Best rugby game there is! (Rugby 2001 (PC))

Member Name: Welshlad

Product:	Rugby 2001 (PC)
Date:	16/06/01 (265 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Looks and sounds superb, plays very well

Disadvantages: High Min Spec

When I heard EA were to release a rugby game I was very sceptical, I mean, rugby is hardly the same kind of free flowing sports as they usually produce, and the FIFA control system hardly lends itself to rugby. Basically, I thought this game was destined to be a nightmare to play and a complete shocker overall! However, when I managed to play the game for myself, all my fears vanished, because what a game this is!

Graphically, its all you could want, looking lovely the animation and graphical detail is superb, all you nothing less than a top visual game. Commentary is provided by the well known Bill McLaren and Jamie Salmon, which even if you don't recognise the names, you will know the voices, and this really does enhance the game in the same way the football commentary enhances the FIFA games. Control wise, it was obvious that a FIFA style control system was never going to work, and thankfully a complete re-work has been given, resulting in an ultimately more sensitive and fitting control system whereby the players (for once in an EA game) do what you want, although the odd trigger delay is still there, its hardly anything to worry about. With the use of four buttons (expanded if you have a sidewinder gamepad (I have the USB version, which functions very well, as the fore-finger triggers on the upper side of the gamepad act as the pass left and pass right buttons)) things are easy to grasp and very sensible making the control of this game as simple as you could want.
A plethora of teams, all accurately re-created and up to date are present, so you can now play Wales with all the correct names (along with pretty darn accurate pronunciation on the commentators part I might add!) and the gaming modes of World-cups, one-off tournaments or just a quick arcade mode game (among others) does give the rugby game flexibility that it required and made it a very easy to enjoy game indeed.
The overall presentation is lovely, from the in game menus to the a
nimated menus, and it is clear this game was designed well and has the traditional EA touch and associated polish that makes then very desirable. This really is a complete package that, provided you have a beefy enough PC to run the game (I'm not sure of the exact minimum spec. but I would expect it to be something quite decent) this is a very enjoyable and entertaining game I would certainly recommend to fans of rugby and even those that are not!

The genre is hardly the most exploited, with Johna Lomu's rugby being its main competition, with this now being very dated and available on budget (at only £7 I might add!!!) this is a very viable option, but in terms of overall quality, this certainly kicks it into touch (Pun very much intended!).


In short, if you shell out 30 of your hard earned pounds on this game, I can see very little disappointment heading your way!

Summary: