone into getting the licences accurate, the ability to poach ball at rucks and the vareity of attack that is available to players I have to say this is a poor game.

Poor gameplay is my main concern and those wonderful varied attacks are no better than simply running around aimlessly until gaps appear. Even looking at this from a purely gaming point of view rather than an "is it accurate to rugby" point of view it isn't very good. The game won't hold your interest for long enough to constitute a good purchase.

Thanks,Stag. Is it on the PSN store? Might download the demo anyway for the craic.

Yea its on PS Store. Its worth downloading. You can make your own mind up.

I got the Demo and am enjoying it but you need to ignore the blatant annoyances of the game. such as all the guys running towards the ball. same moes everytime.

this game looks like it will be the one to get

http://rugbychallengegame.com/

Agreed. It's an arcade game; fun to pick up for a quick blast, but won't hold your interest long term. It must be said, the fact it only has international teams and doesn't have the All Blacks or Wallabies is quite a big disadvantage.

I'd probably get it were it the only rugby game coming out, but with Rugby Challenge looking strong I'm still hoping it lives up to it's potential.

Rugby Challenge falls down when it comes to not having the licenses for any Northern Hemisphere International teams.

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:Rugby Challenge falls down when it comes to not having the licenses for any Northern Hemisphere International teams.

Maybe, but they'll have all the players from the clubs so the only thing they won't have is the proper jerseys.

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:Rugby Challenge falls down when it comes to not having the licenses for any Northern Hemisphere International teams.

is there not a facility to manually edit them back to their normal names if it bothers you?

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:Rugby Challenge falls down when it comes to not having the licenses for any Northern Hemisphere International teams.

But you can just edit them in, because all the players will be in the game.

Plus; all the club licenses

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:Rugby Challenge falls down when it comes to not having the licenses for any Northern Hemisphere International teams.

Yes its true but licences ranks way way way down on my list of priorities. I want a fun game first and foremost.

Yeah me too, I just can't think it will be fun trawling through all the clubs to assign players to their proper international teams.

As I said, I'm probably getting both anyway

Sounds like it has EXACTLY the same gameplay as Rugby 08. Which was really a terrible game. You'd think they'd have overhauled it after a 4 year gap. I guess it's just a cheap World Cup cash in.

Feckless Rogue wrote:Sounds like it has EXACTLY the same gameplay as Rugby 08. Which was really a terrible game. You'd think they'd have overhauled it after a 4 year gap. I guess it's just a cheap World Cup cash in.

Feckless it is the exact same as Rugby 2008 except for a minor change at lineout (the jump automatically after the throw) and the ability to poach ball at breakdown. The graphics are also better. But in relation to gameplay it is EXACTLY the same.

Out of interest what teams are available on the demo? And is it on the PSN?

I searched for it the other day (but searched for Rugby), and only got some league game for the PSP come up.

Its England vs South Africa and you can only play the first half.

simply running around aimlessly until gaps appear

Seems they have modelled the same attack strategy as the Welsh one...

When have Wales ever found gaps?!

Thomond wrote:When have Wales ever found gaps?!

Quick line outs?

Can you do high tackles and general skullduggery, argie bargie play

I had a high tackle done on me, so it's obviously still in the game.

Are England in white or black in the demo?

Actually GG interestingly they are in either Red kit or White kit.

Wow, I guess the developers will be hastily reviewing their licensing agreements.

It is exactly the smae as 08 with slightly better graphics.Just get the ball to the wingers (Habana in the demo) and run.

Did anyone play that old Six Nations game on the BBC website? I'm not sure if it is still there, but it was World Class! I broke the 100 point barrier against Italy.

Rugby 2011 is AWFUL.

Exactly the same as 08 AND 06. What were they thinking!

The hairs stand on the back of your neck when the world in union song starts playing but that's where the fun ends unfortunately. 4 years of waiting for this piece of rudey poo? BBC Studios should be ashamed of themselves.

RUGBY CHALLENGE IT IS!

