Madden NFL 2003

"Madden 2003 Is A Great Example Of How Not To Follow Up A Successful Game"

INTRO
If you've played Madden 2002, then you know it was obviously the superior game in the football genre. But this year, they've pretty much taken the same game and added some more features. However, with the good comes that bad, and Madden 2003 is no exception. This years game seems to get worse somehow. Read more to find out details...

GAMEPLAY 7/10
This score would be higher if I hadn't seen this exact same system before. Of course it's good that I know all the basic controls before I even bought the game, but you can't expect to package the same game a year later and still have the same great results. This game's gameplay is exactly like Madden 2002. It's not really a bad thing for newcomers to the series, but I like to be entertained by challenging things, which Madden 2003 does not provide. I pretty much mastered last years version, and this year I expected to have the same affect. However I thought it'd take a lot longer than one game. I beat the first team I played (On Pro) 56-7.
Hardly any updates have been added to this years version. It still has the gameplay that 2002's version had which is a very good thing. It also has a few other features, like interceptions have ben pretty much revamped. They've atleast tried to improve the run blocking, which is good. It's still a struggle to get through the designated holes, but it's an improvement.
A major downfall in this years version is how the computer cheats. Most games have a huge problem with this feature, but Madden 2002's did not. How can it go from good to bad in just one year? I don't have the answer to that questions, but hopefully EA Sports will next year, so they can fix it.

GRAPHICS 9/10
I feel like I'm saying the same thing over and over.....it's the same as last year! But on graphics, there was not much they could improve on. They added more stadiums, and better fans, which adds to the great graphics that 2002 had. Not much to say in this category, good graphics, but graphics don't make a game.

SOUND 6/10
Bye Pat Summerall, he's gone in this years version. Al Michaels is now the play by play announcer in 2003. The sound is like 2002, bad. John Madden chimes in every so often with his opinion, which most of the time doesn't make sense or is extremely annoying. Michaels doesn't help with his scripeted, choppy lines. ''Bennet....runs for....12...yards''. I'm still looking for the right sports game with smooth announcing, at least somewhat like in real games. 2003's sound is like 2002's...a failure.
Where'd the rap and hip-hop tunes go!? I'm not a fan of rap or hip-hop, and I still find myself turning the volume off and turning on the local rap station. This years music is complete crap. EA Sports should know better than to mess with a good thing.

CONTROL 7/10
Madden 2003 prides itself on it's addition of the strife feature, which is where your player can strife along a imaginary line without turning away from the direction they're facing. That's pretty much all 2003 can pride itself on because it's taken it's controls from 2002 and made them worse. The smooth, fast-paced movement from 2002 is gone. Now, if you want to turn 180 degrees and run, expect to wait a second or two for your player to stop, pivit, shift around and then start running. Do normal players stall, and take 3 seconds to turn around? NO! Why does 2003 include this? I have no idea....

REPLAY VALUE 8/10
With this years addition of mini-camp mode, online play, and 30+ years of Franchise Mode you should be playing Madden 2003. If you're discouraged by the little details, and flaws that Madden 2003 has made then this will directly impact the amount of time you play it for. I know I got sick of a lot of little things Madden 2003 took a step back in, and went to play 2002 for some relief.

ALL THE SMALL THINGS
Of course, I'm the kind of person who picks at the little things in a game and gets frusterated. Madden 2003 has plenty of these little things to tick me off. First off, EA Sports has turned to advertising on their own game! I think that deserves an explination....first off, you cannot get all of the Madden Cards (Very Addictive To Collect) without having a Nascar 2003 and NCAA Football 2003 save on your memory card. Secondly, in the start of each song there's a pop-up (that takes up enough of the screen to tick you off) that comes up telling you which song it is. There's no way to turn this annoying feature off! Argh! And finally, the first set of Madden Cards you get are ..... band members!? Another pathetic attempt to advertise on their own game. Seriously though, who would include band members in a football game? The answer....EA Sports.

QUICK HITS
Gameplay 7/10
Graphics 9/10
Sound 6/10
Control /10
Replay Value 8/10

THE GOOD

+ Mini-Camp Mode
+ New Graphics
+ Good Franchise Mode
+ Online Play


THE BAD

- Almost Exactly The Same As Madden 2002
- Bad Sound/Announcing
- Advertising On Your Own Game! WTF!
- Controls Are Sluggish
- I've Seen This All Before....


OVERALL 7/10 *Not An Average*
This game's worth a rent, if anything you should buy it for the online play. If you have 2002, you've pretty much seen this game. Just take some of the great things it's improved on, and take a step back, and you have Madden NFL 2003....a terrible disappointment.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/22/02, Updated 09/22/02