EA Rugby or Rugby Challenge

MG

Has anyone played these games? I'm trying to decide which to get.

EA seems to be getting better reviews but as an owner of that dog EA Rugby 2004, I am hesitant to give them a second chance.

Rugby challenge also has better licences, like the CL and H Cup. EA is more SH/S14 focused. Rugby challenge is also €20 cheaper.

Anyone got any thoughts?

ninebeanrows

EA rugby is really bad, i played it yesterday! Its obviously good being a rugby
game and all but the camera shot is terrible and the graphics leave alot to be
desired.

I dont know of any other rugby games but i would give EA 4/10

RodVelvet

Online Ea 2006 does seem to be getting the better reviews but Rugby 2004 was so bad Im wondering if it has improved at all.With regards to rugby challenge, I remember playing the first one and it wasn't as good as Jonah Lomu rugby.I just wish they would bring that out on PS2 and just tidy up the minor issues with it.

I know Rugby Challenge is developed by the same guys that did Lomu but they just seemed to produce a substandard Lomu clone.

Crash

I found rugby 2005 a great game to play - good fun once you get the trick of it.

Lomu was excellent though

Danger_Dave

Well i got EA rugby 06 after i played Rugby Challenge in town last week.

Rugby Challenge: i must say as a real fun arcadey feel but some of the bugs are soooo bad. Worse than the EA ones. For one when your near the try line and try and flat pass it to someone whos momentum will carry them will get tackled and not go over the line. The kicking out of hand seems poor and clumsy, doesnt look right either. ( Could just be i didnt kick as lot a little but not a lot).I did like the scrum and maul features theres a cricular bar with a dot going around it,travelling fast beside each side of the players maul/scrum if you press X just as the dot goes into a white part of the circle you get drive, it gets faster and faster till you use the ball. The Animation is poor the player all look like muscle bound freaks with almost square muscles. However The Create your own tournament seems like a cool feature. Rugby Challenge also seems to have all the tournaments more or less unlike EA.

So not a great game but fun.

Now for EA rugby 06. Tweaked nicely from Ea 2005 would be the way to describe it. I am biased since i got 05 and now 06

Best feature in game off loading in the tackle just makes it so much harder to defend agaisnt and so much better and fast to attack with. For those of you who remeber 2005, remeber when your close to the touchline and your getn tackled by the last man and theres a one of your teammates runing by? well when you get tackled its so much off loading to them ! . However it can make you lose horribly to much offloading means interception after interception.

Kicking out of hand: Is now more realistice the ball bounces more like a rugby ball. and when winger/fullback got to pick it up near the line the dont speed at it pick it up and run into touch anymore.

Grubber kick as been greatly improved, you can angle it infield or straight on but its not as clumsy and innacurate as before. It bounces and travels like a real enough grubber kick.

High Tackle as been introduced risky move doesnt always lead to a penalty but will a fair bit, but when u dont u do get them to knock on a fair bit of force a turnover in the ruck. nice addition.

Impact Players or Star players, cool feature during the came say your ireland there will always be a star over O'driscoll's head, Which means hes brilliant, breaks tackles, breaks the line, New Zealand are the best team in the game and have 3 impact players ! and the Off load alot. still beat them tho:) .

Tap kicks: if team is offside or handle in the ruck and you still have the ball you have option of a quick tap kick which is great can really make the game flow.
Quick lineout: same again you up against Johnny Wilko or Dan carter they'll keep pinging it down to your 5 metre line, so you just throw it to your self and play on.

Design own Set plays: for your scrums, mauls , great feature only kinda played with it didnt really make one yet.

Morale and Form are now in the Game which is good for the long tournaments such as Guinness prem.

Playing players out of Position you but a winger at 7 or even a winger at centre, they will not have a good game, knock on, turnover when they get tackled and so on. However if a player gets injured say at fullback and you only have a centre on the subs bench you can now shuffle your players who play both different positions into these position, unlike in 2005 which was annoying.

World League: Havent played it yet but cant wait.

Bugs: Theres bugs that still exsist from 2005 sadly, You can run a player offisde and the de-select him and he wont be offside, you can tackle a player before the balls comes to him. and you can still late tackle players who have kicked or grubber kicked .Also the biggest bug Johnny wilko doesnt get injured every 5mins thats just a joke:) .

Bonus stuff: you get bonus videos for wining trophies.


Animation better than 2005, its smoother lookn. The game seems and is faster.

So all in all i really like EA rugby 06, To be fair my judgement on Rugby Challenge is about an hour and half playing, but i did the same last year with Ea 2005 and bought it after the 1hr/30mins.

Rugby challenge 4/10 mainly

EA Rugby 7.5/10

Couldnt be botherd fixing the spellings.

kermitdfrog

I implore you not to get Rugby Challenge 2006 - it really is dire. Worse than Ea Rugby 2004.

dont judge Ea on 2004 - it was terrible, and actually managed the not inconsiderable feat of beng worse than it's 2001 incarnation.

