Even though at first look, many hardcore gamers may not be interested in the fact that EA has finally brought its Rugby franchise to North America. However, believe it or not I have come across many casual gamers over the years that have asked me when a Cricket or Rugby game would appear on a console outside of Europe and Australia. Fortunately this year I am gleefully able to tell these people that not only a Rugby game exists but that it has many of the components that make EA Sports the premiere publisher of sports titles.

Graphics
Visually, EA Sports Rugby does not manage to continue the high mark set by the Madden Football series. Rather the player models are quite reminiscent of those found a couple of years ago in the FIFA titles. Not that this a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination but if you were expecting Madden type visuals you will be sorely disappointed. Having that said, the game features 20 international teams with over 600 players sporting true-to-life characteristics such as height, build and pace. 23 real stadiums are presented in very good detail and represent the major Rugby venues found around the world. The realistic weather conditions are done well and can actually help or hinder your style of play. Other nice little touches are also present such as the pitch wearing down as you play and uniforms get dirtier as the game goes on.

Sound
On the aural side of the game, Creative Assembly, the game's developers, went out their way to hire the dynamic play-by-play commentators. Insightful commentary is provided by the renowned voice of Rugby, Bill McLaren along with Jamie Salmon. The voice work has a variety of comments and while as with most sports games the comments can become repetitive, Bill McLaren' sense of humor is evident and makes those new to Rugby chuckle. The sound effects have been done nicely as you can literally feel some of the thundering tackles present in Rugby. The stadium effects are also admirable and the crowd reacts to the current state of the game.

Gameplay
Gameplay will either have gamers loving or hating this game. The control mechanism is well tuned once you can figure out all of the button assignments and have a good knowledge of how Rugby plays and tactics work. For this reason, we took quite some time in coming to review this game because we wanted to fully take advantage of all of the control features. For some people this will be a lesson in frustration. On the other hand, Rugby enthusiasts will probably ease into the game quite quickly. There are a total of 8 buttons to master in order to have any success on the pitch. I guess this is how newcomers feel when they play Madden or Baseball for the first time. Perhaps a more arcade-like approach would make the game more fun and draw in additional sales. Once you get past the intricacies of the controls, EA Sports Rugby allows you to use real game tactics on the fly. The Dynamic Team Control strategy system allows you to change the way your team plays mid-game, at the touch of a button. Once you have honed your skills you can finely tune your Set Piece techniques.

Value
Rugby does not sport the in depth extras that are now standard in most EA published titles. However, what is present is more than enough to satisfy even the most hardcore Rugby fan. Modes include Practice, Friendly Matches, and three major tournaments: World Championship, VI Nations and the Tri Nations. A very helpful feature to those new to Rugby can be found in the manual. A five-page Playing Rugby: Rules and Tactics is included which goes over the main components of Rugby along with a number of tactics. While we had a good understanding of Rugby, we found the 5 pages very helpful in refining our skills and approach to the game.

Final Word
Kudos to EA Sports for finally taking a chance in brining a Rugby game to North America. Although the visuals and gameplay are not the usual fine polished product we have come to expect from EA, the game offers a lot of gameplay time for hardcore Rugby fans. For others, rent first to see if it is your cup of tea.