World Championship Rugby screenshots   The Final Say! Gameplay 8.5 Graphics 7.2 Sound 7.0 Value 8.1 World Championship Ruby  Review Date: May 2004 Review Score: 7.9/10  Distributed By: Acclaim Australia

Jonah Lomu Rugby was one of the most popular Rugby games in existence and the creators of this powerhouse title have returned in what promises to be the most definitive game of World Championship Rugby!  Although the game is loosely based on the previous game, the title has received a well deserved remake that features over 400 moves, a new and improved graphics engine with some of the best gameplay since the 2003 WCR cup. In the wake of the all-conquering England rugby team’s world cup triumph over the mighty Wallabies another rugby union game has been released for the PS2, Xbox and PC. So now, the once deprived rugby nutters are facing the prospect of literally a plethora of choices which makes such a pleasant change. A lot of this can be attributed to the fact of the recent success of rugby in England and the tidal wave of celebration it released in that success starved nation who have had to endure 3 decades of hurt since the 1966 football world cup. The developers of this title, Swordfish, also happen to be responsible for the fondly remembered Jonah Lomu Rugby. It was the best rugby game available in the computer game universe until EA Sport’s decided it wanted a piece of the pie. Straightforward and simple are two words I would employ to describe the menu system. The choices of matches include, friendly, European nations, Tours, and knockout cups to name some of the options. There is no practice match facility, so if you want to try to learn the fundamentals of the game you need to do it in an actual match. Naturally you are able to alter the lengths of the games, standard and whether you want penalties on which allows you to play a more free-flowing game without all the interruptions you normally get in real-life rugby matches. Graphically it is the bog standard for a game of this type. The players are more cartoon-like caricatures than actual real life characters you see in say an EA Sport’s or Pro Evolution soccer title. Having said that, the average international grade rugby player are more akin to a professional wrestler than your average office worker so they look quite appropriate for this game.

Choice of stadiums is limited to the one, real rugby ground in Twickenham as well as 3 fictional ones. It is not such a concern for this game except if you really want to nit-pick but having said that, it is a shame Homebush, the stage of the magnificent World Cup Final last November was also not included. The stadiums that they have included do still create the right atmosphere.

The most important aspect of the game, the gameplay itself, is quite simple. Considering it is one of the most complex team sports around the developers have chosen to do away with many of the sports laws so you just get the pure running, tackling and kicking game.

This is fine for some of the non-purists but the true fan will find a lot of the game’s character has been left out. Rucking and mauling, has become a process of simply bashing a button until you win the ball back and if you are up against a relatively weak team you are never likely to lose the ball, which makes it a little predictable. There is plenty of running, passing and kicking so the general spirit of rugby is well and truly captured. Conversion kicks are quite dull and quite difficult to know what is an appropriate angle to aim at to score. A little more versatility here would have been appreciated. Scrums are used sparingly because of the reduction in stoppages and penalties, so some hard core rugby folks may feel that a little short-changed.

Sound is quite average in this game, at times you feel a distinct lack of atmosphere and even when a home team player scores, the volume of the crowd does not grow too greatly. Being an official England Rugby game though there is the enthusiastic chanting of Swing Low Sweet Chariot, when England is playing. For the other nations their chants are not included in this title.

So all up, I would have to say that this game is quite enjoyable to play and would suit those who not only love the sport of rugby but also for the uninitiated. There are limitations to the reality of the simulation as the creators seem to have concentrated on the open play and running aspect of the sport, which is after all the most attractive aspect of rugby.

Also available on PS2 & PC