2005 was a vast improvement, though still very flawed, but was the best rugby game available IMO. 2006 is a huge success, tweaking 2005 to make it more realistic, more playable and more satisfying. Here's some quick notes I wrote elsewhere - it was written from the point of view of one who has played 2005 though, so apologies if its not detailed enough for those who havent.

First impressions:

Improvement over 2005, but if you didnt like 05 dont expect this to change your mind.

They've added a lot, and tweaked a lot of the **** that ruined 05, but the game is much the same. Thats no bad thing if you ask me, the games a lot more subtle and realistic than its given credit for. Offloads work well (do them to late you'll turn over ball, cant always do them depending on how your tackled etc), and quick lineouts and penalties are good too. Offloads also mean the AI is better - not as easy in defence as they can cut you open with a lot more variety. Graphics are improved and the animation is class.

Only really annoying thing that they havent improved is the fact that backs NEVER join rucks, meaning that as previously, if you make a break and the support is backs, you get turned over easily - not so bad when you can offload and keep the ball alive, but still. it does mean you dont end up with the ridiculous situation like in RC were your backline is full of props, but still, its annoying.


Overall, very very happy. Controls improved, AI improved, graphics also. More realistic and subtle (some backlines rush up leaving gaps for your flyhalf to run into, little things like that). New additions definitely work well, and nearly all the tweaks needed have been in implemented.


And then after further play

OK, have had it for a few days, and have a better chance to give EA Rugby ’06 a more complete assessment.

So, so much better than before. The little things have been improved subtly, but it changes the game drastically - now your scrumhalf doesn’t automatically pass off the tapped down lineout for example, the shoulder charge actually works, pick-ups work well, and so on. High tackles are great! Backs DO join rucks (unlike what I said previously) but get turned over more easily and are very slow to join, so often you’ll break and be turned over despite three supporting players.

The computer AI has been improved as well, in defence as well as attack. No longer can you just charge up and tackle the flyhalf to break down an attack. Wales scored a wonderful try on me yesterday, sucking the defence in on the blind, and then passing out to the centre’s, before offloading once the cover had committed. Simple, effective, but opens up the game so much. They kick more appropriately now, and take much more options – drop goals if they’re being held out, keeping it tight when they should, cross kicks, set moves…

(Quick note on the set moves actually – really, really good. Actually work, unlike last year, and there is far more variety to them: The aforementioned cross-kick, skip moves, loops, runners coming off inside lines, and off each you can choose from a number of receivers depending on where the gaps appear.)

In defence as well they (the computer controlled teams) seem better, though midfield breaks are still devastatingly effective. Mind you, haven’t been playing it at the hardest level yet. You have to be cuter (Irish phrase? More sly) – blindly taking it up off rucks will get you turned over, but attacking the weakest point will open up gaps, and if you’ve a supporting player running through for an offload…

Offloads work superbly. I feared they would be unrealistic, off-loads being thrown left right and centre. But no. If you are tackled, your hands are free and there’s a support player you’ll have split second to press a button and the offload is given. Depending on the tackle you may have more or less time, or no chance at all. Offload too readily and you may me intercepted, or knock on, so unnecessary offloading isn’t rewarded. But off load at the right moment can break open an otherwise stingy defence.

Kicking out of hand is pretty much the same, though you feel slightly more in control. Grubber kicks work better too – no longer is a grubber a guaranteed way of beating the last man. Do it at the wrong moment and the defender will have time to react (another sign of the improved AI), or if the defender is faster than you and you kick too far they will, obviously, beat you to the bounce.

Presentation wise too, the game is better – more players actually, you know, look like who they are supposed to be – not up to FIFA standards, but who cares? More competitions – Super14, GP, 6N, 3N, Lions Tours to SA, Aus and NZ. No CL (unlike Rc2006), and no official licences for the HEC. There IS a “Euro Trophy”, with all the teams and this years schedule if you want it. Some team names are off – Leinster and Munster are ok, as there is no copyright on the name of a place, but others aren’t so lucky (the English teams are ok as the GP license was bought). Jersey’s are accurate; anthems are included in the pre-match warm up. Loads of stadia – not all licensed, but more variety, from a dustbowl in the Pacific Islands, small stadia in the States, to all the obvious ones. Nice team selection – all the international teams you’d expect, some you wouldn’t (Spain), club teams, S14, Representative sides (BaaBaas, PI..). No Cl, no NPC, no Currie Cup though.


In summary, most everthing that made 2005 flawed has ben addressed. It’ll take more time to see if this has any fatal flaws, but so far so good. The first few days its major flaw was that it’s so similar to 05 – it felt like you were playing the same game, and as I had eventually tired of that, playing more wasn’t appealing. But the more you play, the more the subtle changes add to the game and open it up all over again. Best Rugby Game Ever, and to Rugby Challenge 2006 what the All Blacks were to the 2005 British and Irish Lions.

Also, anyone I know who's got it so far (all rugby fans BTW) like it, even those who didnt like 2005. And anyone I know who's played RC2006 is of the opinion it's unmitigated rubbish.


Rugby Challenge 2006: 2/10
EA Rugby '06: 8/10