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Video Games around major sporting events are a staple part of gaming and also a huge generator of income for the Gaming Houses. With the Rugby World Cup just about 2 weeks away it was perhaps obligatory that the accompanying video game would emerge.

Sometime ago I realised why I kept buying these games. Often they are poor representations of the real thing and all to often especially in the cricket and rugby spheres, they are complicated to control and the subtleties of the game are left behind in an attempt to capture the wider gaming market with a more 'friendly' interpretation of the rules. Despite this, I love Rugby and Cricket and its my love of those sports which keeps me coming back, not the games themselves. As I reach an age where its not possible to play the real sports at the levels I once did, I am relying on these games to give me that feeling and satisfy my yearning to play. So, Does RWC 2011 do that for me...No.

What has it got then?

Well for a start, most of these games churn out the same old control mechanisms in a different UI and charge you £40 - £60 for the privilege, this one doesn't. Then they have the elements of kicking which play an enormous role within real rugby and can often be the opening 'chess moves' of the game, are badly done but with this one they aren't. The game really gets the tactical advantages of both kicking the ball and then 'where' to kick the ball to put pressure on the opposition and create errors.

The game is not the finished article. It has many issues with the way the backs run and the availability of ball to the backs over the forwards. It also has a couple of terminal glitches which mean that a player can break from a ruck into the dead ball zone and then will not put the ball down or get tackles by the opposition, so the only choice is to run out of play and lose the points. Also with 10 metres to go, pressing the 'A' Key to dive for the line often results in the player kicking the ball into the crowd behind and not try being awarded. There is also a need for the 'long' kick for button 'A' to have an intelligent change to a 'grubber' lick when inside the 10m line and CERTAINLY within the 22.

All in all, its easily the best iteration of a rugby game and is fast and intuitive. Its going to get 3 Golden Bagels though only for the fact that its missed some obvious subtleties and that there are terminal glitches in the game play. More testing, more research and more quality of service for £40 are required, but when thats done, its 5 stars all the way.

Ewen

@EwenRankin on Twitter and @BritishTechNews

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Ewen Rankin

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