FIFA Soccer 2003

"Still far from being a winner..."

Ever since 1995 I always owned any ISS/WE/PES/PE version and compared it to FIFA. After FIFA 99 I stopped buying them because they were to disappointing to me and Konami demonstrated it's superior ability to create a football game. FIFA was good on the Genesis, the last good 3D version was FIFA 98 and was even a good contender for ISS Pro 98, but I heard great things about this FIFA 2003, so here is what I think.

Graphics 10/10
Detailed and smooth, probably the best one you could see in a football game. The player's faces are very well rendered (example: Davids with his orange glasses), same for their shirts (with sponsors), the pitch, the stadium and even the crowd that now looks much better and has no more 2 frames animations. The stadiums and crowds are full of flags and banners. The animations on the pitch are better than the last versions, smooth and pretty realistic although they look a bit...er...I don't know, but there's something in the movements that still don't convince me. The gameplay is fast enough and there are only a few slowdowns, especially during corners.

Sound 9/10
The crowd effects are realistic and it's chants add a lot more realism to the gameplay, some teams have their own chants other than the classic ones.
The in game commentary from John Motson and Ally McCoist is enjoyable and never gets boring, then it doesn't sound like in PES2 where they repeat always the same phrases in a ''cut & paste'' way. It only sound a bit to low in the volume but maybe it's just my impression.
The music in the menu are good too and they never sound annoying.

Gameplay 4/10
This is where the game disappoints. Don't get me wrong, it's a great step ahead compared to the last FIFA versions, but it still fails to feel like real football or to battle against PES/WE.
They removed the dotted through ball system and this is a good thing and the passage system now really works fine (not like in FIFA 2002 where they said it was completely renewed). The movements are simple and the players finally don't seem to ''skate'' on the pitch. The AI is much improved and now the CPU can make some good plays, through balls and finally it can defend really great against your strikers by pressing them. The ball physics is also improved.
But now the bad part. The controls are far from being instinctive and I can't play as good as I play in PES2, they are not simple and the reaction off the players sometimes doesn't convice me. The passes (short and long ones) are better, yes, but most of the time are not accurate and it's all a matter of luck sometimes. Especially for long passes it's almost impossible to play a good ball for the striker or to make a working cross, not to accurate, not that ''controllable'' crosses, passes and long balls.
Is it harder to score? Yes, so they told me and so I've read in many reviews but when I played this game I failed to see how hard can it be. The CPU scored a dumb goal in my first match (Ulsan - Juventus), Del Piero just ran straight before the penalty area, he shot and he scored. I thought I was just dumb to not press him, but I tried again. After a few minutes I noticed I could score the same way, the defenders didn't seem to make their pressing to work so they gave me a lot of space for a shot. The goalkeepers couldn't save a single shot from outside the area. Ok, maybe that's because I've choose the easier level, so I tried to make the game more difficult. Ok, now it seems harder to make a good play, but still you can make fool of the CPU just a few tricks, using the ''turbo'' and fast plays, not to say that the goalkeepers still can be beaten with a straight shot for an unknown reason. Maybe it's just me and my years of experience with the much more difficult WE/PES/ISS series, but I don't think this game is hard as it's depicted in the reviews. I can't avoid a comparison with PES2 where the game is a lot harder, you can't make fool of the defenders and the tactics are the basics to beat a 4-5 star CPU opponent.
Don't get me wrong again, FIFA 2003 is a lot better that the other versions (yes they deserved a score lower than 3), but still fails in some gameplay deparments.
You can even choose between action and simulation gameplay (it also happened in the very first FIFA on Genesis), but I failed to see a difference o__O

Lastability 5/10
This is where FIFA demonstrates to be good and bad at the same time. 16 (or so) official leagues, more than 750 teams, 20+ stadiums etc. etc., but do you really need all those teams when most of them are completely crap? Just think of the Korean, Swiss, Austrian or other teams from better nations like Atalanta or Piacenza in Italy. Most of them are completely useless. There's no Netherlands national team or championship, there are only Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord. The Club championship is good and has the same concept of the one we saw in FIFA 99. As in the last episodes you can manage a team through a complete season with league and cup.
The players/teams editor is missing, so say ''bye bye'' to update your rosters, shirts etc. during the year or even to a custom player. Unexplainable, because you could find an editor in FIFA 2002 and in PES2, but not in this game. A shame for a football game.
Although the game features a whole lot of official leagues and cups I don't want to play them, I don't care about Korean football, so I prefer to have just a few official leagues and teams from the best countries (Italy, Spain, England, Germany and France), that would be enough, not fill the game with teams you won't even see playing. Maybe it's just me but the season feels boring, every time with the same teams and players in your team. I have much more fun in PES2 to create my own team and play against the best teams from every nation in a 5 star Master League where I have to suffer to win, and this is satisfying. This doesn't happen in FIFA 2003 where it just seems to boring and useless.
FIFA 2003 gains some points in the multiplayer department, you can play matches with up to 8 players (I think, never tried it). Also with just 2 players it's a funny game to play with.
How far can you go with this game and it's gameplay?

Rent/Buy
If you have PES2/WE6 rent FIFA 2003 just to have an idea of the game, if you don't have PES2/WE6 rent FIFA 2003 and PES2/WE6 to make a comparison, then choose which one is better for you. If you are in the USA wait for PES2 but since the wait is long you can blindly trust FIFA 2003 because it still provides some fun.

Overall (not an average) 5/10
As I said it's a great improvement from FIFA 2002 (I don't count the crappy World Cup 2002) but it's still really far from the great PES/WE series from Konami, not as realistic and funny. If EA keeps working this way we will have a good contender for PES/WE from next year, but today PES/WE is still the best choice for a football fan that look for a realistic football game. FIFA 2003 features everything official you need, faces, shirts, names, leagues, cups and very accurate stadiums, but still fails to provide a solid realism in the gameplay. I would choose great gameplay without a license over official licenses without good gameplay any day...just my personal views.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 11/13/02, Updated 11/13/02