All Blacks Rugby Challenge
For: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
From: Sidhe
Three and a half stars (out of five)
Must be a World Cup on.
Having run the rule over the official Rugby World Cup 2011 game, it is now my task to sum up the vastly different All Blacks Rugby Challenge.
The game has received an awful lot of buzz over the last 12 months and if it doesn't quite live up to lofty expectations, it's a good-looking and well-intentioned effort at capturing a difficult sport in a game.
First, all the good stuff.
The game has been developed by a great little New Zealand company, Sidhe Interactive, so we'll consider that an automatic 10-point start.
Official licences were gained for the All Blacks and the Wallabies (not the Springboks or England), and the rosters are up to date and fairly accurate. A very strong, in-depth editing tool makes it easy to create or alter players.
But even better than the international rosters is the extensive list of teams from club, provincial and franchise rugby.
There are French and English and Irish and Welsh and Scottish clubs, plus the Super 15 franchises (though only the New Zealand and Australian ones are licensed) and all 14 major New Zealand provinces.
It's the third or fourth time the Highlanders and company have appeared in a video game but the first time for Otago, Southland, Manawatu and the rest, and they are welcome additions.
Where RWC 2011 really had only one mode, based on the World Cup, Rugby Challenge offers multiple.
There is the Tri-Nations, the "Quad Nations" (with Argentina joining next year), a Six Nations-style tournament, a World Cup-style tournament and all the various club leagues, including the ITM Cup and Ranfurly Shield.
A career mode is also included.
It's far from perfect but at least it's something different.
Visually, Sidhe has done really well to make this vastly prettier than all previous rugby titles. The top players are finally recognisable; the All Blacks are shown performing the haka; and some of the stadiums - our own Forsyth Barr Stadium, in particular - are superbly re-created.
The commentary is provided by the ever-reliable Grant Nisbett and the ever-loud Justin Marshall, and it never gets too painful.
And then ... and then there is the actual gameplay. The best way to describe it is that it is a mix of the sublime and the ridiculous.
I like.-
The scrum: Simple flicks of both control sticks at the same time.
The breakdown: A reasonably intuitive system involving one button for a quick bind and another for a heavy bind.
Tackling: Again, really simple controls to switch the player you are controlling and launch him at an attacking player.
I don't like.-
The lineout: Still an utter mystery.
I lose all my own throws, and pinch most of the opposition's simply by button-mashing. And there is no option to maul after the throw.
Kicking: Awkward slow-motion style. And whenever you really need to kick, the ball always seems to go straight to a prop.
Offloads: Too many. Sidhe is fresh from making rugby league games and it shows.
In-goal action: Should be nice and simple - press a button, score a try.
But too often, you find yourself being battered around like a pinball, then diving gloriously for a try ... over the dead-ball line.
I absolutely, positively HATE.-Running and passing: Yes, the core elements of the game. To be fair, running is fairly straightforward.
But the passing is dreadful. You want smooth and natural; you get jerky and clunky. Team-mates are never where you expect them to be.
Passes constantly go to ground. And it's so, so difficult to construct basic draw-and-pass moves.
Rugby Challenge tries hard - really, really hard - to be that great rugby game we have never had. It falls short, but gets full credit for the effort.
