MATCH DAY
So, when you start off a game, you’re well out of season, which gives you plenty of time to muck about with the players training programs, start on sorting out your facilities, send your scouts out on the hunt and all the behind the scenes stuff that goes on at a rugby club other than play the game. All of this stuff is important, but the real guts of PRM2 is the matches, after all, it’s why you’re playing isn’t it?
You’ve got three choices as to how to how to go through a match, 2D, 3D and Simulation. We’ll discard the simulation mode because, to be honest, it’s about as much fun as a heavy cold and leaves you feeling the same afterwards. Certainly, purists might prefer this mode as all it does is figure out the two teams stats for the fielded players, throw in a bit of randomness for chance and then give you a result… wow. Sorry if I’m sounding a bit down on it, and I know that it’s there for those who will holler like a baby if it wasn’t, but believe me, for the mainstream gamer, this is one to avoid. I guess that if you are really unlucky and have a 2meg video card, then simulation takes the worry out of frying your system trying to run any complex graphics at all.
The 2D game fares a little better, as this is a top down view of the pitch. You don’t get any of the fancy stadium backdrops and all that jazz and you lose some of the control you have over your team that you’d get if you were in 3D mode, but it might be a good idea for a new player to try this mode out a few times to get a feel for the games mechanics. Having said that, the control you do have is fairly comprehensive, allowing you to adjust your teams aggressiveness, check each players condition and see how lenient the ref is being, as just a few of the things you can do.
In the 3D mode, the game comes into its own. You’ve got all the options from the 2D mode as well as plenty more. You can manage each individual player on the fly, giving them set orders to carry out such as go for a drop kick, run to the centre, mangle the opposition etc. etc. Camera control is very easy, with either the mouse or arrows keys providing movement around the pitch and the function keys shortcut to different views.
But as in the 2D mode, your manager skills really come to the fore when play is interrupted. For line-outs, scrums and penalties you can tell your team what you want them to do and what tactic to go for afterwards. So tell the hooker on the line out to throw to number 2, then ruck before handing off to the backs who’ll miss the third man, cause an overlap and go for try line. As complicated as that sounds, it’s all selectable from a set of pre-prepared plays that you choose with a mouse click… easy. And if that’s not working, how about telling your guys to get a little rough and intimidate the opposition… it happens, so why not have it in the game… it’s all here if you want it.
Once the match is over you then you get interviewed by the press, click on a few answers and then jump in the Jag and hurtle back to the club to sort out everything ready for the next match. And if all that weren’t enough, you can try and qualify for a variety of tournaments and cups, just to keep you on your toes.
