Rugby Nations 2011

The 2011 Rugby World Cup Final last Sunday could, to the uninitiated at least, have appeared to consist of little more than a group of burly men running into one another and then rolling around on the floor until the referee tells them to stop.

In practice, of course, the sport of rugger is far more complex than that. But if someone were to develop a rugby game after just a quick glance at the telly midway through a 2011 World Cup encounter, he could well end up with a creation that looked a little bit like Rugby Nations 2011.

That's not to say this season's edition of Distinctive Development's rugby franchise is a bad game - it just feels like it's less of a hardcore rugby sim and more of a strange love letter to a sport that doesn't really exist.

Rugby Nations 2011 lets you choose from a large pool of international teams - all of which play in remarkably similar ways - and lead your nation to glory in an unsanctioned, and definitely not official, World Cup.

After the cinematic intro, the camera settles down behind whichever of your players is nearest to the ball. From there, you engage in a battle of attrition, inching forward, tackle by tackle, desperately trying to move far enough forward to score a try.

You have no control over the forward momentum of your team, but on-screen buttons allow you to dodge left and right, as well as passing in the direction you'd like. It's a simple system, but it works well and keeps the tempo of the game high.

Scrums and penalties are controlled with finger swipes, and when you've lost the ball, your on-screen buttons switch to a pair of tackle options. The whole game is presented in mawkish but reasonably impressive 3D, although the use of the same animations over and again is obvious after only a couple of games.

The tackles are crunching; the kicks, swift and direct. But if you're expecting to be able to imitate the expansive style of rugby the All Blacks perfected in recent weeks, you're in for something of a shock.

There's neither the free-flowing, quick-footed breaks of a Dan Carter, nor any type of intelligent kicking game to be found in Rugby Nations 2011. Indeed, this is a game which can be broken down into two distinct phases: going forward and holding down the tackle button until you get the oval ball back.

If the ball's under your control, you'll move slowly onward, being dragged down every few metres until you either drop the 'egg' or commit some difficult-to-fathom sin and concede a penalty. If your opponent has the ball, you're the one doing the dragging down, hoping against hope for a drop or a fumble.

It makes for tense encounters, but it's not really rugby. It's more like the most angry, most desperate game of British bulldog you've ever played.

Rugby Nations 2011 is fun, and there's an addictive quality in mastering its shuffling rhythm, but if you're seeking a game that accurately replicates the rugby experience, you're probably better off looking elsewhere.