Madden NFL 2003

"It's PRETTY good..."

The Madden series is back, with a couple extra twists, but I must say I was a bit disappointed in some aspects. Otherwise, it's a great game.

Gameplay
People say that the hits and runs and catches are all much more realistic. I see improvement, but not the massive improvement I was expecting. It is a little tougher to run the ball up the defense's throats, but I don't see much advance in this. One thing I don't like is the change that you now cannot edit the players in the main menu. I saw some ratings that I thought were too low, and wanted to change them a bit for my own opinions, but it would not allow me. ''Football 101'' in the game is basically the training option from last year's game. The minicamps are a nice touch, and a challenge to get that shiny gold medal. These two modes also greatly improve your play in all aspects of the game, everything from passing to punting. The Create-A-Team and Create-A-Player are improved some, but I was hoping for some jersey modifications for different teams, if you didn't really like their current jerseys or something. One thing that Madden has never had, and may not seem significant to them, but pisses me off sometimes: number changing. If I were to trade Randy Moss or Marshall Faulk to my team, and I already had an 84 or 28, I know the numbers would change. But come on, EA, give us an option to change the numbers! It's not that hard! They seemed to have found it out with NBA Live 2002 and NHL 2002, but even though those are good games, Madden is by far the most important. Put all the improvements you can, people!

Graphics
The players faces are improved, but not greatly. The stadiums, however, look much better. The fans are no longer 2D, but 3D, and the stadiums have much more detail in all their parts. If there's a pirate ship in the Buccaneers stadium, there's gonna be a pirate ship in the game (though I've seen the pirate ship up close and I don't think they did that great a job on it). The Create-A-Player offers much more graphics for players' faces and other things. There has been improvement here.

Audio
Al Michaels is a lifesaver, not only from that dreaded Summerall boy but from Madden himself. Can Madden say anything that somebody doesn't already know? ''You throw it into coverage, and you're probably gonna get it knocked down,'' or, ''when you turn the ball over, it gives the other team a chance to score points.'' Obviously, John. The music is much better, with a much bigger variety of bands and artists, but it's kind of annoying when that little window pops up in the corner telling you the song that's playing.

Replayability
It's a sports game. There's obviously gonna be great replayability. And with all the minicamps challenging you, you won't be taking this disc out of the PS2 for a while.

Buy/Rent
If you're an avid football fan and love the Madden series, buy it. If you're a first timer or not sure, rent all the different football games.

Now, when I talked about what I was disappointed about, don't get me wrong. I was expecting more. Expecting more. It is still a great game, that's why I gave it 9/10. I just had very high expectations of this game. Some were met, some were not. Let's allow Madden himself to end it.

''If you buy this game, you're gonna be able to play it.''

Thank you, John.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/15/02, Updated 08/15/02