Rugby 2004 reviews

Very disappointing game. Kicking so slow, no real point, nothing like Johna Lomu Rugby on PS1.

The first reason is the kicking-

Get this, you are on an unstoppable run, 1 on 1 with the fullack and the defence is way behind. You decide to kick it ahead. 6 meters at least between you and the k-i-c-k will not go fast enough! You will get tackled and lose the ball foward. VERY ANNOYING

The second is the player control-

No power whatsoever. Select a player and he runs off the tackle! ALSO VERY ANNOYING!

The third reason is the graphics-

NO RESEMBELENCE WHATSOEVER. Carlos Spencer looks more like a monkey than himself. And players cannot take lineouts without crossing through-YES T-H-R-O-U-G-H- the other player

All in all id rather call this game EA's BIG MISTALE

Absolutely hated it

I couldn't wait to get my hands on this game but the first dissapointment came when I wanted to select multiplayers to play in the Super 12 competition or anyone for that matter. I was really dissapointed that multiplayer mode was not supported.

It is nice to be able to play with 2 players on a side but I would have liked to be able to play against someone else in a tournament. The other boring thing is not to be able to watch the cpu games as in cricket 2002 and get that real match feeling.

The game is to easy on hard (except when you play against England) because you can easily score 80+ points when you play a full game. I found that 10 min halves is the closest to reality. Far to less penalties and far to less cards, and statistics.

Goal kicking is too easy and when you miss a penalty shot the ball goes dead and there is no opportunity allowed to take advantage or counter attack. Everything seems to stop when you pass the ball or try to kick or sidestep for that matter. Generally speaking it is still hours of fun especially if you struggle to beat your 8 year old son.

What can I say, a huge improvement on Rugby 2001, but sadly some aspects have been over looked in order to “make the game better”.

Simple things like:

• putting in grubber kicks are almost negated as opposition seem to tackle you before you have time to drop the ball.
• the opposition seem to be able to rob the ball at ruck time whenever they feel like it.
• the sprint button is good, but you never seem to be able to actually outrun the opposition, and
• 95% of the time the full back will have you covered regardless of where you attack from.
• on “HARD” setting, still easily able to out score the opposition by 80–100 points, and that was in the first 3 days of playing. Only area that seems to be harder are rucks/mauls, lineouts, scrums. Other than that, not very hard at all.

Overall the game is a marked improvement on the other rugby games, but the simplicity of Jonah Lomu is desperately lacking in some areas. Though I myself am a diehard rugby and sport platform fan, Rugby 2004 tends to become boring relatively easily if played constantly.

If you are a real hardcore, faithful loyal, devoted RUGBY fan than Rugby 2004 is so far the best rugby game any platform can put together.

Apart from a few disappointing features it is still a GREAT game! The only drawback is the lack of statistics at the half and end of the game, territory and possession along with other stats that Rugby 2001 & Jonah Lomu had to offer are sadly missed. No Celebrations after winning the Tri-Nations, World Cup and Super 12 are also a minor disappointment.

The graphics take a bit of time to get used to. The stadiums from all over the globe have been improved. The plays are great, after a while one can get a hook on the Lineout options, and break away plays from the scrum.

The inclusion of Super 12 and other club teams seem to be the greatest exciting of this game. If there is any advice one can give to EA Sports it would be to think of including a Sevens tournament or circuit and allow the Tournaments to run on a ten year basis like NBA Live allows you to control a franchise.

Rugby 2004 is a huge improvement, try it. Pick the Blues and take Rokocoko or Howlett down the side line or use Carlos to set up the back line.

If you start getting bored – try using a Memory card and taking your team on the world tour or through a couple or Super 12 seasons or play against a friend and try whooping his butt.

Thanks EA Sports!! It comes in time with the 2003 World Cup ! Go ALL BLACKS!!!

I read some great reviews of this game and was really looking forward to it. I've played it for a few hours and it is boring already. When passing or kicking the players basically stop, so there's no quick ball movement. Too much emphasis has been put on flashy logos around the menu screens, and not enough emphasis is on the actual game play. I wish someone would just jazz up Jonah Lomu rugby a bit and remarket that for PS2. It would be a lot better.

I brought this game online through GP and was counting down the days until it arrived, but what a disapointment. I can't believe how lame this game is. Why can't they jusy keep it simple like Jonah Lomu Rugby? The ruck and maul situation is a joke and the passing can go anywhere. I've played it a couple of times since I got it but it now sits in the corner of the room probably never to be used again. The game does the sport justice. It sucks.

Let's hope the Stacey Jones Rugby League follows the path of the mighty Warriors and rips up its competition. I only hope it's not made in the same laxadasical fashion that Rugby 2004 was.

They've finally got it right (mostly)! This game is a HUGE improvement on EA Rugby.

On the “normal” setting you can get the hang of the game controls (quite different from Lomu or EA Rugby). Once you get the hang of rucks, scrums and lineouts, you can just give it to the backline, hit sprint, and run in tries.

Set it to “hard” and things get a LOT different. More realistic backline offense and defense, better cover defense, positional kicking plays a more important role, and it's harder to score. You have less chance of dropping passes or making missed passes as you learn the patterns your offense runs.

Due to the huge number of tournaments this games looks like it will have a lot of play in it. And the large choice of stadiums adds a LOT to the overall atmosphere of the game.

Some of the graphics are pretty average (change your starting line up from Lomu to Rokococo on the wing, and Joe still looks like Jonah? Weird), but I basically have to overlook this due to the HUGE upgrade in quality of gameplay. On the plus side, tackle animations and try scoring animations put the previous version of this game to shame.

There is no “replay” option at the end of a head to head matchup (which was annoyingly lacking from the first game) but the fairly quick loading times help to negate this (and you might like to play in yet another location).

My only major gripe is the stats – no possesion, territory, rucks/mauls etc at half or full time.

Overall, it's basically everything I thought it would be, and just a little bit more. Take the time to get used to it. It's a great great game.

This is better than Rugby 2001. It still shares one of the main problems from that game which is that you dont know where your pass will end up sometimes. Also they forgot to put AI in the game so you can pretty much just swing the ball wide and run down the sideline unchallenged. The one good thing about this is high points, which means high action. The downside is it isn't a proper representation of the sport you see on TV. It is disappointing to see such bland graphics on a 3rd/4th generation title, especially if you see what they do with something like Madden 2004.

A 500 percent improvement on the previous rugby game on ps2. Much better gameplay and a load of tournaments to play. Will take awhile to get sick of this game. Players look realistic and the hits can be huge, and a lot less stressful on thumbs as controls are much better.