HB STUDIOS Q&A vol. 3

[CCCakumbra]

RL live was awful i hope this game puts rugby back on the right track

No, Rugby League Live wasn't awful. It is a great starting point for the series to build on. Yea, a few modes were left out but the licensing and online almost made up for it.

 

[Hamez]

No, Rugby League Live wasn't awful. It is a great starting point for the series to build on. Yea, a few modes were left out but the licensing and online almost made up for it.

Honestly, I enjoyed it like the 1st 10 times I played it, after that it was truly awful. Such poor AI, limited options in the gameplay, Controls were so outdated. Online was ok, but didn't really save the game. I don't know If I will support them if they make a new league game, I made the same mistake with ashes cricket 2009 and international cricket 2010....

 

[BjR]

Rugby Challenge looks better!

 

[Hamez]

Here we go again... another rubbish EA game. Why wouldn't they put in 7's? Im just gonna play the new Sidhe Rugby Challenge 2011 game.

I doubt that their game will be any better

 

[dan the man]

Here we go again... another rubbish EA game. Why wouldn't they put in 7's? Im just gonna play the new Sidhe Rugby Challenge 2011 game.

EA has nothing to do with this game.

 

[gmoe]

No, Rugby League Live wasn't awful. It is a great starting point for the series to build on. Yea, a few modes were left out but the licensing and online almost made up for it.

You're joking right?? I was optimistic at first, but after playing a few games it just reaffirmed my fears that RL Live was a patched up and poorly executed Rugby League 2.

I hope that HB get it right and I understand the effect that budget constraints will have on the project, but I have high hopes for this game.

 

[RoosTah]

You're joking right?? I was optimistic at first, but after playing a few games it just reaffirmed my fears that RL Live was a patched up and poorly executed Rugby League 2.

I hope that HB get it right and I understand the effect that budget constraints will have on the project, but I have high hopes for this game.

Ugh... where do these people come from?
Rugby League Live was the first attempt at a League game by Melbourne developer BigAnt - not Sidhe or HB. It had nothing to do with Rugby League 2, and if you actually played it, that would have been obvious. The graphics were ordinary, but in terms of gameplay, it is actually much better than most people give it credit. The key to playing this game is that you have to play it like it was a real game of footy (so you can't just pretend you're the globetrotters like in other rugby games). Ask any REAL rugby league fan (not just the kids that buy the jerseys in other words) and they'll tell you this game plays like the real thing; it just comes in an ugly package.

 

[Hamez]

Ugh... where do these people come from?
Rugby League Live was the first attempt at a League game by Melbourne developer BigAnt - not Sidhe or HB. It had nothing to do with Rugby League 2, and if you actually played it, that would have been obvious. The graphics were ordinary, but in terms of gameplay, it is actually much better than most people give it credit. The key to playing this game is that you have to play it like it was a real game of footy (so you can't just pretend you're the globetrotters like in other rugby games). Ask any REAL rugby league fan (not just the kids that buy the jerseys in other words) and they'll tell you this game plays like the real thing; it just comes in an ugly package.

While the very basics do seem like a real rugby league game at times, it fell very short after a few plays. tackling is poor, ai is poor, the lines the players run is stupid, passing is wishy washy. The controls were so outdated that they pretty much ruined the game before getting into the depths of the gameplay. The graphics dont even come into it at all, it was a game full of potential but fell very short of being a decent game, I have played over 70 games, and I just can't bring myself to get the platnium because its just such a tedious game.

 

[RoosTah]

I doubt that their game will be any better

Why?

 

[RoosTah]

While the very basics do seem like a real rugby league game at times, it fell very short after a few plays. tackling is poor, ai is poor, the lines the players run is stupid, passing is wishy washy. The controls were so outdated that they pretty much ruined the game before getting into the depths of the gameplay. The graphics dont even come into it at all, it was a game full of potential but fell very short of being a decent game, I have played over 70 games, and I just can't bring myself to get the platnium because its just such a tedious game.

