NFL 2K3

"A Step Back From Previous Years"

NFL2K3 is an okay football game, but it's not as good as it was on Dreamcast. To someone who may have never played those games, it might seem great, but it is a definite step back from the awesomeness that the NFL2K franchise used to possess.

Presentation: 5
The menus are pretty ugly and it is unnecessarily complicated to sign free agents and the like. The way you pick plays is really dumb. Trying to control a little crosshair type thing while I choose my play is frustrating; they shouldn't have changed it at all. The whole ESPN thing is a nice touch now, and the replays can be pretty cool sometimes.

Features: 7
Create a player is nice, but you can't add facial hair to your player. I don't think there is a way to get more points to give your player either, so you have to take all of his points from something to make him any good. The teams from the past that they included are pretty cool, even if none of the numbers on the jerseys aren't correct, and the jerseys from the old teams are a nice touch as well. There really isn't much else in the features category.

Sound: 8
Commentary seems like it's been reused from previous games, so it's only okay. The hit sounds are pretty good, and the voices of the linebackers are good. The stadium and crowd sounds are also not bad.

Graphics: 8
The graphics aren't outstanding, but they are solid. The faces, helmets, jerseys, player models, and crowd are all done well, but the field looks really bad when it's not zoomed in really close. It's blurry and it looks like crap basically.

Gameplay: 1
This is the game's downfall. There is hardly anything about the gameplay that is any good. Offensively, it's really hard to gain yards passing or running. I set the difficulty to the lowest possible and use a great team and play the worst one, and I still can't get anything rushing. I am always surrounded by 3 guys who don't get blocked, and the useless jukes and spins won't get me out of it. The passing plays are all pretty bad, and the quarterback throws the ball strangely, so passing is usually just luck. Defensively, it's even worse. If you use Michael Strahan or another good defensive lineman, he will still get blocked by any piece of crap offensive lineman no matter what. It's almost impossible to sack the quarterback because your guys are so slow. They will run all over you no matter what, it's VERY frustrating. It seems like they can always pass very well, too, even if I have two men on a receiver, he will still somehow catch the ball. You can't dive into someone and block them like in the previous games, and that takes a lot of the fun out of multiplayer. You also can't hit a guy after the play is over, which was the most fun thing to do in the older games. The only thing I think they improved on is the hitting; the hits are harder and quite a bit better from the previous games.

Rent or buy: Neither; wait for next year to see if they turn this lousy game into something like it used to be.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 11/03/02, Updated 11/03/02