FIFA Soccer 2003

"Somehow, it just falls short"

Alright, this is the second soccer game on the PlayStation2 this year by EA Sports and I guess fans are eager to find out whether EA has learnt from their mistakes in the previous installment - 2002 FIFA World Cup. With Konami establishing themselves as the pace setters with their successful Pro Evolution Soccer 2, EA Sports takes drastic measures to live up to the competition. Here's how FIFA Soccer 2003 fares.

Menu Presentation - 6/10
As a part of the popular EA franchise which has seen such high standards, this game's menu style is surprisingly poor and well below par. You may be left scratching your head while reading this, but the menus interface are definitely not professional enough to make a FIFA game.

Graphics - 7/10
Not great. Not bad. Decent - that's it. While it has been tweaked abit with a few enhancements here and there, it just fails to make a significant step forward over the previous FIFA games. Particular star players' models like Ryan Giggs and Roberto Carlos have been worked on and they look rather realistic - and the same goes for the popular stadiums as well, e.g. Old Trafford.

Sound - 8/10
EA has got it right here. The sound of the crowd chanting and cheering has definitely caught my attention. Also, there is the play by play commentary by John Motson and Ally McCoist providing their voices. The old boy Andy Gray has been discarded in FIFA 2003, but that doesn't mean its a bad thing.

Gameplay and Controls - 5/10
Relatively poor. Passes are easily executed but hard to intercept and lobs have been shockingly inaccurate. It is also more difficult to shoot, given that you need to have the player facing the right direction to pull off a successful shot. The new free kick and corner kick system also tends to get gamers on their nerves as everyone is already used to the old system where EA provides an arrow as a guide. Dribbling and the rest of the controls are somewhat similiar to Pro Evolution Soccer, though.

Replayability - 6/10
You would only want to go through the matches over and over only if you want the realism of the statistics of various clubs in this game. You will tend to get bored of it quickly but you could bring a friend to spice things up a bit.

Overall Rating - 6/10
Think of it - this game could have been so much better given the promise and potential EA had. Its back to the drawing board for them if they want to keep Konami and Pro Evolution Soccer 2 at bay. You might want to rent this game first instead of considering to buy it.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 12/10/02, Updated 12/10/02