Rugby 22 is the latest update to the Rugby Union world, developed by Eko Software and published by Nacon. If you are a rugby fan you know there are hardly any games out there, so does this stack up and is it worth your time?
When you first launch the game it takes you into a tutorial mode to teach you how to play the basics, followed by a game of your choice so you can see how it feels first-hand. So many games are doing a forced tutorial these days, but I do wish it was optional here.
There are however so many mechanics you need to learn for the game and the training modules do help with that. They teach you how to win a scrum, tackle, take goal kicks and even how to run set plays to help you score. It feels like there is so much you have to take in and adapt and learn.
When you get into the main menu you have many options and different game modes to pick from.
The League mode is simple enough. You have a variety of leagues from the URC to the Premier League and the goal is to simply win. There are no transfers or anything, just playing. You can simulate most matches if you don’t fancy playing them all. It’s a shame that there is no Six Nations mode that you can do or even create your own custom tournament as I think that would have helped boost the playability of the game.
Now onto the more confusing Career mode. It took me a while to figure out what you actually need to do, but basically you create your own team and are then assigned random players in the form of “Player Cards”. It’s your goal to take them to the top of league and ultimately face the Worlds’s best teams.
You have to manage your finances by signing players, implanting training sessions and upgrading your staff. You will be playing this mode over multiple seasons as you try to improve your team and get promoted to the top league.
Completing other games mode like League will help you as you will unlock player card packs that you can use to add to your team. Once you have, for example, won the URC you will go to an area called “My Mission” which contains loads of objectives you need to complete. Finishing an objective will give you a player card pack.
It’s basically a discount FIFA Ultimate Team but a bit more confusing and clunky. The menus are very annoying and I find that having a blue icon over a green box makes it not easy on the eyes.
So, enough about the modes. The main thing you want to know is how it plays, right?!
Firstly, I do find it can sometimes be a bit messy. It’s strange, but sometimes it feels like it runs very slow in an active play then all of a sudden the speed will ramp up when you get into open space.
It’s also tough to time the passing. A single tap can do a short pass but a longer hold can pass it further, but getting that timing right is not an easy task. Even on amateur when you first start playing you will struggle. Tackling can also be frustrating, even when you are standing right next to someone they won’t bother tackling. But the more you learn the mechanics and the more you learn a good style of play you’ll be racking up them points.
Graphically I’d say it could be so much better. For example, I’ve seen better crowds in games 5 years ago than I see in this. The commentary is also very repetitive with little variety in what they are saying. That being said, for a Rugby game you can tell they have put a lot of effort and thought into it. I wonder if this is because they put a game out every other year, as I don’t recall seeing a Rugby 19 or 21. It gives them time to flesh out any problems and doesn’t feel they rushed putting it together, using the same skin and just upgrading the players like FIFA loves to do.
I mean, the game does have a few things which can be annoying, but all in all they have made dramatic improvements from the last title and you can tell they are going in the right direction. It’s a shame there’s not much licensing or sponsors, as just a few of them could really help out. For example, in the English Premier League, none of the teams have badges which takes away some realism. I am not sure why they wouldn’t allow this as it helps promote the game and also the team and their sponsors.
Conclusion
Rugby 22 is probably the only rugby game out there, so there is little to compete with. That being said you can tell they have put a lot of effort into it and with it being a tough game to simulate to begin with, they have done all the right things. A few things need fleshing out, but once you’ve got your head around it, you will be having lots of fun.
This game was reviewed based on Xbox S|X review code, using an Xbox S|X console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.
