Wheel your scrum to give your backs a better presentation to the unprotected side of the field. You can play the scrum and set plays off of it.

One reason for this is the obvious focus placed on the Scrum, Mauling and Forward Play. In Rugby 06, it felt like a game for backs and this year, it felt more balanced between forwards and backs. Once you get on the pitch, you will notice many new features to playing the game. In the challenges, you will control only one of the teams, obviously to set up the scenarios, but I was kind of bummed I thought maybe you could rewrite history. Take on classic scenarios from previous World Cup matches and you can unlock video highlight clips of matches gone by. Next on the actual Main Menu is the new Challenge Mode. A little something for your listening pleasure in between pints. The first one I mentioned above is the ability to change up the Menu music, and this transfers over to Pause Menus during the game as well. The commentary triggers also seem like they take a moment to trigger after a play or penalty. Voiceover is a little English, and by that I mean bland, even if it is a Scotsman talking.

Now all of these are hits somewhere I am sure, but I can't say any of them have popped up here on the top 40 charts. I can't possibly complain about the music in the Menu system this year, because with the click of the right analog stick, I can change it. I could tell from multiple clipping models that they had a limited body pool to choose from when they did their motion capture. The level of graphics is not up to par with what can be done with the system currently. Another place for improvement are the color shots after tries, line outs and pre-game of players celebrating or walking around. The stadiums, however, are as plastic as the earliest versions of American football games. This is the same game no matter what country, so I am actually challenging my preconceptions and holding them against the level of depth you would see in an American football game. Overall, it is a terrific introduction and primer for a nation who knows very little about the sport itself, let alone the subtleties you would need to know to make a really deep game. But, I will not let this sway me, and we definitely have some issues to deal with in the game. We need a game like this to get us through the sevens season and touch league for training. By comparisons, it is the best Rugby game out there, because here in the States, it is the only Rugby game out there. Number one, I love the game itself, but I tried to be impartial. After Rugby 07 was a no-show, I was more than ready to get my boots into Rugby 08.

Rugby 08 ps2 create a player