Downloaded this last night. Very very disappointing. It i's rugby 08, but with better graphics. I did notice that the crowd noise was good (big deal). On the demo, you only play 1 half of rugby and I'm afraid to say, I won every half. This i's without any instructions!!! It's too basic and too easy. It's too easy to turn over ball. When you do, just sling it out to your centres, approach the full back and do that weird side steppy thing. TRY! You may think that's just because it was a demo, but rugby 08 was exactly the same.
For some crazy reason. I was hooked though. I think it's just because I've been starved of a rugby game for far too long. Also there i's no depth in this game. 20 teams. Online play should be fun though. Played likenesses were really bad apart from Andrew Sheridan. He has no neck in this game either. Line outs are dreadful. The cross field kick i's a new one I think, but why does the computer team when around the 22 metre line always drop a goal. Even when there's a big overlap.
Far too easy and just a re-hash of a 4 year old game.

Will I buy it? Probably. If only to play online.

MOG - ditto. First thing i did when i got home from work was download it. THen played it and felt disappointed. It was too easy. But i assume the Demo was for non-owners of Rugby 08, and to try and intice other people, so it had to be simpler.

The demo was on easy mode as most demos would be,it was still an awful game though.

Yep it's bum. Don't bother. Waste of bandwidth downloading it.

I like playing 08 but can see how limited it is, and I had dreamt of there being a huge improvement in how the game play was managed in the 2011 version.

Somehow I don't think I need rugby 08...twice...

I's it my imagination or did rugby 08 not even have difficulty levels? If you can make the game harder, it will make it more challenging, but only 20 national teams won't have me engrossed for too long.
I wonder how it will play online.

Rugby 08 had something-something-elite

manofgwent wrote:I's it my imagination or did rugby 08 not even have difficulty levels? If you can make the game harder, it will make it more challenging, but only 20 national teams won't have me engrossed for too long.
I wonder how it will play online.

Thining about it when you select teams it does have '[insert country name]' then a box below saying 'Internaitonal'. Whether that is just a throw back to the old system they rehashed or whether there could be futher downloadable content post RWC??

Decent video games are all about good gameplay simply.

Pro Evo in the football video game market used to trounce Fifa not because it had any of the games licences (it didn't). It's because football fans enjoyed the gameplay.

Fifa has now caught up Pro Evo and is trouncing Pro Evo because the gameplay is better.

Accuracy doesn't matter. As long as the game is fun who cares?

I haven't played this RWC 2011 game but it sounds like a shambles to be honest.

The Rugby Challenge sounds like it could be successful. Let's wait and see.

I down loaded the demo the other day, and found the same problems as you guys. I started doing some research on the two up and coming games and I found two websites that discussed the strength and weaknesses of the two games. It looks like challenge is the game to get. As I can't post links I have copied and pasted the information below.

'Very little info has been released on either game, so it’s hard to make a call as to which one will be the preferred one. But if I had to make a pick based on what I know today, I’d go with Rugby Challenge. Here’s why:

Feature/Content Rugby Challenge RWC 2011
Platforms PS3, 360, PC, PS Vita PS3, 360
Game Modes Tutorial Mode

Single Match

Competition Mode


Career Mode (franchise) Rugby World Cup 2011

International Match

The Warm Up Tour

Place Kick Shootout
Offline Multiplayer Up to 4 players Unknown
Online Multiplayer 4v4 1v1
Commentator(s) Grant Nisbett

Justin Marshall Philippe Sella

Eric Bayle

(unknown if more)
Number of Stadia 31 Unknown
Number of Teams 93


(plus 2 Sidhe staff teams) 20
Max Team Squad Size 50 (capped at 30 for player created teams) 30
International Team Licenses New Zealand All Blacks

Australian Qantas Wallabies


(more to come announced) England

France

South Africa

(more to come expected)
League/Competition Licenses Tri Nations (partial license)


Bledisloe Cup

Super Rugby teams (NZ and Aussie teams only)

ITM Cup

Ranfurly Shield

Aviva Premiership

(more to come announced) Rugby World Cup 2011
“Retro” Player Licenses Jonah Lomu Unknown
Customisation Player Editor/Creator

Team Editor/Creator


Competition Creator Player Editor (names, positions, stats/abilities only)
Shareable Custom Data 360 No (may be possible using Modio)

PS3 Yes

PC Unknown Unknown
Number of Player Stats 16 skill/ability attributes Unknown

("special abilities" mentioned)
Number of Team Stats 39 (6 attributes, 33 tactics settings) Unknown
Gameplay Camera Options Side Camera

