User Reviews (1 - 11 of 17)

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WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!?!?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 13
Date: November 28, 2003
Author: Amazon User

What is wrong with you people?!?! This is a great game! So what if the graphics aren't the best? They probably couldn't get them any better because it is packed full of features and good gameplay. After all, gameplay is what counts, right? I mean, would you rather stare at a non-moving good-graphics picture, or play a good game? If you like rugby, then get this game, for the gameplay. Even though the graphics are aren't the best, the players are still noticeable. ~There are over 70 teams and stadiums. ~You can play in a lot of game modes including World Cup, World League, European Trophy, Tour, Super 12, Six Countries, and Tri-Nations. ~There are national teams and a handful of local city teams. So, overall, this game is great! It is just that those people writing those negative reviews are people who don't care about anything but graphics and couldn't care less about gameplay. So get this game, you probably won't be sorry (unless you are a graphic-hungry moron). 5 STARS!

Better than 2001

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 8
Date: November 02, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Anyone who hates this game is nuts cause it isnt worse than Rugby 2001! Its better with new features and improved gameplay. What are y'all, nuts? Probably. So Rugby fans, get this game. There should be an Xbox version though. That would make it a HUGE must own with the powerful Xbox graphics and hardware. Its good enough on PS2 though.

Fantastic.......so what if the graphics are average

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Man I love this game.....the gameplay is so deep and the multiplayer an absolute blast. The set plays are cool and the lineouts rewarding, once you get to grips with them. The running game is the best bit about it...long passes, pop passes to the forwards, etc etc...you can score some incredible tries. If pnly they could be saved to view later. The pace is slower than Rugby 2001 but much more realistic and gives you time to actually see what's going on.

Hopefully this will kick start this franchise and we'll be enyoying Rugby every year. BUY IT!!

"wow, he just him right on the spot!"

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 24, 2005
Author: Amazon User

rugby 2004 is one of the best rugby games ever. from his fresh lush graphics to the realstic movements of the players. The game metions each rugby team with each team member to add to the realism. The game also features execllt action packed gamplay with fun stragey. the game feature several modes including a training mode. the game does not feature online play..but the graphics! from the crystal clear sunshine, to the wonderfull detailed players the graphics is this games strogest strenth. the players mouths even move. there is no music in the game just the crowds roaring and the brithish announcers speaking. the annoucers are acctualing saying plays by plays and metioning players names unlike nfl blitz 2000. again, realism. but a feel so bad when i win because it shows the other team on the ground with their sad puppy eyes..oh well they lose they smose.
GAMPLAY-9.5
GRAPHICS-10
REALISM-10

Great game - poor graphics - missing features

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 12
Date: September 18, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I am from one of the Tri-Nation countries and have played, coached and watched more Rugby than any other sport. This is the first electronic Rugby game that I have ever bought.

I am very impressed with the game engine. It works really well and the game is very true to the real sport.

The scrums, rucks and mauls are awesome and once you get the hang of the orientation of the players, it is a lot of fun to feed the ball all the way down the line and play a really expansive running game.

It is generally pretty difficult to turnover the ball, but then that is pretty representative of the real game.

The training pitch is also pretty good for teaching you how to play, although it doesn't teach you strategy. For that you should read the manual and the on-line Rugby 101 guide on the EASports site.

The game is a lot of fun and I think that it must be awesome in a multi-player environment -- I live in the US now so I have to find someone who knows how to play Rugby to compete with.

That brings me to the negatives:
1) For the most part, the graphics are terrible. I think part of it is that the graphics were done in PAL format and converted to NTSC which never works well. It creates a fuzzy picture. But more than that, the players all seem short and fat. I disagree that you can recognize individual players. George Gregan looks nothing like the real person. Same with Corne Krige and Jonah Lomu. I may be setting the bar very high, but in Madden 2004 (and even 2003) the players and coaches are recognizable. I don't see why EA Rugby could not have used the same techniques to build the characters. On the positive side, the Rugby stadiums are very realistic. Newlands in Cape Town looks like the real thing. So does Murrayfield (the two that I tried playing at).

2) Character movement. The way the characters move is very unrealistic and creates problems with depth of field. In other words, you have no way of knowing whether you are running in the same lane as another player. It also makes kicking drop goals very difficult.

3) Can you say "ON-LINE?" I was really disappointed that the game does not support an on-line mode. I figured that given the World Cup starting in October, they would at least have provided that.

4) Why no EA Sports Bio hookup? This is a feature that all the American sports games are coming out with and I don't understand why they were not added to EA Rugby.

