The best fifa yet? (FIFA Football 2003 (PS2))

Member Name: GR-Design

Product:	FIFA Football 2003 (PS2)
Date:	12/01/03 (552 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: see op

Disadvantages: see op

I wouldn't say so...

Fifa 2003 came to us with a bit of a bang, there were a lot of people dying to get their hands on a copy of this, and I was lucky enough to be bought a copy by my girlfriend this Christmas, along with the Playstation 2 she bought me.

I have been playing Fifa 2001 on the Playstation 1 for a while now. Boring our girlfriends to death me and my mate would by riveted in competition against one another playing with the teams that we liked and had got used too. Each team was unique, each team could do different things, one team would nearly always score on a nice little corner kick while the other wouldn’t have a hope in chance, but would be excellent at doing a through run and slamming it past the goalkeeper into the back of the net. Oh the joys of playing this game, hours were spent head to head, while both of us would be at the same skill level, one of us winning loads of games one day, then losing loads of game the next!

Move over Fifa 2001, it’s time for the new Fifa 2003, and argh, I can’t play it.

Fifa 2003 has changed completely to what I’m used to. The same idea is still there, Electronic Arts have just made it completely different to play with their snazzy camera angles and unique controls. It states on the back of the box ‘Brand new dribbling, shooting, crossing and passing models’. Indeed, I’m damn sure these are there as I can’t get used to any of them. It used to be that when you passed, it would pass to another one of your players. When you pass now, half the time you will pass to no one, though normally, it’s the other team!

Total Dead Ball Control is another one of the features that Fifa 2003 has, but lacked in Fifa 2001. This is good, but on the other hand, can be a complete nightmare. What this generally means is that where you aim, the ball will go, unlike the older games where the ball had set patterns as to where it can go.
Sure, this sounds like a damn good feature, but you just try playing with this. When you have camera angles moving in every single direction and your running down the field, ball in front of you, you see a side / slightly overhead view of your player, line him and up you shoot! It goes way off target thanks to the camera view putting you off and making you think you can get something. The same happens when an opponent gets the ball, you find yourself running around in circles before you realise where you are. The same goes for passing, how the hell are you supposed to pass to someone when you can’t actually see them.

Theres on camera angle that’s good in this game, and I can play with, and that’s the one that’s closest to overhead (can’t remember the name of it), it’s the one that closest resembles the Fifa 2001 setup. With this camera angle you can actually see more of the players, but with the detail of the players being so intense and the detail of the stadium being so intense, once you can see half the pitch, more players and more of the crowd in the stadium, things start to slow up and you find the game jumping and skipping frames as it refreshes itself, trying to keep up with the demands of the graphics.

Graphics is something that this game has. You can actually tell who the players are if you know what they look like (me, I wouldn’t have a clue, apart from David Beckham!). The cut scenes are really good, with every player having his unique features, from his hair, to an ear ring, it ill all be there, right in front of you. The game itself is set up a bit like a TV showing of football, with the screens moving into one another.

Sound is excellent too, with the crowd shouting out the scores, the unique chants and much more, ooo’s and ahhh’s as you go for goal and miss. The referee makes a few appearances too, showing his red or yellow cards, you should see some of the faces of th
e players when they get sent off!

You can play a variety of different games, from championship, friendly’s, arcade and simulation modes. You can select your arena, your opponents, your shirt colours, set your people up however you wan, view statistic, all while getting commentary, which is much improved over fifa 2001 along the way.

The game is a damn good one in terms or realism and is probably the closest to real football game out there on the market at the moment. It’s just a shame they have made it so damn hard to play and get used to the controls. For now, me and my mate will be playing against each other on Fifa 2001! For this reason, it gets 4 out of 5 from me.

For more information:
www.fifafootball2003.ea.com

Priced around £39.99 at most high street stores at time of writing.

Summary: