Rugby 18 | Xbox One | Review

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The tough-old-bugger’s game of Rugger Union has never really received the video game it deserves. With that in mind, Bigben Interactive (Rugby 15, Rugby World Cup 15) step forward for their latest attempt at righting that wrong, with the outrageously titled Rugby 18.

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​by Rob Holt

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​@acousticmagic

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Developer: Eko Software
Publisher: Bigben Interactive
Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, PC
Players: ​1 - 4

We’re going to be honest with you from the kick-off, chums: Rugby 18 is as poor as a routine handling error, or a Chris-Ashton-showboating-try gone wrong.

Rolling the ball into the scrum, we start with the disheartening gameplay. Kick-offs are simple enough, with a regulation button press (one for a punt, another for a shorter loopy kick) combined with the left stick for aiming working well. Kicking during open-play is a little more fraught with danger though, as the behind the lines, Madden-style camera angle struggles to show the depth and direction of your kicking arc. Goal kicking and conversions fair better, with a simple dab of the right stick controlling direction, bend and distance. Hold on to your scrum-hat, for this is the high-point of the game.

Open-play shows glimmers of potential, before being swiftly destroyed by high-tackle-esque coding blunders. The offensive controls are simply enough, with the bumpers corresponding directly to the direction of your pass. You’ll find that sprinting with the right trigger, and performing handoffs and spins with the right stick also help in your quest for a try. This part of the game usually works without too many glitches, but it starts to suffer as soon as you get tackled.

Whether in defence or attack, every tackle results in a ruck, and it’s here that the problems really start to show themselves. You’ll need to call extra men in to help you maintain possession, or to turn the ball over, but they move so damn slowly you’ll start to lose your mind. The AI players also waltz or hang around in offside positions too, but penalties are never called. It’s bizarre, assuring one thing beyond doubt: you’ll never play more than a couple of matches in a session.

Like the rucking, the other finer points of Rugby Union suffer too. Line-outs offer simple enough set-ups - 7 man, 5 man, etc. - but never feel fun, interesting or engaging. ​

Scrums droop from a complete lack of antagonistic weight, too. The bind, set, engage motions are performed with the sticks or triggers, and then it’s up to you to line up a reticule with a side-to-side shifting semi-circle to drive your players forward. In principle this system could work, but it sorely lacks the guts required of the sport’s true test of strength.

Mauls can feel great when you push towards the line and touchdown for a try, but just like the scrummages, you never truly get the impression that you’re in a battle. The lack of feedback in the controller across all of the aforementioned is a truly odd omission too, especially when you consider how combative a sport rugby is.

Tackling is perhaps the worst offender of them all though, with players often launching themselves in the opposite direction of the action, resulting in you losing ground, or conceding a try easily. The game also seems to decide on a whim when to activate a high tackle or mistake; it never really felt like our bad timing or placement was the reason behind it. A button especially mapped to serve as the “aggression” tackle could have helped to balance these injustices, and probably would’ve pushed the fun meter up, too.

Special mention must go to the wonderfully jumbled, constantly-behind-the-action commentary from Nick Mullins and Ben Kay.

It won’t come as any surprise to hear that the visuals and audio on offer grade from average down to abysmal, either. Menus are serviceably basic, but the in-game player models and pitch look absolutely ancient when stacked alongside the recently released Rugby League Live 4, not to mention the Madden’s and FIFA’s of this world. The visuals take an especially large dip in the jumpy, jittery, cauliflower-ear-ugly replays, too.

Special mention must go to the wonderfully jumbled, constantly-behind-the-action commentary from Nick Mullins and Ben Kay. It’s one thing for every other sentence to be fused with differing amounts of expression and enthusiasm, but Rugby 18 manages to take aural-description to new levels, with each word sounding as if it was recorded in different parts of the world, with swiftly swaying adjustments to phrasing. It is unabashedly heinous, but by jove is it hilarious to drink in.

Modes are on the stingy side as well, sadly. There’s quick match in local and online flavours, league mode - potentially fun once you put the gameplay atrocities to one side - career and my squad. The latter two are Rugby 18’s attempt to do an EA Sports; you’re tasked with building a team from scratch, with the former providing some depth as you climb the divisions, and the latter providing none as you are limited to just quick matches, with no divisional structure or merriment.

So, as the hooter sounds for the end of the match, we can’t help but feel dejected. There are some reasonable crumbs hiding amongst the rubbish, with many licensed club and international teams, a weekly challenge mode, an excellent quiz mini-game in the loading screens, and reasonably girthy league and career modes, but the frequently dross gameplay takes hold early on, snuffing out enjoyment any time you catch a faint whiff of it. With that in mind, folks, take our word for it: punt Rugby 18 into touch.

Pros

• Controls are easy to learn
• Fully licensed Premiership, French Leagues, PRO 14 and International teams
• Quiz questions in the loading screens
• Weekly challenge mode
• League and career modes provide longevity...

Cons

• … If you can ignore the numerous glitches and gameplay problems
• Terrible, disjointed commentary
• Visuals are rough, especially in the jittery replays
• Bare-bones online options
• The finer points of Union are poorly translated

3/10