Carn' the Wallabies!
Rugby 2004 couldn?t have come at a better time, especially with the opening match of the 2003 Rugby World Cup just days away. Rugby 2004 boasts a huge array of improvements over the 2001 game, including a new intuitive control system, vastly improved AI, new rewards points for accomplishing in game goals, a new player editor which lets you edit existing players as well as creating your own, a new career mode, more than 65 highly detailed stadiums, 62 teams with over 1500 players, commentary from John Inverdame and Gordon Bray, and much more.
The Running Game
Chances are that the majority of the readers of PALGN know the ins and outs of the game of rugby, so an in depth explanation of the sport is unnecessary. EA Sports Rugby did a decent job of converting the game into videogame form, but faltered by placing too much emphasis on scrums and rucks, rather than the open field play, which is a crucial component of the game. Rugby 2004 sees the focus shifted onto the open field play, resulting in a much more authentic rugby experience. While the field play is now vastly improved, the scrums, rucks and line outs seem more screwy than ever. The meter in the scrum has been eliminated, which results in a lot of confusion, as well as the computer player winning the majority of the scrums. The rucks are also very messy, with no indication as to where the ball is positioned. Should the ball suddenly pop up, the nearest player is more likely to dog pile the ball, rather than scoop it up and play on, which is a major annoyance.
Rugby 2004 has a few different play modes - the usual training and exhibition modes, as well as 7 different forms of tournament - World Cup, Super 12, World Trophy and a whole host of domestic European leagues. The majority of these tournaments are the same, with the only changing factors being the teams involved and the trophy at the end. During these modes, your players can earn points buy achieving certain objectives - these points can then be spent on enhancing specific attributes, or creating new players.
With all these different tournaments to complete, as well as the multiplayer modes, players should expect to invest a substantial amount of time in Rugby 2004. It would have been nice to see the inclusion of online multiplayer and franchise modes, but we have to accept the fact that HB Studios are a small Australian studio, and probably had a limited budget for this project. Should Rugby 2004 sell well, we may see these in the next version.
Head smacking
Rugby 2004 has seen a substantial improvement in its visual presentation, but still fails to make the grade. It's almost like saying "Scraping your back with nails is more enjoyable when the nails get blunt" - it may be less painful, but you're still scraping your back with nails. The construction of the game's 65+ stadiums is really quite impressive, as they closely resemble their real life counterparts. Unfortunately, the texturing is absolutely horrid, the crowd is flat, and there are jagged polygons everywhere. This horrific appearance extends to the characters, who barely look anything like their real life counterparts in every aspect except skin and hair colour. Furthermore, the animations on these players range from mediocre to somewhat despicable - though a little better than some other recent local sport efforts. The low quality of the graphics just goes to show the sort of limited budget these developers are working with. The default camera takes on the tradition side on presentation that we see in televised games, but we prefer the classic camera approach, as it gives the player better control over kicking, as well as a better view for passing the ball along the line.
The sound department in Rugby 2004 provides a decent aural experience, with the combination of the crowd and sound effects of the game itself giving the player some idea of what its like to be at a rugby match. The commentary team of John Inverdame and Gordon Bray do a decent job, despite the fact that their samples can be horribly disjointed and repetitive in some scenarios. Menu music is decent, with the inclusion of the new INXS track I get up.
Cup of Life
It's probably well documented somewhere in the recorded history of my life that I've not always been a big fan of rugby, but Rugby 2004 delivers the sort of experience that makes rugby enjoyable for those who don't have an interest in the sport, as well as those who live and breathe the game. That said, the game is not perfect, as the flaws in the scrum, ruck and line out portions of the game may drive some players batty, but the improvement to the open field game should please critics of the previous Playstation 2 rugby title.
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