ok my 3c worth
Firstly it's quite enjoyable. the gameplay for the most part is pretty good and the mechanics have improved, the players dont seem to be sliding on ice skates any more. The AI has improved and you'll have the comp putting in bombs, grubbers and chips especially close to your line.
from what i've seen they've got the rules correct. so far two things which have pleased me is the advantage rule and who gets the ball back if it goes dead from the kickoff. if you knock on and the comp picks it up and knocks on it'll play the first knock on. if you manage to kick the ball dead from the kick off you'll get the ball back from a drop out.
the fullbacks seem more aggressive with players who make a break however they still seem scared of the grubber kick and dont attack it like they should.
things i like
-40/20's feel very satisfying
-the controller's controls for stepping, fending etc are pretty good. players with no attacking skills like dallas johnson wont run over people or step around them whereas agile backs will glide past the opposition
- i like the post try animations
- jersey's seem pretty spot on. i'm sure people will nit pick over little bits but rom what i've seen sponsors and designs are fairly good (at least by 09 standards)
- options for attack and defense. they're still a bit fiddly but you can set your defense to be aggressive, send you're wingers and fullbacks for the kick, set up your attack to be deeper or flat or set up for an attacking kick. in saying that i dont know why second rowers are sometimes the ones who drop back for the kick...
the bit which annoy me:
- the collisions still dont feel solid. play nhl to see what i mean, when you hammer
someone you really feel it.
- for the most part you cant do two man tackles, if the comp gets to the attacker before you do your player will 'ghost' through the attacker sending him past the tackle. occasionally a player will be held but not tackled and a second man can come in to finish them off but two players going into a tackle will usually result in one player ghosting.
- the markers are pretty much useless, you cnat move them for a few seconds and the dummy half will just scoot past you, although dummy half running doesnt make massive metres like rpevious RL games which is good.
- goal line defense is almost nonexistant. players dont cram in around the play the ball so the dummy half often just passes to the nearest player who dives over
- defense lines from scrums is all over the place, they either mark up well or you end up with a 3 man overlap from a scrum -how the f**k does that happen?
- your players will still make a play for balls bouncing into touch which usually results in you taking it out
- loose balls are pretty much a lottery, i've had players run over the top of bouncing balls and miss catching bombs. i guess this makes it more like real life but it does feel like it takes the skill out of positioning your player
-on the more difficult skill levels the comp just plays touch footy around and it becomes a button mash to hope whoever you're using tackles someone nearby.
things which are missing?
-i thought in rl2 when you pushed both triggers in attack you threw the ball to your kicker/playmaker i dont think thats the case here. petero does not make a good kicker....
- coin toss dammit i wnat to choose whetehr to catch or receive...i know it's not a big thing but its a pretty simple feature.
whilst it still needs a lot of polishing RL3 is a fairly good game. i was surprised how much i've palyed it in the past few days and even between doing other stuff i keep picking it up "for just one game". i havent tried the wiimotes and imagine they'd be useless but for the most part the controller does the job although f**ked if i can remember all the combinations of buttons to do certain kicks.
i recomend anyone who seriously likes their footy to pick this up and give it a go. if you expect to be playing a real life game you'll be dissapointed but as far as video games versions of league go this ones pretty damn fun
