Rugby 2004

Surely the people who made Rugby 2004 tested it first? Maybe not.

Here goes: quick ball is not possible; I just cannot get sidesteps or dummies to work, the guy just stops and gets flattened; there are dozens of options of moves on scrums but nothing for tap penalties or lineouts; its too easy to score by just going wide on easy levels or keeping it in the pack on difficult; jerky graphics; penalties are only conceded deliberately to stop a try or for offside, so there's not enough to be realistic; no penalty tries; playing against england is a nightmare because Wilkinson doesn't miss anything and the two wingers are either too quick to be caught (Robinson) or too strong to be tackled (ben cohen); Oh and for some reason it won't let me pick more than three centres in a 30man tournament squad. I think that does it but I might have forgotten something.

The kicking is so bad it needs to be dealt with separately. The idea is that you press one of the 3 kick buttons, a line appears which you direct, then you press the button again and he kicks it. Except when you press it the first time he just stops, so there's hardly any time to set the direction before you get munched. The garryowen and grubber just give away possession without fail, and the clearance kick is far too flat and hard. It's very easy to clear over the opponents dead ball line from your own 22. Oh, and the camera stays on the ball even if in the air so its almost impossible to get people in the right position to get there first.

Very disappointing really. It just seems like there's no thought in it. I just hope 2005 is MUCH better.

Rugby 2004 is an exellent game for all ages. I recommond it to big rugby fans and think it is the best rugby game of all time.