Madden NFL 2003

"Another example of how EA sports completely dominates in their games."

If you're thinking this game will be like other games, think again. EA Sports has taken it to the next level and then gone way beyond that.

Graphics 8.5/10
Okay the graphics in this game are quite good, but if you have ever played other madden games you will notice a few similarities in the graphics. Although is is defiantly much better than the rest, they still could have made it better. More color maybe, and less trying to make things perfect. For example the grass on the fields is too perfect to be real.

Gameplay 9/10
The gameplay is quite simple, and if you've ever played other madden games, you will do just fine. Some times when your play doesnt work it is annoying because you can tell it should have. That is one of the only bad parts about it.

The franchise mode makes up for the abscence of a season mode. It is so fun to just play a franchise and keep it going. You get to do all your own trading, you sign your new players, and you get to get rid of players you don't want. A fun thing to do here is make your own team in creat-a-team and then start a franchise with them. You'll have a ton of fun creating your own team full of players from all the different NFL teams, you can even creat-a-player and add them to your created team.

Online play is a great feature for those of you who have the Network Adaptor. You get to play a game against one of your friends across the country or even play against some stranger you dont know. Either way it is fun to do.

A great feature for anyone who has never played madden before or just wants to get acquainted with the 2003 controls and whatnot is the mini camp. You get to learn passing and running and other helpful stuff through different camps such as throwing a ball through rings to the receiver or trying to nock the ball away from the receiver dummies. You can spend tons of time in this mode alone while you try to win the gold medal.

These features along with a few others makes the gameplay very interesting and fun. While at points you are assured to get angry at the game, at other times you will be playing and loving the game.

Audio 10/10
I have to say, this is one of the best audio filled games I've played. EA sports has added a great selection of music to this game. One of my favorite things to do with this game is just to listen to its music. I love the songs they put on here. Other than the music the sound effects for in game play are also very good and accurate. If you turn the sound up you can sometimes make out the crowd yelling stuff at you or the reffs and it's usually funny. The sounds are so accurate you'll feel like you're actually there at the game, well sometimes.

Control 10/10
It is pretty basic what the controls are and they are really easy to use. If you have any trouble with the controls just refer to your manual or else on loading they list the controls for you. Sometimes while your in the heat of a game you will forget the controls though and this is really iritating, but just try to remember what everything is.

Multiplayer Mode 10/10
Multiplayer is good enough that I wanted to give it its own section in the review. This is a great multiplayer game, unlike some games I've played where it is just no fun at all. This feature is just as fun, if not funner (since you and a friend are competing) as the regular modes and can be compared to online play. If you have someone else in your house who likes to play sports games then you will deffinately enjoy this feature.

Rent or Buy?
I deffinately recommend you give this game a rent and see if you like it enough to buy, or if you are an all out sports fan and love football games then go buy it. I am glad that I bought it because it is so interesting and fun to play. Most sports games can get boring after a while of playing them, this one probably could for some people, but most people will love to play this game because there is so much to do on it unlike in other maddens where it was just, play one player football or play multiplayer football and those were really your only options othere than maybe some other minor stuff.

Overall 10/10
All together I love this game, it is a ton of fun to play either single player or multiplayer. You can do so much with this game and you could spend hours just learning all the features and game modes. You will get lost in this game, and all a sudden it will be dinner time and you wont want to leave the game. I am so serious when I say you have to somehow get your hands on this game and play it. No matter if you rent it, buy it, borrow it, steal it, or find it ... I don't really care how you get it as long as you somehow do

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/08/03, Updated 01/08/03