I guess it just comes down to how practical you are in your expectations... because honestly, it costs a lot of money to produce a top notch sports ***le on the current gen of consoles, and a tiny niche sport like Rugby League just doesn't command a market worthy of that level of investment. Add to that a developer with no history in making the ***les and ... well, you get the picture.
For all that I actually enjoyed RLL though, but RL3 was a better all round game (even if it was limited to the Wii).

 

[Hamez]

Why?

Well comes from experience I just have my doubts that sidhe will end up doing a good rugby game, Like you said, little money, little experience.

I guess it just comes down to how practical you are in your expectations... because honestly, it costs a lot of money to produce a top notch sports ***le on the current gen of consoles, and a tiny niche sport like Rugby League just doesn't command a market worthy of that level of investment. Add to that a developer with no history in making the ***les and ... well, you get the picture.
For all that I actually enjoyed RLL though, but RL3 was a better all round game (even if it was limited to the Wii).

I wasn't expecting much, just a solid game. You don't need a massive budget to make a great game. A bit of game testing should have brought up many of the problems in the game. Honestly how can you miss something like when you get out in the open and cut pass to someone, they just stop dead even though they were running onto the ball? Why would you use outdated controls? I dont understand it, if your market is used to a certain control scheme, unless you have actually made improvements to it, don't change what isnt broken. And that goes for all sorts of games not just sports.

I honestly didn't care about the graphices not being the best, the commentating being ****, the useless TMO, editable stats and a crappy player creation tool and other little touches, the basic game was crap. I am more than happy to support a franchise and see it grow, but its very hard to support something that fell very short of even an average game. All my friends say the same, they bought the game for $100 just expecting a decent knock about game, but we got what felt like an extremely basic ***le that didn't improve on what was made before it. $100 is a big amount of money for a game, but I am more than willing to shell it out for a good game, Jonah Lomu Rugby from 13 years ago is worth way more than $100. I just can't see why people don't use that game as an example and build from it, we are 13 years down the track and we still don't really have a ***le to hold up against it. Rugby 08 was oh so close, but with all the bugs and lack of knowledge of the rules just kept it from knocking off jonah from the top.

 

[Teh Mite]

The irony being that people were upset about RLL "not having the depth or variety", yet RL as a sport is very much a one track "smash it up" game anyway when directly compared with rugby. Comparing it to union is like comparing draughts to chess.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

little money, little experience.

And your reasoning behind this is....?

 

[donmcdazzle]

Here we go again... another rubbish EA game. Why wouldn't they put in 7's? Im just gonna play the new Sidhe Rugby Challenge 2011 game.

which doesn't have 7s either..? FIFA doesn't have 5 a side, Madden doesn't have arena football and yet that doesn't stop people buying those games. This is the first next gen rugby game for HB, can you be a little bit realistic about what they're putting in. I can imagine your response if they threw in 7's at the last minute and it played badly "OMG the 7s is terrible what a sh*t game"

 

[Hamez]

And your reasoning behind this is....?

because they have come out and said they dont have a big budget, and they have no rugby game making experience....

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Apart from...all of the EA released ones?

 

[Hamez]

Apart from...all of the EA released ones?

I was talking about sidhe....

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Ah, I was mistaken, what with this being the 2012 forum, and a HB thread

 

[Dizzy]

ummm i dont think some of you guys have realised that Sidhe didn't make RL Live... Big Ant Studios did....

 

[horchard]

ALLOW SPEAKING ABOUT RUGBY LEAUGE! I WANNA TALK RUGBY 2012!!! Its going to be a good game, and people are obviously going to be frustrated because we have had 3 Q&As and still don't really know what its going to be like apart from there might be some licensing issues. I say we stop the having a go at HB they set this forum up so we can talk to them on a easy level! Now they're not going to be wanting to speak to us if we keep slagging them off!