Rugby League

"We've been waiting a while but a solid league title is here."

Note: Rugby League was release as Stacey Jones Rugby League in New Zealand

It’s hard to believe the day has finally come for the release of Stacey Jones Rugby League. Personally I’ve been looking forward to this game ever since it was announced last year and after a few delays for various reasons the title is on shelves for us all to enjoy. I’m sure, by now, you would have all heard of this game. Fact is Stacey Jones Rugby League is the best league title I’ve ever played and while there are some areas that need some looking at the core gameplay is pure fun. It's hard for me to put my finger on exactly what makes it plays so good but the evidence points to the brilliant balance between simulation and arcade style.

Stacey Jones Rugby League (or just Rugby League where it is released outside of New Zealand) has been in development for little over a year but the actual concept was born almost five years ago so when it finally released late last week it created quite a storm. The demand for a next-generation rugby league title has been overwhelming and whilst the title suffered a few delays for publishing reasons the final release has turned out to be one of the best selling games this summer. But why? Is it just because gamers have spent so long without a rugby league title or is Stacey Jones Rugby League a genuinely good game. Well it's a bit of both. Certainly fans of league haven't had their fair share of titles and the lack lustre Rugby 2004 has left rugby fans also interested in a bit of league action. So with that demand the publishers have used cunning marketing ploys involving word of mouth to spread news on the title. Thankfully the developers Sidhe have backed up the advertising with a great game. So lets take a closer look at what Stacey Jones Rugby League has to offer.

Naturally the game has been built from the ground up but the developers spent a lot of time playing older league titles they also looked at other sports titles like Madden, Rugby and so on to see what was good and what was bad. Once they got a feel on what was out there Sidhe began work on the game based on the Renderware engine. As with any new videogame it's obviously a tough task to grab the initial concept, the point of difference that sets a game apart from anything else and makes it fun to play.

Sidhe have managed to bring out a game that is a brilliant simulation of the sport. However it's also got plenty of arcade flair which makes it easy to pick up and play for unexperienced gamers. However without a training or rules mode it will be difficult for anyone who has never played a league game to get into/understand. It would have been great to have a training option where Stacey Jones could voice over the rules of league and introduce the games controls. Madden 2004 has extensive introductory modes and even if you have never seen, played or heard about NFL it will hold your hand the whole way through. Maybe next time for Stacey Jones Rugby League.

There are three main modes included – single game, competition and game customisation. Single game is pretty self-explanatory, choose two teams, a stadium and other factors and away you go. It's great for a quick romp or a multiplayer battle but the lasting gameplay comes in the competition mode. Here you can lead your favourite team through the NRL or play as your favourite State of Origin or International side in the relevant tournaments. There are a few unlockables here and their but it would have been nice to have a few more incentives to play through each of the competitions on offer. Game customisation allows you change individual and team attributes to a reasonable extent. You can even create your own competitions to play in and there is plenty of variety when creating any aspect of the title whether it be a new player, team or tournament.

The developers have obviously gone for an easily playable game. The controls in Stacey Jones Rugby League are intuitive, responsive and easy to get used to but may lack depth for those that are after it. Functionality is obvious with the development team simplifying certain plays like making scrums making it a simple animation that isn't controlled by the player, speeding up gameplay and avoiding an area that isn't even important in the real game. Kick offs have also been made easy with players just choosing the direction of the kick and one of two distances, which again simplifies an area that is often overdone with complexities in other titles.

On defence your friend is the B-button. With this you can dish out some of the biggest hits around and the game will adjust the tackle style depending on your players position as they go in for the hit. There are a huge variety of tackles you can perform including big one on one hits or the classic gang tackle. The best part about putting in a big tackle is the priceless animation. Players will roll about on the ground, rock backwards and jolt back in pain. If you manage to pull off a really big hit the game will produce an instant replay of the event, just like Tiger Woods PGA Tour when you get a drive just right. It's a nice touch.

Big, aggressive tackles give some firepower to the tackling arrangement allowing players to jolt the ball loose from the opposition and force a turnover. To change player whilst on defence players tap the X-button and the system works well most of the time but it can be a little frustrating to control other players on your team to form an overall strategy and players are largely at the mercy of the games AI to cover the rest of the field.

