While the French Rugby team is currently trying to compete for a new Grand Slam at the six nations tournament, Nakon take advantage of this international window -even if the app was released a little earlier- to offer its 2022 vintage. EKO Software Developers have also “taken advantage” of the Covid period to go directly from the 2020 version to this one, with on the menu a multitude of small improvements. So all that remains is to check what it looks like on the meadow.
Halftone content
If this discipline does not radiate as much as football, rugby is a sport oh so much appreciated in our regions, and our French representatives are often part of the European elite. It is indeed not uncommon to see them win the famous Champions Cup representing, for those who do not follow, the equivalent of the Champions League for football. A good reason, therefore, to finally offer a simulation worthy of this sport.
And in terms of content, it already looks bad because, if Rugby 22 proudly displays the official licenses of the Top 14, the Pro D2, or the United Rugby Championshipit still lacks a package to represent the sphere of the oval in a plethoric way. We could cite as absent, for example, the H-Cup, the Six Nations tournament, Super Rugby (the Southern Hemisphere championship), and even the World Cup… So yes, some are present in game, but without the name, nor the dressing that goes with it. It is therefore a bad point for immersion.
Not all national teams are licensed, only 10 are licensed in total.
Worse, not all national teams are licensed, only 10 are licensed in total. If we are delighted to find the Blues, the All Blacks, Ireland or Wales for example, we regret that a team like the XV de la Rose – which is nothing other than the cradle of rugby – does not benefit from the same treatment as other nations.
You will therefore see these teams playing with “random” jerseys in dummy stadiums – since there too it is gloomy plain –, like a good old PES of the time. Fortunately, everything is counterbalanced by the facial modeling of the biggest stars in the discipline. Indeed, most of the big names in this sport are perfectly recognizable, as long as you have some knowledge in the field, even if it will be noted that the physics are cut a little coarsely.
Moreover, the graphic part of the software in general seems far from current standards. Which without being completely ugly, is still far from flattering the retina. If the lighting effects are correct, the lawn rather detailed, the public is missed. The animations of the players are doing well on the other hand by being quite varied, even if they can sometimes lack a bit of binder during transitions or be repetitive over time. Corn the big downside is still in the menus which are unspeakably uglywith tabs all adopting shades of green to blue as failed as its ergonomics.
Soft and hard to pick up gameplay
Is this for all that prohibitive to have fun on the ground? As you surely know, rugby is a rich sport in terms of strategies and game situations. To hope to arrive on the roof of the world or of Europe, it will be necessary to perfectly master all the sectors of the game such as the scrum, the rucks, the touch, the mauls, the tackles, even the kicking game.
In all these areas we are served, in the good as in the bad. Because as mentioned above, all the compartments of the game are present and in a rather faithful way since we feel very well the feeling of the fight, the commitment and the sacrifice, at the risk of sometimes multiplying the manipulations a little too much to prove it.
The conquest phases illustrate this perfectly, and in this case the rucks which require a real sense of timing, which you will absolutely have to master in legend or pro difficulty mode (4 difficulty modes are available). During these playing times, you must send players to try to take possession of the ball by making sure you push the joystick as it enters the regroupbut you also have to be careful to find enough balance so as not to compromise your defense by sending too many people to the pipe breaker. They are omnipresent, even a little too much and, contrary to reality, constantly slow down the game. The fault of teammates who take three lead to get back in place, seeming lost on the ground, sometimes bumping into each other for no reasona problem also encountered on the recovery phases which suffer from a certain latency time.
In question, passes that are not made immediately, making it difficult to break through the defensive curtain. Of course, you could help yourself with the many tactical options such as the manual replacement of players, or the famous combinations. But the operation is so long and tedious and the timing so precise to put them in place that you would surely be discouraged from trying it…
All the compartments of the game are present and in a rather faithful way since we feel very well the feeling of the fight, the commitment and the sacrifice.
All these little pitfalls put end to end prevent impregnating a sustained rhythm to a game. We often find ourselves waiting for support, waiting for our team to deign to get back in place, and it will therefore sometimes be necessary to rely on individual exploits such as fuss, feints, framing, overflow or other percussion to make the difference and break the monotony. However, we must admit that when it’s successful, the sensations of the game are rather exhilarating, too bad it only happens sporadically.
Fortunately, the other areas of play such as the scrum, the sideline and the mauls are less grueling to learn since they are articulated in the form of mini-games that require pressing certain keys at the right time so as not to lose his commitment in order to take the advantage and destabilize the opposing defence.
The gameplay is therefore based on good bases, but which are unfortunately parasitized by restrictive manipulations and an AI that struggles to keep up the pace.
Play it like FIFA
Question game modes, you can count on training to get used to the basics of soft and perfect your scales. Once operational, you can jump into the deep end with kick-off modewhich simply represents a classic show. The championshipas for him, proposes to you to choose a club to then take part in the games of a regular season with the only goal of chaining the matches to finish champion.. There is then the possibility to play online against other players, but only single matches, without stake. Finally, the most interesting is the career mode, which takes over the system of the FUT of Fifa.
Here you must create your club thanks to a dedicated creation menu where you can choose your names, jerseys and crests, then throw yourself into the deep end and climb the ladder starting from the second division.
The most interesting is the career mode, which takes over the FUT system from Fifa.
If at the beginning you start with “random” player cards, you will need train to see them progress, you will also have to compose your staff so that all these little people are well surrounded. The money collected during your confrontations will also make it possible to consolidate the whole to recruit new talents.
We even take a certain pleasure in spending our time in the menus – even if they are tasteless and messy to browse – to create and develop the club of our dreams, although it remains basic in terms of management. All that’s missing is the atmosphere to drive the point home by counting on the 16th man… Unfortunately, the sound part struggles to transcribe the warm atmosphere of the oval. The public comes forward timidly and only speaks out to celebrate a successful tryout or transformation. And off the pitch, the tunes are usually forgettable and lonely the duo of commentators, composed of Eric Bayle and Thomas Lombard, comes to save the furniture.
