GB Demo Reviews - Rugby 2001

Playability: Learning curve is 18 years of growing up in Australia or England or anywhere that Rugby is a staple like hamburgers in America. The characters move well, and everything is pretty fluid, but for the life of me, I cannot figure out how the hell this game works. Granted, I only invested a couple hours, so those of you who are sitting around with absolutely nothing to do, why not learn a new sport and play this game?

Graphics / Sound: Solid graphics. Good player detail, and the grass looks real nice close-up - a fact that I am ashamed to admit.

Computer Specs: A Pentium II with MMX with 32 MB of RAM is recommended. You'll want a PII 300+ with at least 64. I think a game pad is needed on this one. In fact, after getting whipped so much with Rugby 2001, I'm going to buy a gamepad soon.

Fun Factor: Man, when you actually get a pass off and start sprinting to the goal, it's electrifying. However, when you get jerked down from behind and get the wind knocked out of you because you were going for the glory, and you look up to see that it's 21-0 only four minutes into the game, well... you know.

Overall: I love the graphics, I love the engine and I love the action. Maybe with a gamepad this game would be easier to master, I don't know. It's pretty damn hard to figure out unless you know a lot about Rugby or you have a lot of time on your hands.

TOTAL SCORE: 5.0 (US Citizen)



There are over 1,000 downloadable games at pcgameworld.com, one of the major sources of PC Game Demos. My goal for this column is to provide the reader with a guide to these demos. Specifically, I will tell you which ones are worth your time and your hard drive space and which ones are not. All demos will be rated on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest. Five different points will be considered in the evaluation process: Playability Graphics and Sound Computer Specs Fun Factor Overall Testing system: PII 350, 128 RAM, Voodoo 3000 PCI, 256K DSL Internet


RUGBY 2001


EA Sports has produced some amazing sports games in the past. I have no idea how they've managed to produce such realistic games with superb graphics engines and outstanding sound. One thing I do know: I suck at Rugby. My experience at this game is limited to a drunken morning (yes, morning) in Tucson, Arizona in 1995, where there was nothing else on at the sports bar besides rugby. I remember hollering and yelling for some Australian team that was whooping up on the grass, and I remember wincing every time I saw some guy get smashed, since there are no pads, and there are no worries. "On the campus of Rugby School in England there is a monument that reads: 'This stone commemorates the exploits of William Webb Ellis, who, with a fine disregard for the rules of football, as played in his time, first took the ball in his arms and ran with it, thus originating the distinctive feature of the Rugby game.' "The invention of the sport called rugby was that simple - it happened in 1823 during an intra school soccer game. According to one account, William Webb Ellis was frustrated by his failure in an attempt to kick the ball, so he picked it up and ran with it - a flagrant violation of the rules of soccer. It occurred to the other students that Ellis just might have something, and games of soccer in which running with the ball was illegal, became frequent at Rugby School, leading the evolution of the modern game as we now know it." - EA Sports web site What is not mentioned there is that Ellis had his ass whipped by 20 other frustrated players who just wanted their only ball back! But seriously, Rugby is a true contact sport. American Football? HA! Yeah - they run around fast and hit people hard and all, but in Rugby it's all about being tough as steel with skills and NO PADS. In this demo, you will get a first-hand acknowledgement of the fact that you know nothing about rugby. Unless you do, of course, in which case you will get whipped by the computer team no matter what. I'd be willing to bet that Mr. Ellis himself, if he were alive, would scoff at this demo. If you can figure out the key movements and if you have the time to invest in the "pre-set plays" then knock yourself out. This game is either too complicated, or I'm just retarded in a manner that I do not know. Overall, though, I still give the game some good points because of the obvious effort that went into it, and the fact that EA released a demo like this. If Rugby was offered in lieu of Spanish in my high school, I would be a better person to review this demo.				SCREENSHOTS FROM RUGBY 2001 (enlargeable) Did they win? Lose? The scrum. I think. Nice Stadium. Strip the ball, Johnny. Medic! The Big Leap.

Playability: Learning curve is 18 years of growing up in Australia or England or anywhere that Rugby is a staple like hamburgers in America. The characters move well, and everything is pretty fluid, but for the life of me, I cannot figure out how the hell this game works. Granted, I only invested a couple hours, so those of you who are sitting around with absolutely nothing to do, why not learn a new sport and play this game? Graphics / Sound: Solid graphics. Good player detail, and the grass looks real nice close-up - a fact that I am ashamed to admit. Computer Specs: A Pentium II with MMX with 32 MB of RAM is recommended. You'll want a PII 300+ with at least 64. I think a game pad is needed on this one. In fact, after getting whipped so much with Rugby 2001, I'm going to buy a gamepad soon. Fun Factor: Man, when you actually get a pass off and start sprinting to the goal, it's electrifying. However, when you get jerked down from behind and get the wind knocked out of you because you were going for the glory, and you look up to see that it's 21-0 only four minutes into the game, well... you know. Overall: I love the graphics, I love the engine and I love the action. Maybe with a gamepad this game would be easier to master, I don't know. It's pretty damn hard to figure out unless you know a lot about Rugby or you have a lot of time on your hands. TOTAL SCORE: 5.0 (US Citizen)
RUGBY 2001 Demo Size: 86.49 MB System Requirements [P300/32MB/Win95/98/3D Accelerator/DirectX] Publisher: EA GAMES

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