A belated review of the Rugby World Cup 2011 video game

Only one word can describe this game: shocking. It was a long time ago when i purchased this game, back when i did, i remember hating it, and for some obscure reason i gave it a second chance this Easter, and it remains very, very poor.

I remember my first impression of the Rugby World Cup 2011 being something along the lines of "This is exactly the same as EA Sports Rugby 2006." Indeed, the buttons are the same despite being released 6 years on, and the similarities don't end there: the "special moves" are the same, there are the same old glitches and the same old general fallacy about the whole experience. The thing is, at the time Rugby 2006 was pretty advanced and well informed as a Rugby Game for the PS2. The game was so good in fact i still own it and a PS2 to play it on. For this not to have advanced is disappointing.

Then we come to specific issues within the game. The biggest is the licencing problem. If you bought the official FIFA World Cup video game, you would rather expect Brazil and Lionel Messi to be featured in the game. Alas, in the RWC video game, New Zealand and Australia (two of the best teams of Rugby Union) feature, however with "Fictional" player names because of licencing issues. It is very confusing that the best Rugby team in the World and the hosts of the World Cup are not featured in the tournaments official game. Again, you might hope the official kits for the world cup are there, but this is only the case in the "World Cup" game mode, not for the exhibition match game type.

Again, there is a general issue with squad selection, which were not up to date at the time of the games release, nor is there any downloadable content to update the squads and players. Indeed, England's sensation at the three-quarter position Manu Tuialagi is not in the game, despite featuring in warm up matches.

Gameplay issues swamp the game aswell. In the lineout for example, do not expect to win your own line out too often if you play on the "hard" difficulty, which just seems odd. Earlier today i was pinged for the penalty because "Ball unplayable in ruck" despite the whistle blowing when the ball was in the hands of my Fly-half. Now i'm not a complete expert on the Rules and Regulations of Rugby, however i'm sure a penalty occurs where the infringement happened, not on the half way line from where Rory Jackson took his penalty kick. Penalties in general are awfully designed, with "Dangerous Tackle" awarded every time you make contact with a player off the ball. This incident occurs frequently because of the camera angle used, "side on" is rather one dimensional and hence tackling players is difficult because they move along a different plane to the one the camera is aimed at.

I won't even get started on the awful player design or robotic commentary, all that is left to say is be certain to remember this game is absolutely awful and as a buyer you should not be tempted by it when it is on offer for £15.

Overall 2/10.