The articlegameplay, story, development, reception
Reception
The PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions received "generally favorable reviews", while the PC version received "average" reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. In Japan, Famitsu gave the PS2 version a score of one seven, one five, one seven, and one six, for a total of 25 out of 40.
The Sydney Morning Herald gave the PS2 version a score of four stars out of five and stated, "Scoring a drop goal can be the trickiest move in the game, simply because the camera angle makes it difficult to line up. Whilst the game tends to be annoyingly accurate on higher settings, just persuade a friend to play to even up the challenge." The Times also gave the game a score of four stars out of five and said that "Rugby, with its elaborate set-pieces and impenetrable laws, is a hard game to render on computer, but this is an extremely good try." The A.V. Club gave the PS2 and Xbox versions a B, saying that the game "isn't as pretty as the bigger EA Sports games, but it isn't as larded down with excess crap, either; just lots of teams, lots of tournaments, and what we'll assume are famous players in a good tough sport."
