FIFA Soccer 2003

The Good
Well, it's FIFA, so there are all the real teams, stadiums, players, kits and so on. The game looks decent and the sounds are top notch: real chants, great commentary and nice soundtrack.

And of course, EA have an eye for little details, like when playing league season and the commentary duo tells that "the clean sheet in last game has really boosted his confidence" or they comment some superstar player with a specific comments, such as how he played at last summers (2002) World Cup.

The Bad
Well, the gameplay itself is horrible. I have played this game with Microsoft Sidewinder Pad and mostly on keyboard and with no difference: passing and shooting is awkward and players move like they have some sort of springs attached to them making it hard to control them just the way you want them to be controlled.

Also, the way the player take control of the ball is just annoying: they always seem to be doing some tricks and turns, which makes it easy for an opponent to just take the ball with a single tackle. One way to prevent this is to play one-touch passing game, but as said, passing is hard and awkward.

And there are also the basic problems of FIFA series: lack of tactical choices, lack of realism and poor research on some of the teams.

Also, why the hell every other team in the game expect my beloved Finland seems to be having real kits, while the Finns run on to the pitch with plain white kit with Finland's flag on it? And where are the Netherlands, Serbia-Montenegro and Wales?!

The Bottom Line
Looks nice for its time, sounds great and has lots of great little details, but the horrible gameplay just ruins the whole game.

The Good
All is enjoyable in this game, both for football fans and for non-fans alike. A definitely must have. Another hit of Electronic Arts that must not be missed. Well-shaped players, realistic and frenetic action, the spoken comment (I’m talking about the Italian version) nearly perfect and always appropriate. Could you ask for more?

The Bad
There are not cons in this game, it is worth the bucks you spent. Maybe the hierarchy of menus could be simplified. However, this is only a personal opinion, it must be pointed out that you have plenty of setting and options to choose from…

The Bottom Line
OLAAA… OLAAA… OLAAA… Thanks God, it is Football!

The Good
Ok, this game is great, it may have something to do with me loving soccer, but I really think this game got over all the flaws of 2002, the slightly too clear graphics and the gameplay and the way the ball moved and the slowness of the playersin the 2002 edition just annoyed me with how completely unrealistic they were. Quite frankly Fifa 2003 is the perfect soccer gaming experience. It's just so realistic, the way the players move, the passing system, the new free kick/corner system, the graphics, the speed, in short this game has very few flaws.

The Bad
Ok, the AI is so bad its laugh-worthy, it's almost easy to beat Real madrid with Rapid Bucharest, you can toy with a player if his strength is 91 or 48, it really doesn't matter, and the loading time is ridiculous, it once took me 3 minutes to load a replay and 5 minutes to load a saved game.

The Bottom Line
Great, if you like soccer you'll like this game, and it doesn't hurt that it's the best soccer game ever created.