FIFA Soccer 2003

"Easily the best GameCube football game so far and also the best FIFA so far!"

The players walk onto a pitch of lush green grass, the crowd are on their feet shouting out, chanting and singing, the teams do their warm-up exercises. You hear the voices of John Motson and Ally McCoist introducing the match. Then, the teams get called to kick-off. The tension mounts. The atmosphere is simply breath-taking. The referee puts the whistle to his lips and..... THE MATCH BEGINS!!

Graphics- As soon as you start a match, you will notice that there has been an absolutely huge attention to detail. The stadium looks superb with its lush grass and brilliant blue sky. The players look incredibly real. If you choose a big team like Manchester United, you will see that the players almost alarmingly realistic. David Beckham and Paul Scholes look spot on from their hair, to their facial features and even their boots. This has to be the best-looking football game EVER!

Audio- As the players enter onto the pitch, the atmosphere is absolutely superb. There is a huge burst of sound from the crowd, who sound extremely realistic, and when the match kicks off they start chanting and singing. When a goal is scored they cheer, which hugely adds to the pleasure of scoring, and when the game restarts they start to chart the score. The commentary as usual from a FIFA game is superb with John Motson and Ally McCoist adding to the experience and making you chuckle a bit as they do it. When you are in the menu screens there is the latest chart music to listen to which is a bonus and better than the repetitive one tune that is usually played in football games.

GamePlay- This is where the biggest improvement is made from the last game. EA have completely re-vamped the match engine and vastly improved the opponents' AI. This means that it is no longer possible to dribble the whole length of the pitch and score, unless you are playing some Japanese or Austrian team or you've really mastered the game, and you will have to think a lot more about where you are going to pass it and what runs you will make. Also, if you are a goal up in the late stages of a big game, the opponent will start to play better and attack your goal in a last-gasp effort to score, which is a very nice touch by EA.

LifeSpan- There are many different competitions and tournaments to take part in on this game, including a Season Mode which lasts for five seasons and you can be relegated, promoted and play in European competitions. This game is also good to play with upto four players and if you are really into football this game will last you till the next Fifa game comes out in the autumn.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/16/03, Updated 01/16/03