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Heaven's game keeps on getting better

By James Anthony

Reaching for the heavens....

Oh, no. Oh, horrors. Oh, the shame. This newbie Wallaby coach has just lost a rugby Test match to England. 3-0 was the scoreline, an embarrassment in itself, but oh, woe is me.

How could this have happened? Well, EA’s Rugby game went into the PS2, I didn’t read the rules, or have a practice session and - lo and behold - the damn Poms jumped me with an early penalty.

After that, it was all down hill. A complete inability to work scrums, missed tackles, wretched ball skills and a hopelessly-out-of-touch thumb movement on the controller.

Red-faced, and desperately in need of a place to hide, it was into a training camp for a couple of hours and instead of using the poor old Wallabies as training fodder - we went for the Scots instead.

Well, a quick adjustment of the team’s skill levels gave me a chance against the computer - and then things became a bit easier to work out.

Even for a devoted rugger fan, the game’s system can be a bit daunting, however, you don’t become a star overnight and quite quickly you begin to know what you are doing.

Tackling, passing and kicking are all straightforward enough, but line-outs, rucking and scrums (oh boy, those scrums) still make the sweat pour out.

Rugby is one of those games that once you’ve got the basic hang of the control system you get completely absorbed. If you don’t believe us then check with some nearby office workers who seemed to be a bit put out by the naughty language being yelled at the screen. The fun we have!

Aided by the processing power of the PS2, the superlative graphics, body-mapping of the 3D players and smooth frame rate make it so easy to immerse yourself. The look of the game and the oooof-sound as people get their bodies slammed in tackles - and the wonderful lilting Scottish accent of rugby-commentary doyen Bill McLaren - has you fairly and squarely on the field of battle.

And, you can get caught up in some pretty darn serious tournaments. Start off with the easy ones - like those involving northern hemisphere teams - the Six Nations (England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, Italy) or the Calcutta Cup (England versus Scotland). Then test yourself in the big ones - the TriNations (Australia, NZ, South Africa) or even the World Cup.

For Rugby Union fans, this is a must-have on the PS2. The ability to play one-off friendly matches or make your way through entire tournaments will give it a huge length of longevity. Have a few friends around and there could be an entire weekend of entertainment ahead - particularly as the Test-match season is just getting underway.

As said before, you can adjust the AI level in your favour until you find yourself used to the controls, but the real test will be against a human opponent. Watch out Will Barker, I’m issuing a challenge. You are going down, compadre!

NB: Please note that James Anthony is in mourning. He sat through the woeful Wallaby performance against the British Lions, a Test they lost 13 to 29, and is gutted.

He sits around the office muttering “weak bastards” to himself and then proceeds to headbutt the door. In order to save the sanity of one of our much-loved staff (not to mention the door) we humbly ask the entire Australian Rugby Union team to show a bit more heart, courage and guts, you pack of weak (CENSORED) and beat those nonentities from the Northern Hemisphere!


Game: Rugby
System: Playstation 2
Players: 1-4
Memory Card: Yes
Developer: Electronic Arts
Distributor: EA

Rating: 80%


(Ratings Key/Explantion)


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