Rugby Challenge 4
- February 3, 2021
- Wicked Witch
"Rugby Challenge 4" offers enhanced gameplay and improved animations using the Unreal Engine. The game features set plays with 10 different moves, the addition of Women's Sevens Rugby with 16 international teams, and an enhanced player creator. Realistic AI formations, improved player positioning, and new camera angles provide an immersive rugby experience. Cross-platform Fanhub allows for sharing, downloading, and rating of players and teams.
Reviews
- RC4 is a significant improvement over previous titles, offering better graphics, smoother player movement, and new gameplay features like set plays.
- The game is fun to play, especially with friends, and has a decent variety of clubs and modes, making it enjoyable for rugby fans.
- Despite its flaws, RC4 is currently the best rugby game available, with an active modding community that can enhance the experience.
- The game feels like a reskin of Rugby Challenge 3, with minimal improvements and many persistent bugs, leading to disappointment among players.
- AI behavior is often frustrating, with teammates making poor decisions and unrealistic gameplay mechanics that detract from the overall experience.
- Graphics and animations are subpar compared to other sports games, and the game is considered overpriced for the quality and content provided.
- graphics45 mentions
- 31 % positive mentions
- 49 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many players expressing disappointment, particularly in comparison to Rugby Challenge 3, which they feel has superior visuals. While some users noted that the game looks good at higher settings and praised certain graphical elements like collision effects, others reported issues with blurriness and performance, leading to frustration with frame rates. Overall, while there are improvements over previous titles, many players believe the graphics do not meet modern standards and could be significantly better.
“Its a great game and the reality and graphics are amazing, the game is so smooth and so fun to play alone or with friends or against each other.”
“The graphics of the game are excellent.”
“Graphics look good in 4k but could be better, gameplay is smooth and rules are interpreted correctly.”
“Initially I regretted my purchase because the game's graphics are pretty bad, and I felt as if even Rugby Challenge 3's graphics were better.”
“The graphics of this game are so bad compared to Challenge 3. Overall, I love rugby games; I have them all, but this one has very poor graphics. I hope they do something about it soon, or it's time for a new rugby game.”
“Graphics would have been unacceptable a decade ago. The AI is as broken as it could be; you'll inexplicably drop the ball at every try attempt, and I can guarantee your team won't even try to win.”
- gameplay34 mentions
- 24 % positive mentions
- 59 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
Gameplay in the game has received mixed reviews, with many players criticizing the AI behavior, unrealistic mechanics, and significant gameplay balance issues, such as incorrect scoring rules and poor team coordination. While some appreciate the smooth controls and new features like the replay system, others find the overall experience frustrating and unplayable without adjustments. Despite its flaws, the game offers fun modes that can keep players engaged for hours, but it still requires substantial improvements to meet fan expectations.
“The fact that it has a lot of gameplay features is great, as well as the new replay system that I sorely missed in Rugby Challenge 3.”
“Gameplay and controls are probably the smoothest in the series so far.”
“Needs work on various gameplay mechanics, but overall a decent game with fun game modes that will keep you busy for plenty of hours.”
“Even with altering the gameplay, it is almost unplayable.”
“Gameplay is absolutely horrendous and the AI is more incompetent than some of the things people tweet on Twitter.”
“Some basics which illustrate the lack of thought: a) penalties are worth 2 points; b) conversions worth 3 points; c) if you play as a back, you can't control the set-piece, and watch your NPC teammates win a max of 30% of your own ball; d) the non-player characters on your team behave erratically and run in random directions with random passes; e) your team will always commit a maximum of 3 players to a ruck, and late.”
- stability6 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
The game suffers from persistent glitches and bugs that have carried over from previous releases, alongside some new issues, leading to a frustrating experience for players. While it performs well on high-end PCs, the overall stability remains a concern, with controls described as tense and repetitive, potentially causing discomfort during extended play.
“It runs great on my PC in 4K resolution, RTX 2080 Ti, and i7 CPU.”
“The same glitches I experienced from RC1/2/3 are still present, along with a handful of new ones.”
“Challenge your eyes and mind in discovering tons of other bugs and glitches while constantly wondering if things are supposed to work like that. You might feel the real pain of actual rugby players with game elements and controls that are so tense and repetitive on a controller that you could end up with sore wrists, explaining to your mom the next day.”
“The same glitches I experienced from RC1/2/3 are still present, along with a handful of new ones.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game is widely criticized for its lack of optimization, with multiple users highlighting the need for significant improvements in this area.
“Needs some serious optimization.”
“Needs some serious optimization.”
- story2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 100 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The story aspect of the game is largely centered around the ongoing struggle to find a worthy successor to EA's Rugby 08, with players expressing disappointment in the current offerings while acknowledging that this game is the best option available for rugby enthusiasts at the moment.