This was the opening statement from the noticeably proud Tru Blu Games’ representative, Billy Foster at the recent press and retailer Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge presentation hosted by Megarom Interactive.
We were invited for a closer look ahead of the game’s arrival. Special guest and legendary Springbok World Cup winner, Percy Montgomery added to the presentation, answered questions and signed autographs to add to the ‘rugga’ mood.
A rugby game for all?
Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge is in development by Wellington based games developer Sidhe and published by Sydney based Home Entertainment Suppliers (HES) under their Tru Blu Games label.
The game will be released as Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge in EU and PAL territories, All Blacks Rugby Challenge in New Zealand, and Wallabies Rugby Challenge in Australia. Licensed teams include the All Blacks, the Qantas Wallabies, the USA Eagles, Tri Nations, Bledisloe Cup, Super Rugby teams, Aviva Premiership Rugby, TOP 14 Orange, RaboDirect PRO12, ITM Cup, and Ranfurly Shield, amongst other licensed teams. We can look forward to real-time commentary by New Zealand Sky TV veterans, Grant Nisbett and Justin Marshall.
Novices needn’t worry as a deep tutorial mode was included covering everything from the basics to the most advanced aspects that are unique to Rugby Union rugby. Once you get through the deep tutorial modes you can go at it alone or online with up to eight players [four per console versus four per console]. You can even scrub up on your tutorials in the loading screens as the tutorial menus are available there… a nice touch.
A lot of emphasis was put into the difficulty levels – there are four levels ranging from very easy to a difficult or hard level. “Hard is hard,” explained Foster to reassure the ‘hardcore’ rugby fans who mostly agree that previous rugby titles were too easy even on the most difficult level. Foster explained how even after hours of testing he had a tough time on the most difficult level.
Depth and Variety
Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge features the most in-depth customising module I have seen in a sport game. You can give your created player anything from cauliflower ears to a pot belly. Every last basic feature can be further tweaked to create your individual. If you are not happy with the players’ skill levels you can tweak their individual skills. The customising aspect doesn’t stop there either as you can tailor-make your competition modes, choosing every aspect of the competition to your liking. The studio’s motto of Rugby Challenge being a total ‘rugby game’ seems to be an apt one going by the abundance of features and modes on offer.
Career mode will include a 13-season franchise mode, including 93 teams and 31 stadiums to play at. The developers got player and team ratings from the real-life teams and did not allocate attributes or skills based on their own opinions. This could only help with balancing out the various teams’ skill levels. You can trade players into which ever teams you like to create your own teams and pop them into leagues, which you can again customise.
Online or multiplayer modes will give you a ‘quick game’ option which will randomly search for an opponent, or you can set up your own game through your friends-list. If you set up a custom game, you will be able to choose every last detail for the match. You will not be able to take you tweaked players online, so their skill level will be set to default. The online leader-boards list the top 50 players, your last 10 opponents’ ranking and your friends ranking. Unfortunately the developers chose not to include an online league component due to the admin difficulties.
Billy Foster ironically pointed out to us that while this is not a Rugby World Cup game, because the New Zealand and Australia components are full licensed, all the stadiums that will be played in the World Cup feature in Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge. The rest of the famous rugby stadiums that feature that aren’t licensed, were named so that fans will recognise them i.e. ‘Lofters’ will be something like Pretoria. So to the licensed players’ likeliness and looks are more true to their real life component than with the non-licensed ones.
Bonus features include a ‘Rugby Store’ where you can spend you hard earned XP or ‘Rugby Dollars’ on videos of the man himself, Jonah Lomu and the making of the game amongst other cool bits. For the Lomu obsessed, you can even play as a team where every position is filled with by Jonah Lomu.
When asked about any future DLC plans Foster replied, “We’re thinking about it, that is the way games are going.” Foster also pointed out the obvious DLC updates would be to rosters updates, but you can do it yourself in the editing mode. So there are no set updates scheduled for now.
So will it win rugby fans over?
Rugby fans will surely empathise with me and understand that as a fan of the sport I am a little sceptical about any upcoming rugby games based on what we’ve had in the past. I would have to think hard and far back to remember a title that made a consummate argument for a worthy rugby title. The titles in the past have generally been a let-down and have failed to capture the massive technical aspect of the sport. As a matter of fact, the last rugby game I can remember that didn’t totally frustrate me was actually the previous Jonah Lomu title – and that was a long, long time ago.
From what I saw, Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge looks to have the substance to have a fighting chance of delivering a rugby game that could win fans over. The basics look well designed, the depth in game modes and other tailoring aspects are there, and it was even born in the right place.
That said I will reserve my verdict until I have had a bunch of hours with it – to see if all that substance continues through the more technical aspects of the sport that I crave. I must admit though, from what I have seen I am optimistic.
*Special thanks to Tru Blu Games’ Billy Foster for the insightful presentation, thanks to Percy Montgomery for adding to the experience, and lastly to the team from Megarom for putting this all together*
