- Joined
- Sep 23, 2008
- Messages
- 1,822
- Country Flag
- Club or Nation
My Copy of the game has arrived.
Packaging - The standard cover of RC games, though this time it seems slightly more professional than say the RC2 metal case edition
Install time on xbox one - Took roughly 6 minutes for me to install. Not a bad install time at all however a quick install means a small game so my guess is the game is only around 6 - 10gb in size (Most likely the "HD" textures).
Game Menus - Presentation wise it looks similar if not the same to Rugby Challenge 2.
Gameplay - I was presently surprised by the difficulty being a major step up from Rugby Challenge 2. While there are still ridiculous instances of passes going across the field and those crazy passes that happen as you get hit (Yes even if you get hit in your right side you can still throw a perfect pass to the man to your right) The key to the new difficulty is in the ruck system. In rugby challenge 2 they implimented the heavy bind, light bind and stealing of the ball. Now these options are far more important as two light binds can easily turn the ball over against one heavy bind, or two heavy binds can easily turn the ball over against a light bind that go there earlier. The trick that Wicked Witch have added is the AI now use the binding tactically to counteract your bind choices. So if you spam light bind (as I did in RC2) you are going to have a bad day as the oppositions cavalry arrives.
The addition of harder rucks means the opposing team now actually has the ball in hand. I haven't played a game yet that as in RC2 showed the stats of my team having 90% of the ball. Which is a welcome addition as the opposing team now attacks with more venom.
The wings and centres seem to shut down your ourside players better and with more success than RC2, so scoring tries can be more of a find a gap in the middle and flick it to a flanker to try and bust through. The AI kicking seems far more tactical (on the odd occasions they do kick) as in RC2 they used to just punt it down the field and hope for a hurricane to push the ball into touch.
Be a Pro - So far I am in love with this mode I created a winger named Wolby Ioane in one game and a flanker named David Wolcock in another.
The winger has simple goals i.e Score a try, enter two rucks ect
While the flanker has goals like enter two rucks, make two line breaks, steal the ball.
The more goals you complete the quicker you cement your role in the team/become captain.
The game play is a lot harder than controlling the whole team, as you have no say in their attack other than call for a pass or a kick (Which if you aren't the captain are liable to be ignored) and the growth of your player is fun to watch as you turn into a superstar.
Character Editor - There are a lot of tattoos on offer other than that it is essentially RC2 editor. Though tattoo's are a nice addition.
Career mode - I haven't had a lot of time to play career mode, but out of the few games I have had with the Reds I can tell you the rosters for each team are terribly outdated. The player likenesses are closer than in the RC2 where they seemed to have just randomly generated players and given them licenced names. (RC 1 Liam gill had dreadlocks? lmao).
There is NO player stat changes throughout the season. This could be added in a patch depending on how much Wicked Witch care about the community (They probably care more than Tru Blue).
Sevens - I have never really cared for Sevens in a game, and it's essentially the 15 man mode with 7 players on the field. It's not great, it's not bad. It's just Sevens.
Commentary - I turn it off an play music. I'd rather have Rugby 08's commentary and have Grant Fox tell me as I go for a 75m goal kick into 30 knot winds that "as a goal kicker you love it when they're easy ones" cheers Grant.
Graphics - They are certainly higher resoloution than RC2, the step up from XB360 to XBone is easy to see, though they could have put some more effort in overall.
Overall Playability - It's a step up from Rugby Challenge 2. It's not a huge step up, but it is a step in the right direction. I'll play a lot more tonight and see if I can really see any big changes, I'm hoping they will continue to patch the game and increase it overall.
Rating on the Woldog O-Meter - 6.5 out of 10.
To put that rating in perspective RC1 was a solid 8 out of 10 for its time, and RC 2 was a 6 out of 10.
Unless you are interested in Be a Pro, Sevens and tattoo's in your editor there is not a lot more to offer in RC3 than RC2 or 1. I'd recommend buying it, playing it and if you don't like it take it back in the 7 days you still can (EB Games offers than in Aus, not sure about anywhere else).
