EA has taken last year's great effort to introduce the sport and and made it more fun to the already initiated users
I have to start by saying that this game is NOT aimed at the inbred stubborn slack-jaw-yokels whose mere understanding of any sports is based on the pre-game analysis of a Sunday afternoon sportscaster. I'm sorry to see that half of the reviews have been done by guys who clearly wouldn't last 10 minutes on a rugby pitch without either pucking their fatty guts out or getting their ribs crushed "inadvertently" by someone that will not take their pissing and moaning. Sorry boys but this is how rugby works, either try and give constructive statements or just keep your Q-tip milking exploits to yourselves!
Review:
The improvements made to this game could be seen as multilayered. On the surface:
The GRAPHICS have been tweaked, though it is not done in a revolutionary fashion. The rugby pitch seems more realistic but the stadiums still lacks the ability to convey the sense of organic presence that an NFL 2k4 has done in the past for instance. The marquis players look a little more like their real life counterparts but it still leaves room for improvement.
The SOUNDS are decent. The commentators do a better job at immersing you in the rugby world. They are not too repetitive but not too revolutionary either.
As for the second layer: the improvements made to the GAMEPLAY are however more substantial than meets the eye. I don't know how the development process went on at EA Canada but it shows they have had input from someone who knows that the rules of the games are this time. Yes the implementation of the "pop pass" and "quick penalty/lineouts" help the pace of the game but it was getting finally penalized for a forward pass that really caught me by surprise. In fact a multitude of new rules missing from last years version have been added this time around, making the action more immersive (to those who know them). The only thing that felt like a letdown was the lack of improvement in the different season modes other than roster updates.
In all where Rugby 2005 seemed to try to a broad audience Rugby 06 will do the same while reeling in the hardcore fans of the sport