EA SPORTS Rugby 2004 – PS2 – Review

To Americans, football is
the pigskin sport.  To Europeans, football is soccer (soccer is called football
over there).  Their version of gridiron action is Rugby, a hard-hitting sport
that puts the "ugh" in tough.  It’s taking time, but Rugby is slowly making its
way to North American shores.  As a sport, any sport, continues to grow in
popularity, it’s only natural that game developers and publishers will be ready
to release a game that captures its magic.  If the NFL and NCAA football games
weren’t enough for you, EA has brought us another variation: Rugby 2004.

Statistically, Rugby 2004
has got the goods.  More than 1,500 players have been licensed for your gaming
pleasure, along with 62 world teams.  The United States are here, as well as
Canada,
Russia, Japan, and Australia, not to mention all of the popular and hugely
successful European teams.  Go British Isles!

The camera angles are
more like a soccer game than football.  The standard angle is a side-view, but
you can change it to one of several different top-down angled views.  There are
a lot of players to cram into one screen, so the camera can’t zoom in very far.
(Technologically it could, but the developers obviously didn’t want it to.)

In-game controls are an
important part of any game, but are especially crucial to sports titles, which
work hard to emulate a real-life game.  Since rugby is different from football,
Rugby 2004’s controls are very different from Madden 2004.  Some changes occur
when holding the ball, but the general controls stay the same.  The most pressed
button on the Dual-Shock 2 controller (X) is dedicated to punting and
drop-kicking.  Perform a hand-off by tapping the CIRCLE button.  Grubber kicks
and the up-and-under are executed using the SQUARE and TRIANGLE buttons,
respectively.

While holding the ball
you can throw left or right passes by using the L1 and R1 buttons, tapping the
button for a short pass or holding it for a long pass.  You can also play around
with these buttons to perform a dummy pass, hopefully causing your opponent to
screw up and pave the way to victory.

As reliable and
easy-to-remember as the button scheme is, the controls are a bit unsteady.  The
power that I had over my team seemed to be a lot less than normal, almost as if
I was one small soldier in a giant war.  I could fire the gun, but would my
efforts really have an effect on what was going on?  When in control of the
ball, Rugby 2004 didn’t feel as exciting or as hard-hitting as the sport that
the game is based on. 

Rugby 2004’s graphics are
like an old, dusty rug: you can shake it to death, but the color is ruined.
Bleached by the sun perhaps, or maybe old age was the cause.  Regardless of the
reason, you can’t overlook the bland colors, the weak textures, or the ugly
players.  It wouldn’t be wrong to say that this is the least attractive game EA
has released in years.  EA is known for having the best of the best, with the
most realistic players around.  In Rugby 2004, you’ve got cheap player models
that move unrealistically.  That alone is disappointing.  Take the rest of the
visual flaws into account and you don’t have much to get excited about. 

Rugby 2004 was developed
for one type of player only: the
Rugby
enthusiast.  If you’re not a part of that group, then chances are you won’t be
able to get into this game.  It’s pretty good, but isn’t overly exciting,
especially to gamers who are used to playing faster sports titles.  In reality,
rugby is a tough, painful sport, and while the game is challenging at times, it
doesn’t feel superior to football at all.  In fact, with the slow, somewhat
sluggish gameplay, Rugby 2004 feels weaker than football!  No matter how much
you like the sport, be safe and rent this one first.

Reviewer’s Scoring Details

Gameplay: 6
As a game based
on a sport that is promoted as being tougher than football, it’s shocking to see
that the game doesn’t live up to those standards.  It’s just too slow to enjoy,
making it hard for even the most diligent rugby fans to get into it.

Graphics: 5
Eye candy?  More
like an eye sore.  Rugby 2004’s graphics are a huge disappointment.  The
so-called "dynamic lighting" does little to increase the visual quality.

Sound: 5
Rugby 2004 has
one lackluster song for the intro, and the rest of the music is just a bunch of
repetitive beats.  The commentary doesn’t sound like it came from someone who
loves the sport (which it should).  Instead, it sounds like it came from a guy
who was desperate for a job and took the first offering.  How can the players be
expected to get excited with a commentator like that?

Difficulty: Medium
Rugby 2004 is
more challenging than meets the eye.  Even experienced football players will
have a bit of a learning curve with this one.

Concept: 7
This is a pretty
good concept, but where are all of the EA game modes?  Rugby 2004 only has a
few, and they mainly consist of game tournaments.  They’re not bad, but I wanted
something more.

Multiplayer: 5
If your friends
love rugby as much as you do, then the multiplayer experience could be fun.
Otherwise they’ll get bored and want to play something else.

Overall: 5.5
Do you know
rugby?  Do you love rugby?  Have you subscribed to a European sports channel
just so you can watch every game your favorite team plays?  If you answered yes
to either of the last two questions, then Rugby 2004 is worth looking into.
It’s the first rugby game I’ve played so I can’t compare it to anything except
games like Madden and GameBreaker.  If that’s an unfair comparison, then please
encourage game developers to bring more rugby titles to the States.

This title is rated "E"
for everyone, but that doesn’t mean its gameplay is meant for everyone.  Rent it
if you’re really curious about the sport or if you’re wondering how it compares
to EA’s fine football games.  Remember though: buying a video game is kind of
like getting married.  If there’s uncertainty in your heart, you probably
shouldn’t say "I do."