Madden NFL 2003

John Madden?s moving to Monday Night Football this year. For every other night of the week, you might be playing his football game.

Madden football is digging in after weathering a spirited charge from NFL 2K2 and NFL Fever 2002 last year. By upgrading its roster of features, Madden NFL 2003 is looking meaner than ever as the game to beat this season.

All-Pro Status
As always, Madden nails the fundamentals. You naturally play a full NFL season with every team including the Houston Texans this year. The ever popular 30-season Franchise mode gets even better this year with Rookie Scouting Reports and a four-game exhibition season where you can evaluate all your personnel.

Impressive new features in 2003 include online gameplay with the PS2 version and Mini-camp mode?s mini-games for all three systems. Online, Madden for the PS2 is seamless when you use a broadband connection for peer-to-peer action, but only time will tell how well Madden?s servers handle a packed ward of football crazies. Mini-camp is a nice addition to the other notable Madden extras, such as Two Minute Drill and Practice modes. It enables you to ride the Madden Cruiser bus to several entertaining skill challenges in actual stadiums across the country.

On the field, Madden 2003 features all-pro upgrades. Game speed has been juiced just a tad to make the players feel a little quicker, something the Madden games have needed. You?ll also notice that the A.I. has advanced another level, and you?ll see players making plays all over the field just like in real football. The computer?s offense is also tougher, and sure-handed tackling by your defense is a must. Also, Madden masochists can still geek out the A.I. to whatever level of viciousness they like.

Armchair coaches will especially like the new create-a-play mode. You even customize receiver routes or alter formations during the game.

Showtime Meets Go Time
The PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox versions of the game remain virtually identical. The graphics are the main differentiator with the Xbox version looking sharpest, the PS2 version sprouting typical jaggies, and the GameCube version appearing slightly soft. Each system also adds quirks to the controls, but the Xbox game?s controller layout this year is sweet while the PS2 is quick and sure. Overall, the audio-visual show is prime-time stuff. Collision-detection has been refined, and you?ll notice nice details in the animation like running backs slightly shifting their bodies to squeeze through a hole with linemen lunging after them. Such visual nuances are best studied in Replay mode, but the overall effect during gameplay is impressive.

Of course, Al Michaels joins John Madden in the broadcast booth and?with all due respect to Pat Summerall?there?s renewed vigor in the voice-overs. The booth team responds more quickly to real-time game situations and makes comments based on your actual game statistics, too.

A Championship Season
Even beyond the football gameplay, you have to appreciate the wealth of extras and activities that make Madden NFL 2003 such an entertaining and complete package. Just as in real football, every video game football team has its fans, but there?s no arguing that the Madden football franchise is one of the best?and it just got better.

The scores and screenshots in this review reflect only the PS2 version of the game. For images and scores for the other versions, check the review sections of other platforms.

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