FIFA Soccer 2003

aka: FIFA 2003, FIFA Football 2003, FIFA Zuqiu 2003
Moby ID: 8352

Windows version

Horrible gameplay ruins the game

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.

by naula (50) on January 11, 2008

Back to Reviews