Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge

Gamers with a penchant for rucks, mauls and drop goals have had little to cheer about in recent years, with a total of zero rugby union games coming out since 2007. Roll on 2011, and we have not one, but two rugby games to keep us busy while we aren't watching the real thing unfolding in the World Cup over in New Zealand. Unfortunately, the first of these titles to hit shelves, Rugby World Cup 2011, ended up being a mediocre affair, with the developer rehashing their previous game, Rugby 08, with even less content and little innovation to keep gamers coming back. The good news is that Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge (also known as All Blacks Rugby Challenge in New Zealand and Wallabies Rugby Challenge in Australia) doesn't have the same problem.

As most sports fans will know, licensing plays a major role in what can and can't be used in sports games these days, and the publisher behind Rugby Challenge, Home Entertainment Suppliers (HES), has done a decent job in making sure that Rugby Challenge has plenty on offer. In total there are 93 licensed teams and 31 licensed stadia playable over 11 competition setups, including Super Rugby, Tri-nations, ITM Cup, Top 14 Orange, and more. Obviously the all-important Rugby World Cup is missing, as it's exclusively licensed in the RWC 2011 game, but Rugby Challenge's substitute, the "World Rugby Championship", is pretty much the same thing, and so doesn't have much of an impact on your gaming experience. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the team licensing. While having 93 licensed teams is certainly impressive, there are a few key licenses which were given exclusively to the RWC 2011 game, including the Springboks. The result is that, while South African teams are available, they have fake team names and player names to get around infringing on license agreements. It's not all bad though, because SA players "coincidentally" have the exact same likenesses and skills as their real-life counterparts, so it's just a matter of figuring out which fake name belongs to whom, and using the player editor to correct it. As an added bonus, you can set a commentary name too, with nearly every South African player listed. The end result - albeit with a lot of work - is that you can eventually have South African teams - and other unlicensed teams - looking and playing like their real-life counterparts.

It's actually worth touching on why it takes a lot of work to rename players in Rugby Challenge, and this is due to numerous poor design and flow choices. For example, when using the "Customize" option to edit players, you have to select the competition type, then the team, and then the player you want to edit. No problem there. However, after editing the player and hitting save, instead of returning to the previous step of selecting a player, you're shunted right back to the Customize main menu screen. When editing large numbers of players this becomes increasingly frustrating as it takes time to select and find the teams and players you want to edit. And this is a problem that carries through to others areas of Rugby Challenge. One such area is the Career mode.

Career mode in Rugby Challenge lets you select an international and/or club team and go through a couple of seasons, playing in club competitions such as SuperRugby, as well as international competitions, such as the World Rugby Championship, Tri-nations and even Quad-Nations. When starting each new season you choose your preferred teams and use them through the rest of the season. Oddly enough, when starting a new game, it doesn't always select your preferred team and, unless you always check, you may find yourself starting up a game and playing as the wrong side. Another problem is that it doesn't seem to deal very well with teams having the same coloured outfits, so unless you again check before a game starts, you may find it difficult differentiating your players from the opposition when things get heated. Fortunately the design and flow issues - while frustrating - don't have too much of an impact on the actual gameplay, which, let's face it, is where it counts.

Unlike Rugby World Cup 2011, Rugby Challenge feels and plays like a simulation rugby game, and as such, players need this mindset when tackling their first few games. Ideally, you'll want to run through the tutorials available in the FIFA-like run-around while matches are loading, as completing all the tutorials will give you a good introduction to the gameplay (and an Achievement!). There are no wild diving tackles or running circles around your opponents here; instead it's all about timing your tackles and passes, slowly building up pressure to expose gaps and eventually get a few points on the board when the opportunities present themselves.

The controls for Rugby Challenge are easy to pick up, and work well within the confines of the gameplay. When in possession of the ball, shoulder buttons control passing left or right, while the face buttons are used for different kicks, such as chip kicks or drop goals. On defence, you can perform a 'normal' tackle using the A button, and then a more aggressive tackle with the Y button, with the difference being the intensity of the tackle. i.e. a normal tackle could see the opponent slip the tackle, while a more aggressive tackle may give you an advantage in the ensuing ruck, but could also lead to a penalty or yellow card for a high tackle. Rucks and mauls - which have always been a contentious area of both the virtual and real-life versions of the game - have been handled using the usual "bind players" to win the ball, with the option of a normal or heavy bind - the latter giving you more chance of winning the ball, but players will take longer to "unbind" from the breakdown once the ball has moved on. Obviously, whether a player has support or not when tackled will have an impact on the outcome, and taking this into account is important when playing on higher difficulties.

Once you've got a feel for the somewhat slower pace of Rugby Challenge's simulation gameplay, the real charm of the game starts to shine through. You'll find yourself strategizing about your next set play, probing for weaknesses in the defence, and getting sucked into a game that plays and feels like rugby. But - and there's always a 'but', isn't there - it's not a game without faults.

Gameplay wise there's plenty of oddities that rear their ugly heads during matches. For instance, when going to ground and hitting the bind button (either normal or heavy), even if a forward is first to the breakdown, he will stand off and wait for others to arrive. Why? Because he's the new scrum half. In my career mode, I selected Sharks (or "Durban") for my SuperRugby team, and for the majority of my games, Tendai "Beast" Mtawarira (a loosehead prop) played in a scrum half position. The end result is that you may lose possession on the ground, and there are plenty of poor passes from rucks. General passing can also be frustrating at times, as passes can go backwards or totally miss the player who's in a perfect position to receive. This seems to be down to the player's passing skill level, but I haven't seen too many professional players pass the ball directly behind them "by mistake" when there's a receiver right next to them.

Tackling on the goal line is another area which needs some TLC. If you cross the goal line to score a try and the AI tackles you, instead of dropping down and scoring, your player just keeps soldiering on, and if another AI opponent tackles you after slipping the first, you'll eventually end up over the dead ball line, making for some trying times as you battle with the urge to lob your controller at the screen. Similar frustration comes when trying to defend against stronger sides, as every tackle made will see the opposition offload to another player before going to ground, to the point that there's 5-6 offloads in a matter of a few seconds. It doesn't always happen, but it does feel unbalanced and unrealistic when it does.

Loading times are also too long in Rugby Challenge. Moving between menus, loading player photos, and "cut-scene" animations on the field (such as celebrations and even the referee blowing his whistle), take far too long. The issue also extends to loading matches; you may have a FIFA-like run-around option when matches are loading, but there's only so many times you can throw a ball between four guys on an empty field before it becomes boring as hell.

Finally, we come to my biggest problem with Rugby Challenge: the commentary. HES may have secured two big names in Grant Nisbett and Justin Marshall, but the dreary and robotic delivery of the commentary in Rugby Challenge is some of the worst you'll come across in a sports game. They might as well have used that text-to-speech program bundled with Windows 95. To make matters worse, the commentary often doesn't reflect the on-field action.

Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge is a flawed but competent attempt to recreate rugby on HD consoles. The graphics and animations are fantastic, and the gameplay - after some getting used to - makes for some of the most exciting and realistic rugby experiences available off the field. While the lack of licenses and a good few design problems hinder Rugby Challenge from being the rugby game we've all been waiting for, the massive amount of content, impressive player editor, capable online mode, and realistic approach to the on-field action makes this the best rugby game around for those looking for simulation over arcade. And if developer Sidhe's promises of annualizing the franchise turn out to be true, rugby fans have plenty to look forward to in the future.

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