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PC Zone UK Magazine Review

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bujin

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Hi guys, I'm a bit new 'ere!
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(I've been lurking for a few weeks, following the discussions about the game, and the much appreciated video clips!)

I just got PC Zone magazine through and it's got a half-page review of the game (with a review of PRM2 underneath).

It goes something like this:

ETA: March 11

Requires: PIII 700, 128Mb RAM and a 32Mb 3D card
Desires: P4 1GHz, 256Mb RAM and a 64Mb 3D card

Anthony Holden draws the short straw and enters the scrum

When it comes to choosing between footie and rugger, it's no secret where PC ZONE's allegiances lie. However, as the Australian of PC ZONE, I do know more about rugby than the rest of th eteam put together. As such, it's testament to EA's mass-market know-how that beginners such as the others could actually play Rugby 2005 and - God forbid - enjoy it. Well, at least for a moment or two anyway.

To be fair, the game does cater pretty well for rugby virgins, with comprehensive training options and a new feature called Rugby 101. The rudiments of the game - and the sport - can be picked up in no time, allowing you to launch straight into a tournament or fixture of your choice.

As you'd expect from EA, all the major teams, players and tournaments are in place, with improved player likenesses and accurate stadia to set the scene. Other improvements include the new motion capture, on-the-fly play-calling and the ability to throw fakes. Or in layman's terms, bugger all (which funnily enough, is the motto of our local team).

As these things go, it plays acceptably well - the only major stumbling block being that rugby is simply too technical for a videogame conversion. The gameplay is repetitive and faltering, and much of your time in defence is spent struggling to select the right player.

For all that, Rugby 2005 is a polished and comprehensive affair that replicates the sport with some accuracy, and if that's what you're after then don't let us stop you.

PC ZONE VERDICT: 70% "Competent but rugby"

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So, to sum up, they seem to have marked the game down based on the simple fact that "it's not football"...
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Originally posted by bujin@Mar 3 2005, 07:33 AM
As these things go, it plays acceptably well - the only major stumbling block being that rugby is simply too technical for a videogame conversion. The gameplay is repetitive and faltering, and much of your time in defence is spent struggling to select the right player.
Screw this back-slapping art/humanity bullshit, this guy is a virus with shoes and should not be remotely allowed near a rugby video game.
 
Unfortunately, the main PC magazines in the UK have never been pretty receptive of rugby games! I've don't think I've ever seen one score above 70%!
 
Ok, I'm a Zone regular, so I don't want to read the review fully until I get it myself, spolis the suprise. Did take a glance at the score though. Not bad considering Holden's a footy pussy
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First, welcome to the forum bujin.

Second, how the hell is reading a PC review going to spoil anything for you when you've seen tons of footage already?
 
Originally posted by captainamerica@Mar 2 2005, 09:23 PM
Second, how the hell is reading a PC review going to spoil anything for you when you've seen tons of footage already?
Trust me, been reading Zone long enough to know that their reviews are worth the wait. I haven't watched all the footage anyway, only a couple of bits. I want to read the review myself in a shiny new mag, and then play the game having not seen that much of it before. Just makes the experience all the sweeter.
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You've got to at least commend my self-restraint, if nothing else
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Tis very commendable.

Now let me tell you everything I know about the game . . .
 
<<Other improvements include the new motion capture, on-the-fly play-calling and the ability to throw fakes>>

Umm....Amidst this prejudiced reveiw of a game (frankly just unprofessional), is this the diamond of truth I have searched for?

I'm not sure if he had, but I never read Locksley say it had dummies and I know he didn't have an instruction book...Soooooo - Awesome! I'm glad their in there b/c contrary to some posts I have read, dummies DID work in Rugby 2004.....and in Rugby 2001, well, they were the key to the game itself..both in backline breaks and in setting free your outsides...you could even make aclose break on the outside with a long held dummy inside and not get ankle-tapped even though you were but a metre away.

Dummies rule...bring em on.

Wahoooooooooooo!
 
Easy there, pilgrim -- he could very well have done a sidestep like Sailor with the flailing arms going through a gap that looks like a dummy, but isn't.

Then again, maybe we will find it in the instruction book.

Who knows? But I'm definitely not jumping to any conclusions with this review!
 
Originally posted by SaintsFan_Webby@Mar 3 2005, 08:22 AM
Ok, I'm a Zone regular, so I don't want to read the review fully until I get it myself, spolis the suprise. Did take a glance at the score though. Not bad considering Holden's a footy pussy
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Don't read it mate... It'll only irritate you! I never would have realised how bad UK reviewers are when it comes to rugby! I haven't seen a decent review yet! It seems that if we want to read a balanced review we're just gonna have to wait untill either and Australian or NZ mag reveiw it! Because the UK and US reviewers don't seem to be able to get past one sentance without making some stupid comment about rugby compared to soccer or gridiron...
Dissapointing really.
 
Originally posted by cavan@Mar 3 2005, 02:11 PM
the guy who reviewed it is an Aussie sanzar...
Lol, yes, I was just about to bring that up. The reviewer in question is an Aussie immigrant, so as I said, it;s just because he's a footy pussy.....
 
Originally posted by robbinho+Mar 4 2005, 01:04 AM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (robbinho @ Mar 4 2005, 01:04 AM)</div>
<!--QuoteBegin-captainamerica
@Mar 3 2005, 08:01 AM
this guy is a virus with shoes
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[/b]
Thank Bill Hicks for that gem.

I think this guy, even seeing as he's Aussie, is worse than any American preview/review we've ever read so far.
 
Originally posted by cavan@Mar 4 2005, 01:11 AM
the guy who reviewed it is an Aussie sanzar...
I know, but he stated he prefer's football and that the magazine is tilted in soccer's favor... the OPSM down here wouldn't carry on like that... In fact that had a preview in the current issue which didn't once make a stupid comment about the game simply because it's based on rugby!
 

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