Oh, Rugby 25, I had such high hopes for you, which in hindsight, was naive on my part. My history with rugby games stretches all the back to Jonah Lomu Rugby on the PlayStation 1.
In the years since, I have played all the Rugby World Cup games that have come out, which have been either really average or godawful. There is also my infamous review of Rugby 18 on this site, which I scored a very rare 1/10.
Now, seven years on, I’m here to review Rugby 25 for all my sins.
Graphics and Licenses
Possibly the biggest compliment I can give Rugby 25 is that the graphics are actually pretty good. The pedigree Big Ant Studios have developed over the years is definitely on show here.
The players look more like their real-world counterparts than ever before as previously, they looked like generic video game characters. Now, we can actually tell the Owen Farrells from the Maro Itojes.
Alongside the better-looking player models, the recreation of the stadiums and kits is also on point, and the developers need to be commended for this. While the stadiums do have real names (minus any sponsors), once you do get into the game, they do all look remarkably similar, but I suppose that is the curse with any sports game.
The other major compliment I have to give Rugby 25 is that they have secured so many leagues and national team licences from all over the world that you could spend hours playing as each individual team. Also, I can’t say I know the teams of the Canadian Rugby League, so this game is a good way to get to know the teams from all over the world.
Gameplay
While I have spent the first half of this review praising the game, now is the time for the negative. As I haven’t played a rugby game in a while, I thought I’d stick the difficulty to normal. The opposition’s defence attacked my forward line like trained Marines, and it took so long to hear the ping of the trophy for scoring a try.
After this, I thought I’d lower the difficulty, but even then, it did not seem to change a thing. Just for posterity’s sake, I then chucked it up higher, and it honestly felt no different, no matter the team I used and no matter the opposition I came up against.
Then we actually come to play the game. From the scrums to the rucks, to the lineouts, it honestly feels like this game is still in the beta phase. The opposition has this weird ability to just sprint like Usain Bolt past my team and easily score tries, whereas when I run with actually fast players, I easily get caught by opposition defenders. Also, every single play is no more than one or two passes long as the animations are so slow that I think the other player can watch an episode of a Netflix show before actually receiving the ball.
The gameplay for scrums, rucks, and lineouts is awful. The button combinations just make no sense, and weirdly, the computer can easily steal the ball back when in a ruck, but it’s so much harder when I try to do the same thing. Lineouts are poorly optimised and, again, suffer from a similar downfall as standard passing; they are just so slow.
Conclusion
Honestly, Rugby 25 feels like such a missed opportunity, which is such a shame. The work the developers have done here is honestly commendable. The graphics are superb, and I had high hopes when I picked up the controller. Then everything fell apart. From the rage-inducing gameplay to the dreadfully stale commentary, I felt so bad for Big Ant.
They have, in the past, produced some decent sports games that might not look the best but do play a lot better. I think with this developer, they are either producing games that look decent or play decent. An out-there sports analogy I can use here is to look at Brentford FC this season. At the start of the season, Brentford could not buy a win on the road, but at home, they were unbeaten. Then, in December, the away form picked up, but Brentford has not won a game at home since then.
That is Big Ant in a nutshell: Once they solve one problem, it seems they lose what they did well before. Maybe with updates (and so far, I have seen updates come thick and fast since release), the gameplay can improve, but for now, I’d wait for a massive price drop before picking this one up.
Developer: Big Ant Studios
Publisher: Nacon
Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC
Release Date: 13th February 2025
