‘Brute’ Big Hit, or Knock On?

by Allegionary

©2010 Alex Hilton

Rugby League Live is a game full of big hits, amazing tries and nail-biting matches but does this game belong in the big league or the reserves?

Rugby League Live, produced by Australian developer Big Ant Studios for the 360 and PS3, has been released just in time for the Australian Rugby League finals. But was this game rushed and should it have been polished in the off season? Let’s take a look.

The game is by Big Ant Studios and Tru Blu games, with the original studio responsible for the Xbox, PS2, and recent Wii rugby league games, Sidhe, relegated to providing back-up work. Rugby League Live does use some aspects from the earlier Rugby League series but the developer has changed the game so it does feel different.

Rugby League Live has a smaller number of game modes than previously in the Wii game which is disappointing. There is only Quick Match and Competition. Quick match is just like a normal one-off match and Competition is where you play through a season as your favourite Rugby League team and hopefully take the Premiership.

There is no franchise mode where you get to be your own manager of the team and perform trades or change training schedules like the last Rugby League games, which really isn’t acceptable.

The Locker Room, which is the place where you can customise your own player or team, was also disappointing. There were only a small number of logos to choose from when you customise your own team and you only get to choose one jersey for your team, rather than the usual home and away. This customisation feature was obviously not focused on in the game.

The game has over 40 licensed teams from the NRL, Super League, State of Origin, City v Country, and World Cup, which pretty much covers most top tier leagues.

One thing that was much improved was the animations of the players, which has been a problem for the other rugby league games in the past.

For example this game’s video referee makes clearer decisions, displaying replay animations showing whether the try should be counted or not, unlike the other games where the decisions were pretty random.

Also the running, tackling and kicking animations look much better and are smoother too, looking less robotic.

However, having said that, a big problem with the game is that there are some glitches that the developers haven’t gotten rid of. For example there was a glitch where the injury animation kept showing over and over again, causing my opposition to get a try.

I was not very happy to say the least.  This should have shown up in testing and may be a sign the game was rushed for a release to precede the real ARL finals.

There is a good Impact replay feature where if the tackle is a big hit, the game will show it again, except zoomed in, making it really seem bone-crunching.  However, controlling the defence is difficult and can be literally hit or miss.

The easy mode is really really easy, but there is rather too big a step when you go up to medium.  I didn’t bother with hard, as I was having enough trouble tackling on medium.

The commentating is mostly identical to the Wii game but there are some phrases added.

For example at the start of the game in competition mode Andrew Voss, the commentator, sometimes says the position of the two teams on the competition ladder.

Underneath the players are useful icons. There are three different icons for the three different player types: fast, strong or play maker. Also the icon changes to an exclamation mark when you are offside to give you a warning.

The graphics aren’t really too much of a step up from the other Rugby League games.  You would expect more from a 360 or PS3 version, but the stadiums do look a bit better. The crowd aren’t that great though. They look like cardboard cut-outs.

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The controls are the same as the previous Xbox and PS2 Rugby League games except for passing.

You pass with the bumpers instead of the triggers which takes some time to get used to if you have played the other Rugby League games a lot.

Once you do though, when in attack  it feels smoother to play, and more in line with the real-life experience we watch.

The background music does not really scream Rugby League. I don’t like the blaring electric guitars in the background, and just find it annoying.

Sports games are most fun when played with others and Rugby League Live does feature offline and online four-player head-to-head or co-op multiplayer.

Overall Rugby League Live is a game that does not come close to the big budget EA sports games but the company making the game did not have as much money or staff for this game as EA would have had so it is understandable.

Because the game did seem rushed with an unusual number of glitches, fewer modes and features, poor tackling and because of the AUD$110 RRP, which I’d not even pay for a polished EA Sports title, I won’t give this game a 7.

Despite really wanting to reward a developer with high marks for making a Rugby League game for 360, if you already have Rugby League 3 on Wii, keep that one.  This isn’t the upgrade you’d expect.

If you are looking for a Rugby League game that is certainly playable and mostly enjoyable if you give it time then this game might be for you. At any rate Rugby League Live is the best Rugby League game on the Xbox 360 and PS3…

“6.5/10

©2010 Alex Hilton

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Filed under: 3rd Party Games, Console gaming, Game Impressions, New Xbox 360 Games, XBLA News-Reviews, Xbox 360 3rd Party Games, Xbox 360 Game Reviews Tagged: | Big Ant Studios, Rugby League, Rugby League 3, Rugby League LIve, Rugby League Premiership, Rugby League Quick Match, Rugby League series, Sidhe, tru blu games, Xbox 360