Once you get the ball in hand the controls are equally accommodating giving players the opportunity to pull off exciting offensive busts through passing, kicks, fends and sidesteps. Passing is handled with the two triggers on the Xbox controller. It's easy to spread the ball wide by just tapping one of the triggers and sending it wide to your wingers is certainly satisfying. It's hard to get any set move plays going however and the ability to set up quick switch and decoy plays detracts a bit from the passing arrangement. However the ability to throw dummies is satisfying and it's a great feeling as you slice a defensive line in two through a slick dummy run play.

Offloading is a crucial part of rugby league. The ability to get the ball free in a tackle situation and pass it to another player often warrants more meters and great attacking opportunities. This game accurately represents this aspect of league and offloads become a lethal weapon especially close to the oppositions goal line. Of course you can only offload if the tackle isn't complete and you simply use the passing triggers to push the ball out. If the tackle is dominant and the ball is wrapped up you won't be able to offload and sometimes you will only be able to offload in one direction depending on how the tackle shapes up. Players can also fend and sidestep their way through the other team. Naturally it's not easy and while you may be able to get around one man going through a group of defenders is a real mission especially on the higher difficulty settings but used in conjunction with passing and kicking the fend and sidestep and invaluable in varying your attack strategies and breaking the advantage line.

To kick the ball players can punt with B-button or chip kick with the Y-button. When players do hit the button to kick the game slows down into a stylish Matrix visual setup. Apart from looking uber-stylish the slow down gives players time to direct their kick and select the appropriate power. While it's initially a little strange warping into slow motion it is totally appropriate and works out a lot better than the kicking system in Rugby 2004 where it was almost impossible to get off a chip kick without getting gunned down from behind. The kicking game is every bit as tactical as it is in real life and players came either go for a long kicking game to keep the other team on the back foot or go for a more offensive kicking style with short chips or high cross field bombs. Overall the control system is probably the most polished piece of the title allowing for fast functional gameplay that’s inviting to play.

Aesthetically Stacey Jones Rugby League is no Madden. The visuals are designed to be functional and whilst the game won't win any awards for producing the flashiest graphics around they do the job and make the title playable. The games marketing boasts over seven hundred different animations and there is plenty of variety and the all look smooth and well capture. Because the game is built on the Renderware engine there is certainly some visual issues more notably the lack of player emotion and clipping issues. It's nothing that affects the gameplay but it can look a little odd when a player dots down for a hat-trick yet still carries the same 'no-emotion' face. In saying that the players do look a lot like their real life counterparts although some players may be hard to pick if you don't know whom you are looking for.

Stacey Jones Rugby League includes all the authentic stadiums from the various competitions including Ericcson Stadium and Suncorp in Brisbane. Regardless, the environments that are included are the real deal. The crowds are less than average however and are basically a random mish-mash of sprites that look vaguely like moving people.

The in game 'dynamic' camera captures the action well but there are camera a handful of angles that cover the game well. However the dynamic angle will always sit behind the team on offence so if an intercept occurs the game will stop for a brief second as the camera swings around, just like Madden. Sidhe have kept the available angles a fair distance from the action and this is presumably to cover up some graphical flaws that the Renderware engine has. In fairness the visuals don't hamper the gameplay at all and while there are the odd quirk here and there it's nothing that will ruin the experience. The whole visual package is streamlined for Xbox in comparison to the PS2 version but it's nothing major and certainly doesn't make the flaws disappear.

Commentary is handled by Andrew Voss who is famous for his work on the Channel 9 Rugby League coverage in Australia. Whilst many of his comments are interesting and useful they do repeat often, just like most sports games on the market and unfortunately there is no point of difference here. The rest of the audio package is fairly solid with nice crowd, tackle and ball effects. Again it's nothing amazing but it gets the job done, keeps the game playable and gives something for the audio team to work on next time around.

Whilst Stacey Jones Rugby League is lacking polish the gameplay is fast and fun. It took the Madden series around ten years to grasp the gameplay mix but this title has got it right first time round which says a lot of good things about the team down at Sidhe. The platform is certainly there for a long line of sequels and in those I hope to see franchise, online and training modes to extend the lastibility of the gameplay a bit more. Of course ironing out some of the bugs that somehow snuck through into the final release is definitely a priority. Faults aside this is definitely one of the best sports games out this year and it's streets ahead of our other localised sporting titles like Rugby 2004 and Cricket 2004. Make no bones about it Sidhe have delivered on almost every count and all that's needed is a polished sequel for the knockout blow.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/16/03