Rugby 06 [PS2]

For those that know how to play it, rugby is a fast-moving, tough, and darned satisfying game. Unlike American football, which is obsessed with stopping the action every 15 seconds, rugby aims to keep the ball flowing as much as possible. A successful offense will move the ball with a series of lateral passes, often to players behind the line; the effect almost looks like ballet and seems effortless.

Not too long ago, EA added rugby to its ever-growing roster of sports sims, and Rugby 2005 was a flawed if generally enjoyable attempt to replicate the game. Rugby 06 plays like a more accurate vision of the game, and is generally a marked step forward. It adds a subtle but vital passing mechanic as well as better animations and player behavior. There are plenty of matches in which players will find that balletic, almost liquid movement of the ball.

Sadly, there are lingering issues from last year that EA evidently forgot to fix. This release doesn't do much to make the game more accessible for new players or fix the camera issues that dogged the sport last year. An online mode is also missing, as is a create-a-player mode, which always helps us get deeper into the game.

Once again, there's a tutorial to teach players the basics of moving the ball and extricating it from rucks and scrums. That's not much different from what's found in Madden, but with a football title, EA is playing to an audience that impicitly knows the rules of the game. A North American rugy release deserves a more in-depth training set. When the sort of training appears that characterizes Winning Eleven, we'll walk away impressed.

The major addition for 06 is what EA calls off-load passing, which boils down to having an option do dump the ball before going down in a tackle. That's a crucial element of the game, as it allows the ball to keep moving rather than being caught in a scrum. It also adds a small bit of extra strategy -- should you commit to a tackle, when carrier might simply pass off the ball and create what amounts to a power play as your man lies tangled on the ground for a few seconds?

Also pleasing to see is that teams no longer follow inexplicable pack mentality. Playing in 2005 was like enjoying a sporting version of Finding Nemo, where players tried to break free of dual packs of players that moved in perfect unison. Not only did the behavior look ridiculous, it closed off a lot of small opportunities to exploit weaknesses and execute tries on goal. That's been rectified in Rugby 06, meaning that you'll see and feel a much more natural group of players. They're not yet quite individual, but the improvement is a big step in the right direction.

One big problem returns from last year: a rather inflexible sideline camera that has a tendency to miss action taking place at either extreme end of the pitch. It's particularly troublesome when punting, as aiming the kick sometimes has to be done without enough visual info. There are so many options that could have made those moments more playable that we can't forgive the camera.

Lately it seems as if sports game audio is inevitably a letdown, and in several respects Rugby 06 is no exception. The commentary (by Ian Robertson and Grant Fox) is too frequently dull and repetitive. It neither instructs players on the finer points of the game, nor describes the pitch action in useful or entertaining ways. Likewise, the rockish EA Trax just take up space on the disc. Thankfully the crowd is dynamic and quick to move with the flow of the game.

Dial down the commentary, however, and most players will find a game that offers a surprising amount of action. Animations have been improved this year to make interactions between players much more effective. Since that so often means a violent tackle or stiff-armed crunch, that's a great thing. Arena Football has nothing on rugby when it comes to hard hits, and the game makes sure that you'll feel it.

Between the animations and better AI behavior, the improvements in this release make for a far better simulation of the sport than most players have previously seen. Attending to those few nagging issues would put it over the top, but for now we'll be content to fight through a scrum everywhere in America, where rugby generally can't be bothered to go.