Rugby on the PS4 – Triumph or Failure?
The PlayStation 4 is one of the best gaming consoles, with dozens of sports titles readily available for players. The annual gaming franchises like the FIFA, UFC, NBA, and more have stuck to the same formula and keep refining it every year to the demands of the player base.
One sport, however, has been incredibly difficult to translate well into the console gaming system. Rugby 20 promises to change this and provide a good rugby gaming experience for console players. Read on to find out if the game delivers on its promise.
About Rugby 20
Rugby 20 is a Rugby-based sports title released by game publisher Nacon for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The game was released for all platforms on January 23, 2020.
Rugby 20 is available on the Sony PlayStation Store for download for US$49.99.
Game Overview
Ever since the first FIFA, NBA, and UFC, Rugby fans have waited for a title that would let them play their favorite sport as a video game. The task, though not quite as complicated, has been almost impossible. No developer has produced a decent rugby title in decades. The Rugby 18 game received universally poor reviews because of its clunky mechanics and boring gameplay, but Rugby 20 promises to change this.
Rugby 20 has its fair share of problems, but deep down, there is a good game somewhere. The running mechanics are fine, but the passing mechanics are dated and clunky. At times it becomes impossible to pass the ball to another player from your team without being chased down by the AI opponent. However, when the passing mechanic works, it feels great to see your team scoring a goal.
Rucks play out similarly, with the opponents battering your team’s players in a heated game of cat and mouse. Even with different player abilities and team variability, every match seems to play out the same way. It’s all a back and forth between rucks, passes, and tackles till the game ends.
The game under-utilizes its good mechanics. The mauls and scrums have good mechanics that don’t get used too often with the overwhelming rucks, tackles, and passes. Instead, the game gets overshadowed by its running mechanics, which feature players running amok in a hilarious fashion. The commentary by Nick Mullins and Ben Kay is very notably poorly edited.
The game features four domestic competitions with fifty-six squads. There are also twenty national rugby teams in the game. Countries like Australia, England, and New Zealand have fictional names and player uniforms, but you can still match them to their real-world counterparts.
You can play around with the different strategies and styles of play, but there is no stat tracking, which greatly diminishes the sense of personal accomplishment at the end of a season. Once you have finished a season, that is it.
Rugby 2020 has a My Squad mode inspired by the Ultimate Team mode of EA Sports’ FIFA series. The game takes a leaf directly out of the EA playbook with in-game currency that can be used to upgrade players and modify your teams.
Verdict
Although it makes for a fun time, Rugby 20 is let down by its clunky mechanics and half-baked character models that look like they belong to the past console generation. It is frustrating and unpolished, but if you are looking for an okay rugby game to play on your PS4, this might be able to scratch the itch.
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