FIFA Soccer 2003

"Its poor, but people will buy it..."

EA promised a brand new Fifa game when they annonced Fifa 2003. What we got was the same we get every year, a game full of licences but no gameplay. Fifa 2003 all the major leagues from around the world, with each team having their real kit and sponsor. I will break the game down for you.

GAMEPLAY - 5/10
The new freestyle mode is very poor, by using the c stick your player can do little tricks, this may sound good but in reality you will hardly ever use it.
The new freekick system is way too easy to score with, nearly every freekick you get near the penalty area will result in a goal, this may also sound good but soon you will get sick of it.
Fifa 2003 just does not feel like you are playing a football game. The goalkeepers are some of the worst i have ever seen, they will let in easy saves and also they charge out of goal at the worst of times.

GRAPHICS - 9/10

I would have given this a 10 if it was not for some bluring during the game. The graphics in Fifa 2003 are the best i have seen in a sports game. Every player looks real, the stadiums are the best seen in any football game. The lighting effects are very good, it really looks like a football match on TV.

SOUND - 8/10

The sound is very good. Teams have there own fan chants & the in game music is from well known artists.

REPLAY VALUE 6/10

There are lots of leagues and cups to play through, but with nothing to unlock you wont want to bother. If your thinking about customizing your team...forget it, there is no edit mode in the entire game, you cannot edit players or move players. You will only end up playing Fifa 2003 in multiplayer mode.

VERDICT

As you can see from my scoring, Fifa 2003 has good graphics, good sound and all the real life licences. The gameplay and lack of an edit mode let the game down. If it wasent for the graphics and licenses i would have given Fifa 2003 a 4, it really is that bad. Fifa games will sell much more than the ISS games because of the licence. EA needs to look at the gameplay side of the game before they put in amazing graphics.

IF YOU LIKE THIS TRY

International Superstar Soccer 2 - Gamecube

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 03/04/03, Updated 03/04/03