FIFA Soccer 2003

"A very Average game"

First off, when you see Fifa 2003 on the shelves in gaming shops, you feel as though it might be a great game with the excellent presentation. However, with the price tag that comes with it, one may be slightly disappointed…(PES= Pro evolution Soccer)

Gameplay 3/10:
On the Pitch: The game has too many flaws with it. EA spent so much effort and time on graphics that they overlooked on gameplay. The whole game is pitifully unrealistic. The only thing they made up for is the special features of certain players such as the white band around Del Piero’s ankles, Roberto Carlos’ shuffle, Ronaldo’s fake and so on. However, that’s about it really…intercepting of the ball is incredibly easy for the cpu. It will intercept it even though your player is closer and worse is that your player doesn’t move! Impossible! Also, the goalkeeper can get the ball from a weak free kick. He clears it. Where? 18 yards out and then the cpu gets the header. Again, too unrealistic. Corner taking is poor and thus once you cross it, headers are impossible to win as the cpu get is almost every time. Free kicks are unbelievable! You can score so easily! Why? because the keeper does not even make an effort to save it. All you see is him move to the side watching the net bulge. No attempt every time. Crossing is poor a it only goes in the direction your player is facing. The ball can go flying off for a throw unlike PES where the ball ends up at your teammates’ feet. Defending is appalling because when you try to defend, the cursor always switches to the closest defender and thus not letting you defend from another angle i.e from the other side of the attacker and head towards him. One has to chase.

Off the pitch: When you win the cup, you don’t see a lap of honour or a trophy collection. Practice and Edit mode has disappeared which was a major disappointment. Formation changing has no variety. Some leagues have disappeared and players can sometimes be hard to find. PES thus has an advantage as you can buy players from the country they play for. No harder difficulty above world class. World class to be honest, is getting pretty easy even with Anyang cheaters. Also needs more stats, i.e height, weight, power, accuracy, you know ,stuff you get in PES. Loading time is a tad long. More options are also needed to change different settings. Practice mode is really needed to perfect free kicks.

Good Points about gameplay: Sending players on a run is a great new idea and sending them on runs in the box and then crossing it makes easy goals. Famous players actually look like the players themselves and thus I can say that the graphic were very good and texture was excellent. Shooting idea is also very good and smooth. Skills are also very good as some are very individual which PES needs to catch up on.

Sound: 10/10
Excellent. The commentary is amazing and is one that PES really needs to improve on. Does not get repetitive and sometimes they come out with new things to say. Introduction to the teams before the match is very good and Ally McCoist and John Motson have both done a good job. Again PES has something to catch up on. Crowd chants follow the action very well. For instance, if it was 4-1 to Man Utd vs Arsenal, The Man Utd Crowd would chant “4-1 to Man United” So full marks.



Graphics: 9/10
Very smooth and fluid. Player characterizations are very good and are also individualized. Unique to some players who have their own celebrations. Crowd animations are very good with the lights and movement of banners. However, some people look a bit weird thought this isn’t much of a problem.

Compared to Pro Evolution Soccer:

Graphics: Fifa beats it because of the individualism of Fifa and the crowd animation. Team logos are present instead of weird flags. Though this is mainly because Konami don’t have the rights to use them only EA do.

Sound: Fifa only because of the commentary and the performance from Ally and John. The Intro, in game analysis and actual reference to stats and position in the league, form of team, run, reference to 2002 world cup, scoring record all outclass PES. PES’s commentary from Terry Butcher and Chris James makes you want to turn the tv on mute and put some music on instead.

Gameplay: PES definitely. Passing is smoother, shooting is good as you can score from well outside the area, control of the ball is much better with 3 different speeds of dribble, more stats, heading is better and less bias, refereeing is fairer, crossing is better, edit mode and practice is very good. However, unlike Fifa, it doesn’t have all the players or teams, which restricts you quite a lot though buying from country is good. Team alterations are easy and total control for the team is provided. Cheating with amazing players from edit mode is inevitable.

Overall: 7/10
In general, every aspect of the game is very good. However, the thing about gameplay was its major upset with only 3 modes and poor aspects within the match. Replay value is average whereas PES has a mega replay value. Personally I prefer PES to Fifa and Fifa is also not worth $40 compared to the slightly cheaper PES.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/19/03, Updated 07/19/03