Behind Camera

Behind Far Camera

Replays On/Off

Cutscenes On/Off


Camera Swing On/Off

Close Camera Zoom On/Off

Glory Camera Zoom On/Off Side Camera

Behind Camera

Other cameras/options unknown
Replays Automatic Manual
Set Plays Unknown Yes
TMO Yes No
Onfield Ref Yes No
Online Leaderboard Yes Unknown
Unlockables Yes (currency system) Unknown


1. HB announced Rugby 2012 first (March, 2010). From the beginning they made it clear that they did not yet have a publisher; they were taking this development upon themselves and had a very small budget for the endeavor. Maybe I’m a cynic, but I’m willing to bet that they saw a Rugby World Cup year as an easy way to make a few bucks by cranking out Rugby 08 with an updated roster and HD graphics but no other major changes (read: not a major upgrade from Rugby 08). This wouldn’t be a problem if they were the only rugby game on the market, but…

2. Enter Rugby Challenge. Sidhe was fully aware of Rugby 2012 and its summer release date when they announced their plans for Rugby Challenge to be released only a few months after it. This says a lot about their confidence in their game to go head-to-head with Rugby 2012. Oh yeah, and Rugby Challenge also has exclusive rights to the All Blacks and Wallabies.

3. Even if HB weren’t planning a “re-packaging” of Rugby 08, they will still be constantly facing the temptation of re-using Rugby 08 content, especially when these budget constraints come into play. Sidhe doesn’t have this temptation: they can’t reuse their content because rugby league is just different enough to require new material. They’re going to have to build a lot of it from the ground up. Sidhe is poised to innovate. They can incorporate their own fresh ideas with some of the best features of the EA Rugby series. Expect Rugby Challenge to be different in a good way.

Bonus point: Consider the developers for both companies — the actual people developing the concepts and code for the game. How many of HB’s (Canada) people do you think grew up playing rugby? Compare that to the number of Sidhe developers who probably grew up playing in New Zealand. The New Zealanders at Sidhe are making a game that they “get.” They know what it’s supposed to look and feel like. Sure, HB is probably quite familiar with rugby, but not to the extent that New Zealanders are. I’m not saying this is a make-or-break factor, but it’s another point to Sidhe.

Does Rugby 2012 stand a chance?
Of course. HB’s biggest advantage is their head start. If they can get it to market first, they might be able to establish themselves. Look for Sidhe to counter this with some pre-release hype to try and get people to hold off on getting Rugby 2012 until Rugby Challenge comes out. (And if you think HB’s biggest advantage is the Rugby franchise name, think again. It’s been four years since the last Rugby title and the EA name won’t be on it.)

In the end…
This is all speculation. Both companies are being very tight-lipped about their developments so only time will tell which game really rises to the top. My real hope is that this competition pushes them both to create the best rugby game possible because, in the end, I’m probably going to buy both.'

Sorry hasn't can't and paste it how I would like, but hopefully you guys can understand it.

Dre280783-

Thanks for all that info. One question for you I heard there were no set plays, could you explain this please?

"Set Plays Unknown Yes"

If there are set plays in Rugby Challenge you will have made my day

Pete, sorry the way that was posted it was supposed to show wants included in challenge and whats in 2011. The yes to set plays is for 2011, it's still not confirmed whether there will be set play in the challenge game. I read on a game formum that they were hoping to include set plays, also they will possibly be introducing download content like up dated roasters, potentially set plays, stadiums etc.

I think challenge will be like PES was back on the playstation 2 where its not the official game but the game play is far far better! All I hope is that both games are a success so we can get new rugby game every year or atleast every 18 months!

I would like to see the IRB help the game companies as the successor these games can only help the expansion of the sport

At the moment I will definately be getting Rugby Challenge instead of RWC 2011. Not impressed with the demo at all.

I hope they release a demo of rugby challenge. It's not out until the 7th September.

Thanks Dre280783

Saw on their fb that there weren't going to be set plays in Challenge but if you can download them I will definitely be doing that. Thanks

From what I see in gameplay trailers on Rugby Challenge the artificial intelligence looks pretty good. The players run intelligent lines and support players seem to do things like looking for the inside pass or looping runs around the outside.

Red stag, totally agree, also I notice that forwards generally can't pass as well as backs, and supporting players can over run the pass which slows their momentum when taking the ball. The other thing I really like in challenge is the dummy pass!

The fact that when you make a break in this (official) demo the supporting player is always nowhere near you infuriates me!