The official FIFA license does little to help this title...
User Rating: 5.9 | FIFA Football 2003 PC
With current technological standards, video games have advanced considerably in everything from graphics to gameplay and from physics to AI. EA Games’ FIFA 2003 does excel in the graphics and sound departments; however, it unfortunately has not evolved any further in other departments. Fundamentally, FIFA 2003 handles and plays much like its predecessors from years ago sticking to arcade-style action. Essentially, one can score quite easily simply by running a player from his own half and then into the opposing team’s ‘area’. Moreover, the ball always seems to be attached to the player’s feet. Games may end up with very high scores even on the “simulation” setting. Furthermore, veterans will quickly move up to its highest difficulty setting with ease – this does not say much for the AI. Another shortcoming is a terrible glitch. A player cannot connect a header if the receiving player is not being guarded. This completely ruins an entire set of tactics as many soccer formations require the use of wingers crossing the ball and the headers getting into space for the finish. I don’t think this issue has ever been addressed even in a patch which says a lot for the lousy support. On the flip side, in addition to the fantastic graphics and sound – also the commentary – FIFA 2003 has the advantage of the full FIFA license. It has a lot of real-world teams and their respective players. Unfortunately, this does little to make up for the uninspired gameplay, basic AI, a dreadful bug, and abysmal support. In this case, the reviewers are just wrong as it does not warrant an “editor’s choice” selection.
