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Intro:
Once again, my dislike for the sports series has dragged me into another
purchase of the 2003 Madden, Madden NFL 2003. I went into Funcoland with
the intent of just to look at the upcoming games, and maybe put a pre-order on a
couple(which most likely would have been Zelda and Star Fox Adventures).
Every year the new sports games are released on-time for that sports on-coming
series, and every year I always get my hands on them one way or another. So much
of the football game debate goes on with some hot competition between Madden
NFL 2003 and Visual Concept’s yearly installment; NFL 2k3(we’ll
forget about the Gameday series from Sony). The difference between the
two games? Visual Concepts rebuilds each installment of NFL 2k? from the
ground up, while EA Games only takes the engine from the previous years
installment and updates rosters, graphics, moves, and a couple little things
that don’t really mean all the difference in the world. So how about we get on
with the review from a non-sports gamer and how Madden NFL 2003 stacks up
against the competition.
Gameplay:
“Once you’ve played one, you’ve played them all.”
Now lets sit back in our chairs for a second and think about that for a
bit...doesn’t that fit the Madden series with great precision? Because EA
only “updates” the features in Madden we’re basically being fed the same
game only with one more tackle animation, some graphical updates, “improved”
commentary(trust me, commentary can never improve, “Once annoying, always
annoying”), and stuff like that that other than die-hard sports fans, no
one’s going to notice, therefore are let down because they’re being fed the
exact same game as last year. Now before I go on, I would just like to say that
EA has really been crawling under my skin lately, as first of all they ruin the
James Bond license, and now their arrogance is starting to show greatly. For
example they said this in some press release not too long ago:
“There's no way on earth we're going to hold the same market share we did
last year, because there was no competition," he said. "Sega could ship an empty
box this year, and it would still be an improvement for them. But Sega is going
to stay the Burger King of the sports video game business--they can toast the
buns, they can add more pickles, but they're still No. 2."
Those are the kind of arrogant remarks that would keep me from supporting EA
with any of their games, if they’re going to be so bold as to say that their
game is the best and Sega is No. 2. They have no right to say that, because not
everyone supports EA and support Sega, therefore Sega is No. 1 to THEM. If EA is
in this for themselves and not to make the consumer(gamers) happy, then they
should just pack up and leave. Anyone agree with me? Comments welcome.
So anyway, I’ll start with the NEW features of this expansion for Madden NFL
2002. First of all, there’s the online mode, which can’t really be put to
good use until the end of August, but it’s still there, and the PS2 version is
the only Madden that will have the online feature in it. This can be
thought of as a good idea, but also as a bad idea. Not EVERYONE has a PS2, so
those who have only a Gamecube, X-Box, or both are being shut out from the
online community for Madden, while NFL 2k3 will support online
play for all THREE consoles(although the Gamecube still hasn‘t been announced
even though there was suppose to be an announcement weeks ago). Another sign of
EA thinking of themselves and not the public eh? EA’s decision to only put the
online play in the PS2 game was more of a bad idea than a good idea because not
only are they shutting out those who may not have a PS2, but are also shutting
out more profit from the game if all three console versions had the online
feature. Now my review is based upon the single player aspect, so when the
Network Adapter releases at the end of August and I’ve had time to get online
play time in, I’ll come back and update my review with more information on
multi-player.
The next newest feature is the Mini-Camp mode where you tour the different NFL
cities in “the Madden Cruiser” to compete in mini-games that will definitely
test your skill. There are like 4 different difficulty levels including Rookie,
Pro, All-Pro, and Madden-Pro and once you beat a certain drill, you’ll then use
the skills you just learned in a game type situation. Once you complete that as
well the same drill on the next difficulty will open up, or you can do another
drill on the same difficulty you’re on. Aside from those features, the only real
other feature would be the Create-a-playbook which I will never bother with. In
case you didn’t know, I don’t get to in-depth while playing sports games, which
means I don’t go very deep into the game and I’ll just fire one up every once in
awhile when I’m bored and play a game or two. So most of the modes in this
game(or any sports game)is basically useless to me, however for those sports
junkies out there, there’s lots of depth for you.
So now that we’ve covered the newer features of the game, how bout’ we touch up
on the main game shall we? First of all you’ve got your Play Now option which is
what I usually use to select a team and get out on the field to start playing as
quick as possible without going through a whole bunch of options and stuff like
that. Then you’ve got the online section which we’ve already gotten into a
little, tournament, two minute drill, football 101, practice, situation, and the
so-called “Deepest franchise mode ever.” The training drills like the two minute
drill, football 101, practice, and situation are of no use to me as I don’t go
“in-depth” with sports games. So as for the franchise, once again you’re put
into the position as the head-honcho coach with lots and lots of options that
can all be left to you. So as the big cheese coach, you’ve got the ability to
trade players, organize your playbook, and do other fun coach stuff for a 30
season, the one goal for each season being to make it to the Super Bowl and
become the Champions.
