"Best Of the Bunch"

Alright so, it's 2010 but I am going to be reviewing a game that came out over 8 years ago on an older system. No worries, I will do the best to give you(reader) the best insight of the game! NFL2K3 Review.

Intro: So this game did come out in 2002, 8 years ago from todays year. This game was based on the NFL 2002 season, including the expansion franchise at the time, the Houston Texans. I believe it is the first game to include them in an NFL game. Something will be out of date obviously.


GAMEPLAY: 10/10- The game play is smooth. I especially like the fact that you can change the game speeds. It makes the game more fun for different players. One downside to the game is that the opposing player can see what plays you pick, but you just have to agree to not have wandering eyes before the game.

GRAPHICS: 9/10- Okay, I am not a huge graphics fan by any mean, but this game looks pretty darn decent for its era of gaming. Player models look great during action, the football has a great look to it as well. Player uniforms are detailed really well. Only problem I have here is the player faces, they somewhat look choppy or just too plain sometimes. Nothing really to complain about, shouldn't have a problem here.

SOUND: 10/10- They mastered the sound PERFECTLY here. Everything sounds great from stadium music to players grunting when they get hit. You can hear players talking trash to one another before the play. The PA announcer in the stadium actually says players names when making a big play or a flop of a play. Even the fans get into the game, as well as chanting for big plays and such.

Difficulty: 10/10- Alright, here's where the AI system is kinda... strange... it seems a little unbalanced on all levels. Here's a little info for each one.

Rookie difficulty is for a rookie player to the game, but at times it can be a little be hard as well. Players will drop passes and not follow correct plays sometimes for all difficulties, so remember that.

Pro difficulty is for a player that has played for a while and has grasped on well enough to try their skills on a harder level. Huge upgrade over rookie difficulty as you will be able to tell right from the get go.

All-Pro difficulty is for a player that thinks they are H.O.F worthy. It's insanely hard to get any amount of offense on this one, as well as being on defense, the computer will run all over you.

STORY: NA- It's a football game, so there is no set story or story mode. You can do Franchise and Season mode which is where you take your favorite NFL team and try to get through a whole NFL season and get the Super Bowl and win it. Other than that, there's not story mode.

REPLAY VALUE 10/10: Exhibition mode is always fun of course. So are Franchise mode and Season mode. Franchise mode is my favorite personally, you can do up to 50 season I believe before it stops. You can create players to update the game (though it does have a limit on creating players). You'll be playing this game for a while, I promise

FINAL THOUGHTS- Really, just get the game! Now you can find it for $6.99 or so at gamestops or even cheaper at some local video game stores. There weren't too many great football games that came out on the Gamecube, and lucky for us we got a gem in this one. It was on the only 2K football game released for the system, and it's a shame. If this review didn't convince you to go out and buy it, then you're really missing out!!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/30/10

Game Release: NFL 2K3 (US, 08/21/02)