OK, I'm not going to call this a review.... I'm going to call this an overview.  I'm calling it that because I only played 2 1/2 quarters. I mean, in that time I saw all I needed to see, however, I may have missed some things. If I find out new things that I like or don't like... I'll send out another email... like a Version 1.1 revision or something =)

OK, right off the bat..... what's one of the very first things that gets you all into the new games when they come out?? Intros of course. Well, for some reason, EA decided to remove intros from their 2003 games. NCAA 2003 doesn't have one, and neither does Madden '03. Well, unless you count football players in their pro-bowl jerseys saying "Madden 2003, it's in the game", or whatever they say. Pretty weak.


Gameplay:
Well, not much to say here.... it's Madden. Gameplay is exactly the same. The only thing I could see different is that on passing plays the passing icons come up automatically when you snap the ball, you do not need to tap X twice (first snaps, second pulls up icons). This was always an option setting in Madden, but now it's the default.

Graphics:
Graphics are pretty much the same too. One big difference is that a lot of the players look like themselves now. They added more faces, so that makes it pretty cool. They also added cheerleaders into the game. No big deal, but pretty cool on the sidelines. The coaches are still here and look a little better then last year. They also kind of modeled the crowd, so they don't look so flat. They obviously aren't detailed, but better then last year. The turf looks great, and is a little darker in color then last year. I haven't played on grass yet, but supposedly they made that more realistic too. They also have some new animations which add to the realism. All in all if you liked Madden last year graphically, you'll like it a little more this year.

Sound:
OK, now this is the part that got me..... maybe it's me, maybe it's the settings, I don't know... but the sound sucks. I know it's not the TV b/c NCAA 2003 is fine. You can barely hear Madden and Michaels at times, even though I had Commentator volume above crowd and field volume. The sounds of hitting are weird too. It's almost like they decided to use the real sound of pads hitting, then amplify it 5 times over. By doing that it actually makes an almost unrealistic sound. One thing that's cool is that the crowd automatically gets really, really loud for the home team on big 3rd down plays when you're on Defense. It's so realistic that you can only hear the crowd, and not the sounds on the field. The only problem with that is that the actual crowd sound itself isn't too realistic... and actually hurt my ears!! Overall I think they did a terrible job with the sound. Normal sound wouldn't be so bad if the hits didn't sound like pops..... it's hard to explain.. you have to hear it for yourself.

Overall:
Well, overall it's Madden. It's still good and will probably be the game to go with this year. My only gripe with it is the Sound. Other then that, not much has changed too much. One of my first thoughts after playing a full half is that I'm going to pickup NFL2k3 to give it a shot. Last year it didn't have a chance, but this year it may. My problem with that game on the Dreamcast was it was too arcade-like... that was NFL2k. They've had 3 versions since then, so if they changed it to be a little slower and more realistic, it may actually knock Madden out. Of course the other biggest factor is what games you guys get.... not only b/c of on-line play, but when we get together. Can't have one of us owning Madden and 2 people with NFL2k3 b/c when we play each other, there's a built in handicap. My gut feeling says that Madden will be the game of choice. I'm sure I can mess around with the audio settings to make it sound a little better.... I just didn't have time last night. With that being said, I'll still probably pickup NFL2k3 just to give it a shot. If it doesn't blow me out of the water, it will go back.

Originally written August 14, 2002

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

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Well, now you're getting spoiled... two reviews in two days. I'm warning you now... this review could be one of the longest ones ever....but only because it has to be. You all know Madden, we've been playing it for years and years, so I didn't have to write much on that. NFL2k3 is pretty much new to us, so I go into more detail so you'll have more info. All I can say is thank God hockey isn't out until October so I can take a break =)

Anyway, I picked up NFL2k3 on the way home from my game last night. I had about an hour and change to play before I got too tired, so I was able to play long enough to form some opinions. I'll break it down pretty much the way I broke down Madden, but into more detail.

Before I do the breakdown, let me just give you one opinion...... this game is AWESOME. It really is. I only have a few bad things to say, but there is a chance that this game could beat Madden this year.


Gameplay:
Gameplay is pretty good. I'm not sure if the game is harder then Madden, or if I'm just not used to it b/c I'm comfortable with Madden. There are 3 difficulty levels in 2k3.... Rookie, Pro, and All-Pro. My first game vs. the Giants was played on Pro, and I got my ass kicked 24-7... and my 7 was a hail-mary touchdown catch at the end of the half. I played one half of a game on Rookie, again against the Giants, and that game was 14-0 at the half. One thing I will say is that the stats on Pro were a little more realistic then the stats on Rookie. Obviously this would be b/c the computer is better on Pro, but still worth pointing out. The good thing is that Rookie is too easy, Pro is too hard (right now), but there's a custom mode, so I can adjust the difficulty to something in between. That is probably what I will use until I get used to the new game.

One of the things that makes it hard to adjust is gameplay on Defense. The biggest difference is that on Defense "circle" changes your man and "X" is the speed burst. Madden is opposite. That took me one full game to get used to and did cost me a lot of yards. It made the game frustrating at first, but as I got used to it, it got better.

That being said, the gameplay is good. Not quite as "tight" as Madden is... I think the players in Madden are a little more responsive to your controller actions. I believe the part of that can be attributed to the difference in game speed. NFL2k3 is a little faster then Madden and that makes a big difference b/c your reaction times are lowered. It is very tough to defend a pass. It's also tough rushing the passer. Since your time during plays is cut down, you need to make decisions quickly. I'm not saying that this is bad, b/c I'm sure that's how it is in real football, but it's just different and takes some adjusting.