Luckily for me I was buying it for Be a Pro and Tattoos.
Packaging - The standard cover of RC games, though this time it seems slightly more professional than say the RC2 metal case edition
Install time on xbox one - Took roughly 6 minutes for me to install. Not a bad install time at all however a quick install means a small game so my guess is the game is only around 6 - 10gb in size (Most likely the "HD" textures).
Game Menus - Presentation wise it looks similar if not the same to Rugby Challenge 2.
Gameplay - I was presently surprised by the difficulty being a major step up from Rugby Challenge 2. While there are still ridiculous instances of passes going across the field and those crazy passes that happen as you get hit (Yes even if you get hit in your right side you can still throw a perfect pass to the man to your right) The key to the new difficulty is in the ruck system. In rugby challenge 2 they implimented the heavy bind, light bind and stealing of the ball. Now these options are far more important as two light binds can easily turn the ball over against one heavy bind, or two heavy binds can easily turn the ball over against a light bind that go there earlier. The trick that Wicked Witch have added is the AI now use the binding tactically to counteract your bind choices. So if you spam light bind (as I did in RC2) you are going to have a bad day as the oppositions cavalry arrives.
The addition of harder rucks means the opposing team now actually has the ball in hand. I haven't played a game yet that as in RC2 showed the stats of my team having 90% of the ball. Which is a welcome addition as the opposing team now attacks with more venom.
The wings and centres seem to shut down your ourside players better and with more success than RC2, so scoring tries can be more of a find a gap in the middle and flick it to a flanker to try and bust through. The AI kicking seems far more tactical (on the odd occasions they do kick) as in RC2 they used to just punt it down the field and hope for a hurricane to push the ball into touch.
Be a Pro - So far I am in love with this mode I created a winger named Wolby Ioane in one game and a flanker named David Wolcock in another.
The winger has simple goals i.e Score a try, enter two rucks ect
While the flanker has goals like enter two rucks, make two line breaks, steal the ball.
The more goals you complete the quicker you cement your role in the team/become captain.
The game play is a lot harder than controlling the whole team, as you have no say in their attack other than call for a pass or a kick (Which if you aren't the captain are liable to be ignored) and the growth of your player is fun to watch as you turn into a superstar.
Character Editor - There are a lot of tattoos on offer other than that it is essentially RC2 editor. Though tattoo's are a nice addition.
Career mode - I haven't had a lot of time to play career mode, but out of the few games I have had with the Reds I can tell you the rosters for each team are terribly outdated. The player likenesses are closer than in the RC2 where they seemed to have just randomly generated players and given them licenced names. (RC 1 Liam gill had dreadlocks? lmao).
There is NO player stat changes throughout the season. This could be added in a patch depending on how much Wicked Witch care about the community (They probably care more than Tru Blue).
Sevens - I have never really cared for Sevens in a game, and it's essentially the 15 man mode with 7 players on the field. It's not great, it's not bad. It's just Sevens.
Commentary - I turn it off an play music. I'd rather have Rugby 08's commentary and have Grant Fox tell me as I go for a 75m goal kick into 30 knot winds that "as a goal kicker you love it when they're easy ones" cheers Grant.
Graphics - They are certainly higher resoloution than RC2, the step up from XB360 to XBone is easy to see, though they could have put some more effort in overall.
Overall Playability - It's a step up from Rugby Challenge 2. It's not a huge step up, but it is a step in the right direction. I'll play a lot more tonight and see if I can really see any big changes, I'm hoping they will continue to patch the game and increase it overall.
Rating on the Woldog O-Meter - 6.5 out of 10.
To put that rating in perspective RC1 was a solid 8 out of 10 for its time, and RC 2 was a 6 out of 10.
Unless you are interested in Be a Pro, Sevens and tattoo's in your editor there is not a lot more to offer in RC3 than RC2 or 1. I'd recommend buying it, playing it and if you don't like it take it back in the 7 days you still can (EB Games offers than in Aus, not sure about anywhere else).
Luckily for me I was buying it for Be a Pro and Tattoos.
Last edited: