I have played a few hours of this now, personally a little disappointed. I find it almost unplayable in its current state, that being said i do have some positives.
First, the visuals are great, and love the simple ui in the menus. The sound is also great, the crowd noise is particularly good. I like the simple controls for goal kicking, lineouts, i always hated the ‘mini game’ concept i think these should stay simple and player ratings should effect the outcome. I also like the fact you are taking alot from league live 4, i personally have spent alot of time playing that game and for the most part its very well done.
I wont repeat all the bugs and glitches that are obviously present, im sure everyone can see them. Id like to think they will be fixed.
The passing and receiving need work, that was actually one feature from league live 4 that needed improvement. Slow, loopy passes kill the game and the players receiving the ball static kills flow. I like the idea of pass selection instead of the ‘press and hold for distance’ method. However it currently doesnt work and the player ai needs to be improved, adding in the running lines/set plays etc (again, this was used in league live 4).
The league tackle animations need to be reduced, or the addition of many more union style tackles. I feel with the current tackle animations, its hard to make meters with crash ball. Having a big centre, or back row player crash a defensive line to give you front foot ball is huge part of the modern game.
I set up a few ai games, just to see how they play against each other. Im aware this is in an experimental state, but the ai currently is braindead. 1 up passes, going nowehere or even backwards, until they are in their own 22 and decide to kick. There is no creativity. 90% of the games ended 0-0, and the few that did end with scores came from mistakes.
Player positioning seems mental at the moment, again, im aware its experimental, but the 9 never being at a ruck and the 15 never at the back to receive the ball from kicks are pretty basic things.
Im pretty optimistic that this game will be great, the building blocks are there. Steal the good from the rugby challenge, rugby 06/08, world cup 2011, rugby 22 and league live games and i think we will be happy.