Rugby Union Team Manager 2015

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.

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

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.

I got asked to manage England in the Six Nations and I ended up getting the wooden spoon. I'm Welsh. 11/10. On a serious note though, this has all the potential to be another championship manager success. It's early in development, the graphics aren't pretty and there are a few flaws here and there but if you try to imagine just how many features there actually ARE in this game then the laws of probability say that's always going to happen on a first series game. Hell, even Football Manager 15 still has bugs and I can't begin to even imagine their budget compared. What we have here is ladies and gentleman is a fantastic glimmer of hope that we finally have a lose your life game for people who support a REAL game, Rugby Union. No diving. No tears. No hooligans. The developers are supportive, listen and reply, and I am hoping that this could be the platform for something great. If they incorporated a similar match engine from a game like 'Rugby Dynasty', an online MMO (check it out, it's incredible) then I would probably NEVER leave this game. Bravo developers. Don't quit and leave us with that abomination of Pro Rugby Manager!

Excellent, excellent first effort. It isn't perfect and there are ways it can be improved and given the opportunity of a yearly franchise I am very confident this can become the "Football Manager" of rugby that everyone craves. The menus are tough to navigate until you get used to it, then it becomes a much easier game to get around and there are great levels of detail available. You can make the game as complex or as simple as you like. A very, very positive step in the right direction.

Finally, a rugby title has been released that has some depth and longevity to it. Having been disappointed with previous management titles released this year, I decided to purchase RUTM 2015 to see if this title could deliver and so far I have really enjoyed playing it. As with any management game, it requires a couple of hours to familiarise with the UI and screen layout - And like others have commented, this seemed a little clunky at first, but given time I was able to get used to it without any problems. The number of leagues and players is very impressive. Rugby fans will be pleased to know that both Northern and Southern Hemispheres are both represented, and there is even an editor that allows for players to customise their teams and alter the names of any unlicensed leagues, teams and players. The match engine is intuitive and allows players to engage with their team and issue orders during a match. Adding Team Calls is a neat feature that can really help to change the outcome of a game. The youth development and academy system is also something that I am particularly fond of, and it allows players to create a self-sufficient team that doesn’t cost a ridiculous amount to establish. I think RUTM 2015 has been a promising addition to the management genre and has set the bar for other Rugby games to follow. If you are a Rugby fan I am sure you will enjoy this game. Positive Aspects: * Great player database and leagues to choose from – both Northern and Southern Hemispheres. * Different match engine approach with Team Calls and issuing orders. * Great Youth and Academy system, allows smaller teams to be built up over time. * In game editor which allows for plenty of customisation. * Lots of tactical options and statistics for players to tweak. Negative Aspects: * Slightly clunky UI and menu system. * 3D match engine graphics could be improved upon.

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.

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

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.

Well, having been a big fan of Football Manager - and Management games in general for that matter. I felt that this was one I would have to try. Especially glad I did so now it has been updated for he 2016 season. Despite the clumsy interface that is not very user friendly, this game has some real plus sides. A lot of leagues, and a surprisingly extensive player database. I am enjoying the game with the recent 2016 season update which brings a fully updated player roster with real life transfers to the game and has the newly promoted teams. Another great feature of the game is the Nations Cup game which allows you not only to control a national team and go head to head against all other Rugby countries throughout the world. To break it down quite simply I thoroughly recommend this game to any Union fan. Sure it has the drawback of a clumsy interface but after a while you get used to it and it definitely doesn't detract from how enjoyable and in depth game this is. The extensive database and realism are huge pluses in this game.