5) Stats!!!! The statistics are terrible. There's no time of possession, scrums for and against won and lost, rucks, mauls, kicking stats, etc at the end of the match. There is just a summary of players and and the number of tries, penalties, etc. Go look at Madden for ideas on how to present the stats.

6) Support for Widescreen TVs. I have a 53" projection HD Widescreen TV that I use to play the game. With Madden I can set the game to display in this format. It is really disappointing that I can't do that with Rugby because you need to be able to see as much of the field as possible.

Having said all that, this is still a really good game and I hope that EA will take it and grow it now. They have the technology in other games. I would strongly recommend it.

Decent Game, But Has Some Flaws

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 03, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The gameplay in this game is very good, except repeated things happening. Like the commentary, they have 1 line for everything. If someone gets tackled, it will say "what a hard hit" every time.It's kind of a slow paced game, but there are accational fast breaks, too. Another thing that is repeated is the gameplay. The same thing always happens over and over. Plus, the kicking is a little weird.The meter doesn't stop when you press the button. I gave it a three because it is pretty fun to play.The world cup mode is actually pretty realistic.Overall, it's a fun game for a kid, but i don't think a real rugby fan would enjoy it.

An interesting introduction to Rugby

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: November 09, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Living in the United States, I had never seen a rugby match before. The closest I have gotten was an Australian Rules Football match about a decade ago on the now-defunct SportsChannel here in the states.

I had seen Rugby 2004 sitting on the shelf used at a local store for some time and kept avoiding buying it, even though I as somewhat fascinated by the thought. Finally, I decided that I would go ahead and pick it up.

The game is very interesting and engaging to me, but given that I had never seen a rugby match before, a lot of my engagement was learning the rules and mechanics of the game. Nevertheless, the game is quite fun, and a very enjoyable change of pace from American Gridiron Football.

On the positive side, the game itself is just plain fun, and as many others have mentioned, the depth of gameplay is great. You have the ability to play in several different tournaments and master the field, there is a really nice practice pitch, and the stadiums are very nicely recreated, right down to the ad-boards just out of touch (I love seeing the Weet-Bix and INXS ads! Just great!).

The graphics remind me of stuff I saw many years ago on Madden, but the sheer fun of the game makes me forget about it. Perhaps the most annying feature is the announcers because they keep saying the same thing over... and over... and over... and over... and the conversion still to come.

While I recommend this game to people who are interested in learning about rugby, I hear that the 2005 version is much better, so I plan to get it soon.

As an aside, this game served as such a good intro to rugby that I did a websearch to find the nearest rugby game to me... which kicked off less than 24 hours after I bought the game!

Don't bother

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: October 05, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I went to the store to get Tiger Wood's 2004 but I saw this game and decided to get it seeing as how much I like rugby. This game isn't playable. It bites. And the worst part is, I can't return it. Do not waste your time on this cheap looking cheap playing piece of worthless crap.

What a total dissapointment - EA should be ashamed!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: September 20, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I like countless other rugby fans, have been counting down the days to the release of this game, and was shocked when I turned it on to find that all it is, is an updated version of the old Jonah Lomu Rugby game that came out in the mid 90's. This game is far from what EA Sports tried to make it out to be. The pre-release videos, are not even close to the actual game, it is a joke! The graphics are SNES like, and the game play is horrible. This game has no pickup and play ability, and after 5 hours of playing, I still was more than lost. I love rugby, and despite its many flaws, I actually enjoyed the first release of EA Rugby, I even bought a copy of the PC version from Australia. This game in my opinion is worse than the first. I give it 2 stars because at least the Super 12 teams are there, but not being able to play with them does little good!?!? The most fundamental of things like passing, in this game is rudimentary and unintelligible --- passes never go to the intended player, and creating a back line movement is next to impossible. Boy, what a disappointment! EA Sports should be ashamed and embarrassed!!! I know for a fact that gamers in actual rugby playing nations are not going to stand for this substandard rubbish...

EA Rugby 2004

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: October 04, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I really enjoyed EA's last rugby game despite its limitations, particularly the lack of teams and competitions. Consequently, I was really looking forward to this one. What a joke. This game is truly unplayable. I thought I was missing something because I could never get going in this game despite being very proficient in the last one. Then I read the reviews and realized that I wasn't alone in my dismay. I just wish I would have seen them before I purchased it. What a waste of money. I would have thought that a next generation game would be superior to its predecessor but this seems like a version made in the Pong era.

Don't buy.

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