My mini review
Just got the game this morning.
fired it up and played my first game England V Argentina on hard. Got thrashed 36-0!
On hard this game is definitely harder, and I am a veteran of rugby games.
Played a couple more games and was surprised that I was actually feeling bored. Whats going on I was asking myself? I've been looking forward to this game for four years and I'm bored after a few games.
Well guys, just like many other have indicated, this games IS rugby 2008. It is way way to similar on almost every front - if you've played 08 and got bored of it, you will get bored of this within minutes.
Sorry to say it, but if there are any improvements with this game they are so small they are hardly noticeable.
The animations are the same, the gameplay, everything just is rugby 2008 and it gets tiring very quickly.
However if you've never played Rugby 08 and 06 you'll have a blast with this game because it is fun, and will offer a lot to first timers to the series.
It is smoother, and the graphics are better than previous gamnes, and there are nice little touches such as the chip kick, the pick up and go and the guard defence.
But those well versed in rugby 08, this game is just not worth the money. I would highly recommend waiting for Rugby Challenge as we know at lease this will give us a different,fresh gaming experience.
My message to HB is that if you're going to keep rugby fans playing your games this franchise needs a complete overhaul. The progression between rugby 2005 and rugby 2011 has been baby steps, and not enough to keep people interested.
You need to get back into the motion caption studio and create a whole set of new animations, introduce more depth into the game play, many more features, licences. It really needs a lot of work and requires revolutionary changes rather than evolutionary.
Sorry to sound negative - I really wanted to like this game, but it just does not offer nearly enough, particularly for seasoned veterans such as myself. However I hope those who have the game enjoy it. Each to their own.