Now once you get onto the field for a game, whether you’re on defense or
offense, you’re presented with the same plays that the real life teams use. For
defense you’ve got the different formations for different routes of attack, and
on offense you’ve got the different formations such as shotgun and “I”
formations, and you can also use the reverse side of a play for a different
attack. Right now, I’m preferring last years NFL 2k2 more than this game
because of the difference in the way plays are ran. Also, unlike NCAA
Football 2003 on the Gamecube, Madden 2003’s controls for sprinting,
stiff-arming, etc. aren’t mapped out COMPLETELY different for each team(defense,
offense, passing, receiving,) and you’re not going to try to sprint using the
“Triangle” button on defense when the “O” button was used for sprinting on
offense. This got totally confusing and when I’d try to run faster I’d dive
instead and if I tried to stiff-arm I’d jump...so the controller mapping is done
rather well on here. Speak of the devil, you’ve got the basic offensive and
defensive moves like stiff-arms, new receiving animations, run-stuffing gang
tackles(you get to smash one of the players on the other team into a nice
sandwich), jumps, dives, pulls a spin-move, etc.
 So playing the game out on the field is easy enough, one button to do this,
another to do that; everyone’s happy and no one gets confused(hopefully). So now
what’s left? Well for those who like depth, you could try out the
create-a-player and create-a-team modes. Like NCAA Football 2003 there
are lots of options for each create-a-_____ including facials, height, skin
colors for your player creation and mainly anything you can think of for the
team creations you can probably do. So this was a really nice touch for the
gamers who require “depth”.
Again, like last years Madden and 2k? series, Madden 2003
yet again has a main focus on the rushing game than passing. I haven’t had a
chance to play NFL 2k3 yet, but I’m pretty sure that it’ll continue it’s
pattern as having a bigger focus on gaining yards with passing. Personally I
hate to do running plays, ever since I was little when I got like 4 concussions
in one game from getting pounded by linesmen, I’ve preferred receiving over
anything else(for offense that is). I’m waiting for a football game that’s going
to balance it’s playbook out so you’ve got a good mixture of both types of
plays, because Madden’s is more touchy on Rushing plays while all the
passing plays are basically the same thing with maybe one receiver going a
little bit farther than he did on another play or cutting back a couple feet.
Graphics:
The nit-wits at EA are arrogant yes, but at least they come through in the
graphics department creating some of the better visuals yet with smoother
character models and character animations, and the stadiums have been worked on
to look more life-like...same goes for the sky when you get a panoramic shot in
a replay or something. EA achieved good looks in this years version of Madden,
however the looks aren’t everything and it’s what the gameplay has to offer that
really counts(thought I was gonna say “however the looks aren’t everything and
it’s the inner beauty that counts” didn’t ya?). The character animations have
been worked on since last year as they run more fluidly and aren’t as “robotic”
as they run or take a sharp turn anymore, although my bigger gripe about the
graphics comes from the fact that the models aren’t as “detailed” as far as
their pads go, because you could see the rich detail put into the player pads in
NCAA Football 2003 on GC . Of course this is going to happen when you
release a new football game every year, as technology matures so do the football
games, so it’s not really much to say that EA has created something
masterful(maybe if they made each year’s game from the ground up like Sega,
Madden would be a better series).
Sound:
First of all the commentary, Al Michaels and Melissa Stark team up with Johnny
boy this year to do the play by play action of all the games, and I must say
they’re not THAT bad, although my thought on any commentary in any kind of
sports game is, “Once annoying, always annoying”. I don’t care how much
more sophisticated they get each year, everything STILL gets repeated over and
over and over again until I can’t stand it anymore and I shut the game off so
they’ll stop and then I realize that I was having fun with the game and I’ll
turn it back on to play my game again and I suffer through the commentary just
to play my game(although there’s always the option to turn the commentary off or
the volume of it down, I just like to do everything the hard way). The sound
effects are good and once again you’re part of the team as you hear every bump
and clash of each players helmets and shoulder pads and the grunts and sweat and
the dirty gym socks and...ok so forget the dirty gym socks, but the sound
effects bring you into the game(“EA Sports, it’s in the game!”...oh ya?
well how bout’ you get your minds into YOU and start developing for the
COMMUNITY and not yerselves, eh?).
Now for the music, I can’t quite remember last years Madden all too well
to recall what kind of songs that were there if there were any, but there’s
years “EA Sports Trax” include Nappy Roots(POD remix), Bon Jovi, Good Charlotte,
Andrew W.K., and 7 other artists that you’ll enjoy listening to. My favorite of
curse would be the “Aww Naww” remix from POD that is SUPPOSE to go “Aww naww
hell naw, no ya up and done it, Aww naww hell naw, now ya up and done it”,
but of course because little children could be playing the game, it goes like
this; “Aww naww, hey you, now ya up and done it, Aww naww hey you, now ya up
and done it”. It may not sound that bad from reading it, but after hearing
what it sounds like you’ll laugh your...ears off.
Rock’s Thoughts:
Madden NFL 2003 was quite a mixed bag for me this year, as not only did
EA’s arrogance come into play, but they just tried to hard and pretty much
failed in my eyes. Of course this is coming from a non-sports gamer, but even
though I don’t really like sports games...this year’s Madden was a
let-down as it’s basically an expansion of last year’s Madden with
updated rosters, better graphics, and the online capability. So for this year’s
“football war”, I’d have to say to go with NFL 2k3 as Sega has yet to
disappoint me and I’m sure all of you will appreciate it also. Speaking of
online, the servers for Madden 2003 will only last through the 31st of
this month next year, as the Madden 2004 will have already been
released...my thoughts? A bunch of bull, they need to keep the servers up for
those who bought Madden 2003 cause not everyone is going to want to buy
the same game two years in a row; there they go again. The graphics are nice,
the new hot music tracks are enjoyable, and the online capability was a nice
touch; however I’d have to recommend this as a rental only.
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