Graphics:
Graphics are awesome. I don't know how to explain it... but it's definitely better then Madden. It doesn't blow it away as there's only so much power that the PS2 has, but it definitely beats it. The players really look like themselves in this game. So much so that you can recognize them without seeing their number. It's really unbelievable. The coaches are also more realistic looking, as is the crowd. They modeled individual people and placed them around the stadium. I could have sworn that during an extra point when you can see a lot of the crowd I saw someone eating popcorn, while others were standing and cheering and still others would just sit and clap. What makes me curious is that everyone's saying that the Xbox version looks slightly better then the PS2 version.....that I'd love to see!!

Tackling:  I put this under graphics b/c I believe that it's better b/c of the programming and motion capturing. One thing that I LOVE is that multiple players can hit the ball carrier. One thing that always pissed me off in Madden is that once one person hits the ball carrier, a second person can't. If the CPU touched the ball carrier, you couldn't hit him... unless he got away. Well, not in 2k3. There were times when one guy (CPU controlled) had the ball carrier's legs wrapped up (but not down yet) and I would come over and pop him in his upper body to lay him out. Absolutely awesome, and really adds to the realism. Another great feature is that when you dive at the runner from far away you may not reach him and only grab, say, his shoe. When that happens the ball carrier will kind of trip, but not fall, which is so realistic... especially when you see it on a reply.

Presentation: What can I say? The ESPN license really makes this game. It's like you're playing a football game that's on ESPN. It's soooo awesome. As you all know, that's always been one of my biggest things. I've always wanted a football game that was not only awesome, but made it like it was on TV. The ESPN license is so awesome, that the intro is Sportcenter!! I won't say any more about the intro, you'll just have to see it for yourself. The commentary is great. It's almost like there's no programmed lines!! I don't think that there was one repeated line in the game and a half I played... except for the player introductions. Unbelievable. They even comment on the plays you make!! If I through a bad pass with Bledsoe, they'd show the reply, use the telestrater (sp?) to circle a player who had an effect on the play... then critique the play. You really have to see it to believe it. Some of the replays are even split screen, with the left side the QB and the right side the receiver who caught the pass. Unreal. Stats are good too... there are constant overlays of stats both during the game and between quarters. At halftime and the end of the game there's a little ESPN halftime show... there's no video of faces or anything... just stats on the screen with a narrator, but it's pretty cool. And all of it looks like ESPN Football.

I have one more thing I have to add that blew me away. It's the littlest, stupidest thing, but shocked me. I was getting ready to snap the ball... and all of a sudden the screen got a little darker. I was like WTF is happening? I snapped the ball anyway as the game appeared to be working fine. The play was an out pass to the right side. So I ran it, but when I passed the ball to my receiver, it got bright out again. Again, I was like WTF?? Turns out the reason it was darker in the middle of the field was b/c the shadow of a cloud was passing over that part of the field!! I watched very closely, and you could see outlines of clouds moving across the field. I was shocked. So much so that I went back to run the replay... not to watch the play, but to watch cloud shadows!! Absolutely awesome..... It really was.


Sound:
Well, I already discussed the commentary above, so I won't get into that too much here. The sounds on the field are great. The players talk shit to each other at times. You can also hear them calling out formations and reads like "twins right" or... "Second and short... watch the play-action". Stuff like that. Pretty cool.

The hits sound awesome in this game...they blow away Madden. The player's grunts and snarls really add to it too.

One thing that 2k3 does that Madden does is have the crowd get really loud for the home team when they have a big 3rd down, 4th down, or goal line stand. They start chanting D-fense really loud and cheering, etc. Like Madden it's so realistic that you can only hear the crowd, and not the sounds on the field. The difference here is that the crowd sound itself is very realistic, and didn't hurt my ears like Madden's "noise". There's no "pump up the crowd" button that I saw, but the crowd gets into it on it's own and are pretty into the game... almost like the crowd has some AI!!

One thing I didn't like here is that there's not QB cadence. When you hit the "Hard Count" button (circle), you see him make the count by the abrupt head movement... but there's no sound. Not a big deal, but it's a little weird... especially when on D.

Overall:
Well, I didn't think it could happen, but Madden looks like it's going back to Babbage's Saturday. I'm going to give it one more shot tomorrow night.. but I really think that NFK2k3 beats it this year. Once I get used to the gameplay I'll be competitive in NFL2k3 just like in Madden, so I'm not worried about that.

The one major thing that I didn't like at first was the play-calling screen. You use the left Analog control to move a target over a one of the formation choices. There are about 2 or 3 pages of formations on D... and 7 on Offense. You use the R1 and L1 buttons to "change pages". Once you get used to it (which took me a full half) it's not so bad. You'll actually realize that on Defense, it's better. You pick the formation (say 4-3). Then the next screen you choose your lineman "coverage". You can pinch then, shift them left or right, or run stunts. The next screen is then your coverage for your linebackers and DB's. Once you get used to this system, it's really sweet b/c you can mix up blitzes with stunts and deep coverage, etc. It's pretty cool. Give it a full game before you are totally used to it. On offense... I'm still learning the plays. 7 pages of formations is a lot. Especially when in each formation is about 10-15 plays. It's kind of hard to explain the playcalling screen... you just have to see it. Anyway.. that's all I have for now. The review took me almost 45 min. to write with no interruptions, so I really think I covered everything here!!

Happy Reading!!

Originally written August 15, 2002.

 

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