MY 15 STEPS TO BEATING RUGBY 2005.
Sure, WCR was a great game. Just a few minor technical flaws that held it back from being an all around excellent game. Some of this stuff has already been over in this thread.
1) Tackles
I think that the tackling system needs to be overhauled.
- Big hits shouldnt be so easy to do as it makes the game too one-sided. There should only be a slight chance of the ball being knocked out, instead of a 100% chance of it happening. When it does, there should at least be a knock on awarded, as the ball was propelled forward. Also, the scrumhalf shouldnt be able to knock the ball clean out of the no. 8s hands.
- Less "stand up tackling". Currently in the international game, the emphasis is on getting the ball to ground and getting quick possession to thr backline. In WCR, there was too many tackles that forced you into a maul, a process that slowed down a normally fast game.
- Offloads need to be more easy to do, keeping the flow of the game going.
- Sidestepping more flexible.
- In WCR, the advantage lasted for one phase, highly agitating.
2) Rucks and Mauls
- Button bashing. It needs to be overhauled. The button bashing system sure did increase the pace of the game at times, but the novelty quickly wore off and in multiplayer, the winner of the rucks was the person who could bash the X button the fastest.
- The backs shouldnt be put into the rucks and mauls. One of my major gripes in the first game was the fact that most of the time the centres and often the fly-half were drawn into the rucks and mauls, leaving slow forwards to pass the ball to the wings, often denying tries due to their poor agility and passing skill.
- Falling apart. It wasent major, but whenever someone won a ruck, the whole thing fell into a mess of bodies, often meaning that the forwards can't get out for at least two phases, slowing down ball recycling and increasing the need to put backs into the rucks and mauls.
- Backline moves in loose play. This feature seems to have been incorporated into rugby 2005 well, and i think that it would open more corridors for WCR. However the option should be available to turn these off, to keep the simplicity there.
3) Lineouts
- Winning a lineout was a one in three chance in the first game, meaning that your lineout ball was not as safely won as it shouldve been. In WCR2, lineouts should come down to timed jumping and throwing distance, rather than a gamble. Also, taller players with more skill and experience should be able to beat smaller, less battle-hardy players to the ball mid-air.
- When the ball came down, the option to set up a maul and drive was not there - merely a chance encounter where you were held up and a maul started. This should be changed as this would provide a solid platform for the backs and increase the forwards usefulness in the game.
4) Scrums
- Again, like rucks and mauls, the button bashing system needs to be eradicted as pack size really didnt mean much.
- The hooker should at least have the hook the ball at the right time in order to win the scrum, making the game much more realistic.
- In WCR, when you won the scrum against the head, 9 times out of 10 the pass from the scrum half to the first reciever was forward, meaning that the scrumhalf would have to run the ball.
5) General Set Plays
- Backline moves. I know Swordfish Studios tried to keep the game simplistic, but the option to make moves happen with D-pad (on PS2) should be there. This would be a much simpler system to the menu method everytime a set piece occurs (like in rugby 2004) and would allow the game to flow.
6) Substitutions/Fatigue
- In the first game, the option to substitute players really wasent needed. Fatigue is a factor that should be introduced to make sure that players can be substituted - as this was just a novelty factor in the original.
- The running bar needs an overhaul too. The fact that player endurance is not varied depending on position on the field and body size was a let down. Backs bursts of pace only lasted a short amount of time
7) Creation
- Player creation really wasent touched on in the first game, and this should be addressed. The game would benefit from such a system.
- Player naming needs to be streamlined, as the need to change players names on your favourite teams was always there, however this was a difficult and long process.
8) Stadiums
- Only a handfull in the first game. I'm sure more fake stadiums would be appreciated. Even obtaining the rights to some of the more well-known stadiums would be a kick in the side to the EA franchise, because I'm tired of playing at Tiger Bay in WCR.
9) Unlockables
Would be nice. Sure, you got a few teams and 8 or 9 historical matches, but I really wanted more. What about the ability to unlock historic teams? Again, unlocking more stadiums would also be an incentive to play the game longer.
10) Trophies/Challenger
- A trophy cabinet to track competition wins would be good.
- Challenge tracking and profiles (like rugby 2004) would be a welcome addition. In WCR, there wasent enough incentive to keep playing.
11) Licensing
- More teams. Wales and England weren't enough. Yes Wales. It's hard to believe it was their official game too. I hardly noticed until i played them and say charvis playing.
- More stadiums. as mentioned.
- The Gilbert license was good, but i think that there should be more licenses for say, boots or jerseys. This would create more realism.
- Did anyone else think the team symbols were quite unrealistic and poor (eg. Australia had a kangaroo and a boomerang.)
12) Audio
- The Haka would be nice. Like in Rugby 2005.
- Sweet chariot was good - but a bit repetitive. If possible, more chants for more countries would be great.
- Commentary diversification. It got a bit shallow after a while. The commentators were great. But the problem was that the same things were played over and over and pieces of audio were put together quite clunkily.
13) Kicking
- More realism for goal kicking would be good. The wind resistance in the original was minimal when goal kicking. Also, the ability to slice to ball would be a welcome addition. Has anyone played the game Kicking Kings on the BBC website? If not check it out. Its an indication of what virtual goal kicking could be.
- Again, as with goal kicking wind resistance would be good, as the wind didnt really effect where the ball was going out. apart from that I thought the kicking system was good.
- Out on the full ruling. It was a bit clunky in the first game. At times, if I kicked the ball out on the full while clearing from behind my 5m line, play would be bought back there for some reason. This was vital as most of the time this meant good possession for the opposing team and a possible try
- Charge downs need to be harder to do. I could find myself charging down ball after ball if the need be.
14) Modes
- A fake Super 12 competition would be nice. The same goes for the European Cup.
- The names of the fake tournaments need to be a bit better. Three Nations was just a lame name.
- EA hasent bought the rights to the World Cup yet. Think of the potential. Same goes for the European clubs.
15) Misc.
- A nice opening movie would be good.
- Capture player animations for realistic graphics
- More player likeness
- Ability to save replays
- More than one referee would be nice. (That poor guys probably tired out from WCR)
- More camera angles. Two were useful. The others were there to make the game look good.
- Going to the video referee. Just a nice novelty. Turn it off if you want. Keeps the suspense going too.
*phew* As you can see, I was a big fan of the first game, and I think it would be great to see these features put in. BRING ON WCR2.
