Animated All Blacks step up a class

The All Blacks in action...screen-grabs from Electronic Arts' Rugby 2005 game.

If New Zealanders are to have an affinity with any video game released this year, it has to be Rugby 2005 from Electronic Arts.

Sure, The Battle for Middle-Earth strategy game, also an EA title, recreates the homegrown vistas of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

And you'll fly along familiar gravel roads in snippets of the recently released Playstation 2 rallying title WRC 4.

But there's something a bit more patriotic about an animated All Blacks squad taking to the field to perform a digital haka.

For Electronic Arts, the company behind the major sports titles Fifa and Madden, the latest version of its rugby game is designed to appeal to those pockets of rugby fans around the world not content with playing American football, ice hockey or soccer video games.

Early reviews already point to Rugby 2005, which will be released on the Playstation 2 and Xbox platforms, being a significant improvement on previous rugby titles.

An advanced graphical engine has been credited with providing smoother gameplay and animation.

The mid-1990s title Jonah Lomu Rugby was hailed as an authentic game that allowed people with limited knowledge of the game to have fun playing it. Game developers have been trying to beat it ever since. The Playstation title was the first to spark real interest in rugby video games which enjoy popularity mainly in Europe, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

"The fan base for Rugby definitely exists," said Andrew Wilson, the Canada-based producer of Rugby 2005, who was in New Zealand last week to show it off. An Australian brought up on rugby, Wilson oversaw Rugby 2004's development and works in conjunction with the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and the provincial teams to accurately recreate venues, uniforms and players' features.

Wilson said rugby was a "tricky" game to get right because of the large number of moves available to players and the fact that 30 players were on the field at one time - more than in any other EA sports title

"The characters need to be rendered at once and the technological constraints begin to add up."

Facial characteristics of the New Zealand internationals are modelled on real All Blacks - you'll recognise the stars in close-ups. Also, you can create your own characters to play alongside the rugby greats.

The game covers Tri-Nations and Super 12 teams and several international tournaments such as the Six Nations and the European Cup. You can play as one of 11 nations or as part of the British Lions team.

The controls have been improved for flexibility and realism and there are new player modes. Improvements have been made to full-motion video sequences and replays.

Players can also go through a rugby training mode to learn the ins and outs of the game before playing.

Rugby 2005 is due to be released next month.