After Rugby 07 was a no-show, I was more than ready to get my boots into Rugby 08. Number one, I love the game itself, but I tried to be impartial. It is so hard to do. By comparisons, it is the best Rugby game out there, because here in the States, it is the only Rugby game out there. We need a game like this to get us through the sevens season and touch league for training. It could be bad and still be great. But, I will not let this sway me, and we definitely have some issues to deal with in the 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. 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.

The look of the gameplay is great. The stadiums, however, are as plastic as the earliest versions of American football games. Another place for improvement are the color shots after tries, line outs and pre-game of players celebrating or walking around. The level of graphics is not up to par with what can be done with the system currently. I could tell from multiple clipping models that they had a limited body pool to choose from when they did their motion capture.

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. Choose between fifteen songs. 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. Voiceover is a little English, and by that I mean bland, even if it is a Scotsman talking. The commentary triggers also seem like they take a moment to trigger after a play or penalty.

Rugby 08 has a few changes this year. 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. A little something for your listening pleasure in between pints. Next on the actual Main Menu is the new Challenge Mode. Take on classic scenarios from previous World Cup matches and you can unlock video highlight clips of matches gone by. 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.

Once you get on the pitch, you will notice many new features to playing the game. In Rugby 06, it felt like a game for backs and this year, it felt more balanced between forwards and backs. One reason for this is the obvious focus placed on the Scrum, Mauling and Forward Play. You can play the scrum and set plays off of it. Wheel your scrum to give your backs a better presentation to the unprotected side of the field. If you are losing a scrum, let it wheel past 90 degrees to bring it down.

Along with being able to run set plays off of a scrum, you can also change your defense on the fly to accommodate different offensive styles instead of just trying to match numbers flat. You will need to set these up and assign them to your D-Pad.

The way you literally look at the game has changed as well, with new camera angles. The use of crane and truck positions gives it more of that "live from the telly" feeling. You can also create a custom look with a slider system in the Camera Settings Menu.

Rugby 08 or just Rugby in general is a very simple game that has come close to bringing nations to war with each other. One of our mottos is that Rugby is a gentleman's game played by scoundrels. I would have called the game easy a few years ago, but now if you are not up to speed with Rugby theory, then you are going to be paying for it. The part that I find difficult, unfortunately, is not the strength of the A.I. or player, but the weakness of the controls. Bigger games such as Madden Football, or really all games with pursuits in them, are just getting past this weakness. The way players turn and what happens after a player takes control of an NPC is a huge difference between a try and tackle. The A.I. has horrible, and I say HORRIBLE ball recognition no matter what the team's ranking is. Time after time, I watch an easy tackle not even attempted. You try not to always jump to the player, because all of the sudden they dive off in left field. There has to be some thought to proximity or direction. Anyway, that is the frustration felt trying to control the players in the heat of a play. The simple solution is compensation, otherwise known as skill. But, I don't want every sports game to discredit the athlete it is controlling. I understand breaking the tackle occasionally, or even missing on the tackle, but not just not going for the tackle. Frustrating.

Rugby 08 is a great Rugby game. I don't know if all of the control mechanics hold up when you compare them to other franchises that have had more play time. I would think that the same company, yes I know they are miles apart, would have some collaboration. I understand the budget differences as well. I am not asking for the moon. I just think that if they could get the controls up to par with current versions of American football games, then I would have to just shut up and do nothing but pat them on the back for a near perfect game. In my opening remarks, I said I would hold the depth of Rugby 08 up to the standards of American football games, and I will say that hands down, American football still comes out on top. I will also say that if developers in the same company could combine efforts more, yes even across studios, then all of my Rugby dreams would come true.

Now that you have gotten this far, you have to realize that everything I have said about Rugby 08