Mobbsy's opinion

Every year we get yet another update in the popular FIFA series from EA Sports. And every year we get a slightly amped version of the previous years game. Well, at long last us gamers get what we have faithfully been waiting for - a new breed of soccer game, a fully reworked, buzzed up, next gen worthy game that is called FIFA 2003.

The XBOX is a fantastic piece of gaming hardware and FIFA 2003 finally puts some of that grunt to good use.

FIFA 2003 looks like nothing you have ever seen in sports gaming. The graphics are so much better that WC2002, with a heap of realistic stadiums and players so lifelike that your olds will think you are watching a game on TV. It's the little things that push FIFA 2003 into the realms of a hard core next gen game. When you play at home the crowd get behind your every thrust forward, the noise is unbelievable, the chants of United as Man U press fwd make you feel like you are really there. I have played with smoky flares billowing throughout the stands in a European game which adds oodles of atmosphere.

The gameplay has been tweaked and EA have finally got it nailed. This game features an all new dribbling, crossing and shooting mode, that actually uses motion, so it takes a bit to get used to, but is really intuitive. A new ball control option lets you use moves of certain star players and set pieces score a rev up with a fantastic new free kick mode that lets you take full control of the angle, power and placement of the kick.

EA have left no stone unturned on FIFA 2003 for Xbox. There are over 10, 000 real players who play in over 350 official teams in 16 different leagues.

The AI has also been beefed up and in game the computer will substitute for an attacker if behind, or an extra defender if in front, and you can actually see the AI slowing the game down or pressing forward if it is behind.

I just can't praise this game high enough. If you are a fan of console soccer just grab the damn thing before it sells out. This game will be huge.

I give it an outstanding score of 98 % and would be close to giving it a perfect score of 100% if EA had included a practice or training mode. Everyone involved in the game should be congratulated on keeping the gaming smile on my head beaming.

Shane's opinion

I have to agree with Deathgod! naturally I was hoping that FIFA 2003 would certainly build upon FIFA WC 2002 in terms of features (as it was pretty bare) but there was no way I was expecting FIFA 2003 to be as good as what it is.

All the graphical glitches of the WC 2003 player models are totally gone. There were little see through bits on the WC 2002 players that showed up from time to time and looked pretty awful. The new player models look absolutely incredible, from the player faces to even the hair on their head, it just shows that heaps of attention has been lavished on the player models this time around. Even the net looks gorgeous and sports one of the cleanest looking textures that I've ever seen. Over 10,000 players from every European league have been recreated for the game!

It's not just the player models that have been spruced up though, even the arenas look better this time around. I was playing a game, Man U against Sunderland and as the camera was panning around I noticed great touches like smoke flares going off and even sun glare reflecting off the stadium lights! Everything in FIFA 2003 just looks incredible. It's easily the best looking soccer game that I've ever played and you can really appreciate the obvious effort gone into it by EA. The normal FIFA team is around 50-60 staff members, but this time around they had over 110 people working on it and it really shows.

The ball physics and controls have been enhanced and also simplified over WC 2002. The ball moves much more realistically and after spending countless hours playing WC 2002 it came as a bit of a shock. The player dribbles the ball much more realistically now and if you're sprinting, you have to knock the ball further away from you while you run. This leaves the ball open more to the opposition and also forces you to wait and actually catch up to the ball before being able to pass, shoot, cross etc. In WC2002 you could sprint and shoot instantly, FIFA 2003 is much more realistic and creates a much better game of soccer.

You cannot perform crazy curved kicks for goal while sprinting now either as you could in WC 2002. EA has introduced a new feature called 'Freestyle control' which adds a couple of new tricks to your arsenal. By flicking the right stick you can create 'knock ons' which allow you to knock the ball forward a short distance and speed up without ball control slowing you down, but you do have to then chase it and gain possession again. When you are awarded a free kick close to goal, you can also use the right thumb stick to select where on the ball you want to apply spin, and the left stick to target the spot on goal you want to aim it. This makes shooting from free kicks extremely enjoyable as pulling off an awesome goal around the defenders and curving it just out of reach of the goalie is a definite game highlight when you can pull it off.

The sound in FIFA 2003 is awesome, the menu music is full of top current tracks that keep you bopping and the in game audio is excellent. The crowd noise really sucks you into the game! When you play home games you can hear the crowd chanting for you and it really draws you into the experience. The commentary is great as well and even changes slightly depending on the weather conditions. Turn the commentary down however and you can hear your teammates on field chatter as well. The commentary is provided by John Motson and Ally McCoist.

I give FIFA Soccer 2003 92%