Rugby

The Good
There is not very much to like about this game at all, it's technicaly an improvement over the last rugby game from this combination (EA Sports and Creative Assembly) Rugby World Cup '95 but is not as fun to play as Codemasters 'Jonah Lomu Rugby'. It has partialy accurate World Cup squads with almost all players being called by their name and a subs bench with extended squads to call on.

The Bad
This game was delayed for 2 years and there is still so much wrong and missing it's not funny. There are only 3 camera options, the sideline camera can be out run by nearly every player, the action camera revolves around the play to sit behind the team in control of the ball (like the NFL) but as controls are ALL relative to the camera postion, your attempt to win a ruck can be thwarted by the camera spinning off and your hold being turned into a push or into giving up completely. The isometric camera is almost the best except it is zoomed out so far it's almost impossible to use effectively. Most of the stadiums are very loose copies of the real things which is very dissapointing. As the World Cup progresses, instead of making the other teams play better, the game makes your team worse, this is completely the wrong thing to do. There is no create or edit a player so the dozen or so players who have incorrect details cannot be changed. The commentary is fairly dissapointing and can't keep up with the play at all. Substitutes do not have correct jerseys (16-22) instead they instantly swap with the player they are replacing, you are not told how fatigued a player is, you cannot tell how long a player is injured for or if they are even injured until you try to substitute them. You can't substitute halfbacks for anything other than half backs, if a half back gets injured and you substitute someone from another position to replace them it is impossible to remove that player from that possition. There is no sidestep at all, this is a major part of rugby and a major attacking weapon in the best players armoury, this is an unexcuseable ommission.

The Bottom Line
Absolutely pathetic, avoid this game and it's PS2 version (Rugby 2002) at all costs, no company like EA should be allowed to sell this sub standard rubbish, especialy when they produce gems like Madden 2002. Go pick up Jonah Lomu Rugby from the bargain bin and never look back.