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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.

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!

Offendingly awful and despicable game!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: December 17, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is trash. I am a huge fan of rugby, an ex-player, and a current coach. This game is so terrible I gave mine away as a joke to a friend of mine and he thanked me over and over because he had considered buying this electronic heap of poor intentions.

I don't know what other people are talking about who say the gameplay is fantastic--it's utterly awful. If you have ever played a game like "Winning Eleven 6," you know how smoothly games can flow that are supposed to. Sports like football and golf do not apply because they are supposed to have constant stoppages anyway. This game is embarrassingly piss-poor.

Who cares how many teams there are or what players it includes? The game is so boring to play that it could have aliens with frogs hopping out of their backsides and it would be more interesting to play. The rucks are slow, the lineout and scrum calls take forever, and there is no opportunity to call plays in the loose, which is the way the game should be played. Everything about this game is nauseatingly pathetic, especially given that EA Sports was behind it. They should hang their heads in shame.

Save your money and buy yourself anything else. I'm trying to think of a game that was a greater disappointment or waste of money, but I cannot. If you own this game, send it to anyone who is thinking about buying it--they will thank you.

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.

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.

Bitter disappointment...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: September 29, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Despite looking forward to this game's release for a long time (like many rugby fans), this is, with the best will in the world, a total waste of time.

My primary reaction is that this is unlike any other EA Sports game I can think of. The basic hallmarks of an EA game are not there - graphics, animation, gameplay.

It's a pity because the game had promised so much - and in terms of having the licenses, teams, players etc it is a fantastic update of the first rugby game. Unfortunately it is unbearable to play. The players look wrong and move unnaturally. The control system is frustrating. It is hard to co-ordinate your team. I could go on.

I'm sure with some more time, this could have been an excellent rugby game. My view is that it has probably been rushed through to be in the shops in time for the world cup.

Here's hoping that EA will be back with a decent stab at a rugby game in the not too distant future. My advice would be to wait, and not waste your cash on this.

The worst sports game ever

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: October 04, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Lets face it - the game of rugby is quick and intuative - not so this neolithic piece of software. Jonah Lomu rugby from Codemasters was a much more playable game if a little unrealistic - this is just tedious, tedious etc. The joy of quick passes is impossible and it just is so unlike the real game as to offend. I can handle the graphics being as poor as they are if there was a tiny bit of gameplay there - but no. I will be taking my copy back as they have forgotten to put a game of any form in it. Stick to the football and golf games, theres more fun to be had watching Bristol play than play this.

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...

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.

Gameplay rivaling super techmobowl

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 21, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I tried to listen to the good reviews, paid $20 for this game.
What a waste. I enjoyed rugby 2002, and thought this had to be better. How wrong I was. I just hope whoever sees me selling this nearly new item on half.com doesn't read this

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