"Much Better Than Last Year!!!"

If you played last year's Rugby 2004, you'll remember the horrible graphics, animation, and so-so gameplay. This year Rugby 2005 improves in every single aspect of the game.

Graphics: 8/10

The graphics look pretty good, although not quite up to par with MVP Baseball, Madden, or NHL 2005. But compared to last year's Rugby 2004, it's a big, big step up.

Presentation: 6/10

This is where the game sort of lacks. Although the do have the official teams cheers, such as New Zealand's "Haka", there isn't much other than a camera pan of the stadium and then showing the players coming out to the pitch at the beginning of the game. The post-game celebration is so-so, and there is nothing extra for winning the World Championship. The commentator just says 'They've won the world championship" and that's it. No trophy, so celebration.

Gameplay: 9/10

The gameplay is much smoother and responsive this time around, making the game very fun to play. You can choose how many people you want to commit into the rucks, the tackle animations look great, kicking a conversion is fun, however kicking a drop kick while on the run can be pretty hard.

Sound: 7/10

EA puts in the EA Trax like they always do for music, and the commentating is pretty good, although I hear a lot of the same things being said. The crowd is much more into the game this year, cheering louder and louder as you get closer to scoring a try.

Lasting Appeal: 7/10

This is another area for improvement. While there are tons and tons of tournaments to enter, there is only one form of "Season Mode". It's not anywhere close to the dynasty modes on the other EA games, but it's still pretty good. You choose a team, and you gradually earn "trade points" for winning games, and you spend them on recruiting better players, so you can work your way up from Division 3 (the crappy league) to Division 1 (the top division) and claim yourself the best team on earth.

The create a player is well done, allowing you to "sculpt" your own face for each player, much like in Top Spin. This option also adds to the lasting appeal, especially if you like to create yourself. You can then add your created player to as many teams as you want. You can even change the team captain and kicker.

Overall: 8/10

If you played rugby (like myself) or are a big fan of rugby, chances are you'll really enjoy this game. For beginners to rugby, it may be frustrating at first getting the learn the game and the rules, but stick with it, it gets really good once you know what you're doing!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/01/05