Rugby Union Team Manager 2015 Reviews

actually a very good game. i own both rugby manager games and this one is far better. the inital interface isnt the best, but within a hour you have mastered it. the transfer market is far to easy, ie every single player you put up for sale, will sell within a day or two and within a season or two, its too easy to get the best squad to conquer the league. ie a div2 team (cinderford) i had top of the prem in the 4th season i think there are lots of areas the game could be improved in, and expect most will for the next version but like i said, if your looking for a rugby manager game - this is the best out there.

So this is a good game! As others have said the menu takes some getting used to but apart from that it is very enjoybale. There are however still quite a few AI issues that I feel at the moment means its not worth the full £30 maybe £20. However the dev is very good at adding updates so hopefully this will be sorted. The AI issues noted so far are; When computer AI kicks to your full-back he will 99% of the time kick the ball out on the full from the 22. Despite being under no pressure. When your own fly-half kicks the chase is always horrendous and if their 15 runs at you he will normally do very well. THis is a real pain as the second issue is that turn-overs from rucks are extremely rare and I have Sam Warburton playing 7 every game!!!!!! I have also on instances driven the oppostion back from my 22 to theirs without gaining possession The issue with this is that the computer can have possession for almost an entire 1/2 especially if you win it back to just knock on! More turnovers are essential. The game also doesn't notice things like the touch line when running or when a player is blatantly isolated. For some reason when it gets to 80 or 40 mins even if you are 5m out from opp try line your fly half will kick the ball dead. Not useful when you are on 3 trys and need the 4th for a bonus point. When players make a clean break through the line they will often stop and pass to a heavily marked player rather than continuing themselves (this has cost me several games/bonus points) or they will not give the ball when there is a ridiculous overlap that is guarenteed a score. It is very intermittent as to whether a player will try to but the ball down between the sticks after crossing the line unapposed, There also seem to be some really basic back moves that seem to end up with a try. Especially as some defenders run all sorts of crazy lines that completely miss all the attackers. Finally the back row never break off the scrum. This ties into the point above, especially during a blindside move as it creates a ridiculous overlap. SO in conclusion this is a very good game and I do enjoy it greatly. However with the bugs/glitches mentioned above I don't believe it is currently worth it's premium price as the bugs glitches do somewhat ruin it, especially when games are tight and you feel like the computer is just cheating you. Edit: So as mentioned above the dev has issued an update that introduces more turnovers etc to the game that does give it a better feel. There are still of course other bugs present still but the developer is continuing to update the game and is committed. If you are considering purchasing this game, stop considering and start buying you will get a lot out of it!

RUTM is still a good game regardless of the negative reviews. It is far better than PRM. Sure, I agree with most of the previous comments, but its is a fair first game effort. Its not as polished to FM standards yet. But if the developers listen to Rugby gamers, it will surely improve with patches.. Don't allow these negative comments stop you buying this game. You won't regret getiing a dud. I'd recommend this game to any serious Rugby fan.

Feels less modern than the last rugby management game I bought which was released 10 years ago. Player database for my chosen team was pretty sketchy, suggested formations looked nothing like what would ever actually be picked. The editor allows you to fix this relatively easily but it's a fairly big investment in time just to get to the point where you can start playing. Game engine is pretty shakey too. The most common penalty seems to be for high tackles and I'm yet to see a penalty given for scrum or breakdown infringements. Play generally won't move on at a breakdown until the scrum half has arrived (unless they're in the ruck) regardless of how long it takes them to get there. Players make clean breaks and then pass to players in worse positions. And the cherry on the cake? It's just crashed with no reason given. I certainly wouldn't pay full price for this if I had the choice at this stage.

Interesting first attempt, and given time I reckon this could become a really strong series for rugby fans. The basic premise is pretty solid, and the functionality is pretty in depth so it should keep you engaged for a pretty long time. Particular highlights include the colts system - being able to bring young players through and shape them into world class players is what will keep me playing in the long term, and the player stats are generally not too bad, with the editor there for those which are questionable. For me the biggest negative is the interface, which is frankly a bit of a mess and needs some serious thought going into it. The game really doesn't flow very well, and there is a pretty steep learning curve to be overcome. I've also noticed that the number of knock ons and penalties in a game is incredibly high, not sure if I'm doing something wrong but surely you shouldn't have to manually give a command to make players release the ball at every ruck, I'm currently seeing about 10 penalties against me per game for this and its beyond frustrating. I would definitely recommend this game, as it is a very strong first effort which will only get better with incremental updates and I hope the developers will listen to the feedback they receive

Great first effort and the best rugby manager game by a long shot. The interface takes a bit of getting used to but once you find your way around there is a good bit to keep you interested and lots of team and player depth. I'm a rugby fan playing Football Manager for years hoping for a game like this. It's a bit rough around the edges but it's a good stand alone manager sim and hopefully just the start.

I truly looked forward to this game; a genuine attempt to get that FM manager-feel into Rugby i thought. It didn't work. The detail is there, it's just held together by such a poor interface and match engine,and you only get a limited amount of seasons. I t feels like you're playing with a huge amount of data being managed by a spectrum. It's got that kind of 'nostalgic' feel to it, without ever realising that much more is expected of a game these days. If you have to get it, wait for sale.

As i am a regular football manager user and a great fan of rugby i decided to give this game a try instead of the pro rugby manager game which was a flop. Other than the graphics and the clustered UI i am pleased with the performance of the game. - The database is very good; able to edit players and transfers before the game starts. - The ingame instructions are similar to football manager. - I really rate the ingame "plays", which you see your team perform. -However this game could have a option for a higher resolution and a more simple user interface when selecting clubs and club details. In conclusion i would rate the game 7/10 as it is a great basis for a first attempt and i hope more will be released in the future.

About 30 hours in I feel like I can make a review for this game. Being an avid Rugby Union fan as soon as I saw this on the steam market I bought it. Initially the game wasn't great, the menu navigation and UI wasn't amazing, but after playing around with it for a while you get the hang of it and are able to move between sections easily. Whilst the graphics aren't great I don't think that's what this game is about. The in game player base is awesome with great depth. The match mechanics are okay, not a big fan but if you get the hang of the plays and what not it can be quite fun. So yeah that's a broad look at the game. The killers for me however are more minute. There's a few big problems IMO. First and foremost is the unrealistic simulated games. You can have a team of 'World Class' players and lose to a team of 'Nationals'. Look I know Rugby and I know you can't count anyone out and what not but this lead to a lot of head scratching from me. Some players are not up to date; e.g. Duane Vermeulan was argueably the best player in the world this year and he's rated as 'International'. So yeah there's a few cases like that, some players over rated and other underated. Which once again left me scratching my head. Sometimes I felt as though my team simply sucked for no reason. I would have an awesome back line, they would have a crap one, set my tactics to play a more expansive game, and strangely, I lost. More head scratching... Overall though it's a fun game to play, if you're not a rugby fan, don't buy this unless it's on sale, I don't feel like you'll get $40 worth of satisfaction. I'll continue to play this game and learn more about the mechanics (still learning!). Cons - Confusing/clustered UI - Unrealistic results - Some players not up to date - Bad graphics - One or two crashes - Players brought up through the 'Colts' and 'Academy' when selected for international duty don't have a name unless edited Pros - In depth teams - Aweosme development of your players through your teams system - Accurate coaching system

Positives: - Player and Staff database is extensive A lot of youth players, attributes are quite clear how good a player is or will be - Lots of leagues Negatives: - UI is not user friendly: Navigating through different pages and what actions can be done is not intuitive - Match engine: It's not very clear what's going on in the way of stats or info, quirks such as making a clean break with all defenders beaten and then making a pass to a player with a defender right on top of him, running towards the touch line in the goal area with no defenders around - Transfers: Not very realistic, a percentage needs to be met for the player to sign and is simply increased with more salary or contract duration with no consideration of which club the player is moving from and to Overall: So far it's not very enjoyable to play ============================================================================= After playing a few more hours it does get slightly more enjoyble. The not so great interface has a learning curve to it, which is not somehting you really want for a sim manager. Better than PRM, but I wouldn't recommend it at its release price.