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Pro Rugby Manager 2004 - First Impressions Preview
Derek dela Fuente
27/11/2003
Fresh from the success of England's World Cup winning heroics we decide to take a look at the first rugby management game...
Now before you all make a big sigh and question the idea of a Rugby management game first consider there are millions of rugby fanatics and more seriously, a rugby game could be viewed like a strategy game. You have rules, decisions to make, and it is all about using your resources and expertise to come out on top.
Players will be able to take the reins of their preferred team through European and World Championships. Over 15,000 real players are included within the game. Managers can buy and sell players, train their squads and develop match tactics - with matches portrayed in real-time through a detailed 3D engine. Every bone-crunching tackle, every eye-gouging scrum will be present in glorious 3D, with managers having to adjust their tactics as the games progress in order to secure victory. Multiplayer modes allow players to pit their teams against each other in individual games or leagues - with an Internet ladder ranking the world's greatest rugby managers.
There are some really enticing features included as well as a plethora of parameters to ensure the game really creates the Rugby management experience. We spoke with Joe Ryan at Cyanide Studios to find out more about this title!
There is less than a handful of Rugby management games around and so the first question asked was, did the development team, which is French, have new ideas and a different approach?
"Rugby video games are few and those putting the emphasis on management are basically non-existent. The only two rugby games that come to mind at present are the latest EA offering (which got mixed reviews) and the Tru Blu Rugby League game that came out down-under a short while ago. Both concentrate on playing rugby which is very difficult to simulate as far as I'm concerned."
"The main aim of the Cyanide Studio game is to concentrate more on off the field aspects: player selection, training, facilities, specialist staff, etc. We've also gone deeper into the rugby infrastructure. It's not just All Blacks versus Springboks. The game would not survive without the little clubs providing talent for the Top 16 or the Zurich high-flyers."
Some of the specs make for very impressive reading. Participate in all the major competitions from the 10 National championships to the Super 12, Tri-Nations, Six Nations, European Cups and The World Cup. Choose from over 100 Clubs and 50 National teams (France, UK, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, and many more), and experience 13 authentic 3D stadiums.
Donāt worry if the rules of Rugby leave you bemused. With the Rugby World Cup in full swing and interest high in this sport, Cyanide Studio will provide a tutorial, along with an interface that will be easy to understand, allowing differentiation between positions.
The team is in contact with various national unions, leagues and player representatives across the world to get all the precise facts and info. Should negotiations fail they use town names for teams and some corruption of initial/Christian name/surname for players.
One disappointing factor, which you must allow, is that no given style will be associated with a given team. Style will be a function of player selection.
Allowing and taking into account all the training requirements, train, hone and develop key individuals with rigorous set-up training programs and unleash their full potential on the pitch, it is the tactics that play a very important part in winning.
The manager can set an overall orientation for his team, depending on the opposition or the weather and within that tactics are applied: getting the ball out to the wings; keeping it in with the forwards, kicking for space, etc.
"Clubs will have training facilities such as grounds and equipment such as videos to watch competitors. They can improve results by investing in specific training or medical staff. In theory, the right team with the right facilities and trainer could improve extraordinarily. Players do have a given potential. It would be difficult to train a carthorse into an Epsom winner!"
You can give instructions as the game progresses in real-time, such as substitutions to tired, injured or under performing players that will affect the outcome of the game.
Rugby they say is a manās game and so players can suffer lots of injuries, as was explained.
"Players can suffer bleeding, leading to temporary replacement, minor injuries (strains & sprains) leading to replacement for the remainder of one game or serious injuries (fractures, ligament trouble) meaning lay-offs of several weeks. Stamina levels depend on training sessions completed."
There is some great match footage displayed but a sign that the match is less important than in other games is that each half will last 10 minutes. The match is therefore running at 4X speed.
Joe went on to discuss the intricacies of rugby management as a game as opposed to football.
"As anybody who has played both sports will know, rugby is a game of specialist positions. It is impossible (and now āillegalā) for a centre to play prop, for instance. This is not so with football. Of course you won't see Ryan Giggs playing at the centre of defence, but it is far easier for football players to swap positions. The idea of a utility rugby player does not exist. The specialism of players and positions also means that tactics are honed down to a finer level."
"This can be seen when we compare the football World Cup against the Rugby World Cup. 11 reasonably fit and well-trained football players can hold their own against any national team. One only has to consider the fates of Namibia, Japan or Uruguay to know that the same is not true in rugby."
"So, the specifics of each position and the tactics have been the most difficult parts to program."
Pro Rugby Manager 2004 is all encompassing with so many neat touches to create the full experience. Manage staff and balance the books for the board to maximise profits for your team, realistic tactics and strategies: Select your starting 15, assign tactics and strategies and watch them carry it out. Delve further and come up with your own advanced strategies that promise to deliver limitless tactical gameplay possibilities, even weather effects and plenty more!
Seeing the team appearing to be doing a great job on the management side I posed the final question, seeing as this looks graphically superb that perhaps creating an 'action styled' rugby game could be the next move.
"Given the success of other hardware platforms (PS2, Xbox, ...) it would be unwise not to consider the development of a rugby game for a console. There's just a small question of money, but....ā
