NCAA Football 2003

NCAA Football 2003 Review

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NCAA Football 2003 Feature

The College Game: Feel all the pageantry with over 200 fight songs, 3D cheerleaders, and 144 Division I-A and I-AA schools.
My Favorite Team: Personalize the game interface based on your team's fight song, mascot, logos, and school colors.
Build A Dynasty: Create your own school and schedule, recruit star athletes, and redshirt developing players to build a national powerhouse.
Rivalry Mode: Beat your school's archrival and win one of 23 covted trophies.
Trophy Room: Display over 100 total trophies including conference championships and individual player awards such as the Heisman Memorial Trophy.

Football junkies have long been accustomed to loving gridiron video games while tolerating their weaknesses. We appreciate the fact that developers try to incorporate genuine college or pro atmospheres into the games, but it drives us nuts when the fight songs are incorrect, the out patterns are automatic, or the running game is unrealistically easy or hard.

But then along comes NCAA Football 2003 by EA Sports, a game so good that after a few weeks, even your dog will wonder why you never find the time to communicate anymore. Start with the AI--by far the best yet in a college game. Defenses not only react to your play calling and adjust their strategies as the game evolves, but they expertly disguise their coverages and swarm to the ball with speed and decisiveness. In addition, your computer opponent actually makes intelligent clock decisions when time is running out (shocking!). The running game at times is a bit easy on the lower difficulty levels (especially if a back like Oregon's Onterrio Smith has the ball), but that's why they made All- American and Heisman levels.

The graphics, as is typical in football video games over the last couple of years, are extremely good, and the between-play animations provide extra spark to the rivalries (taunting runs rampant). But the graphics aren't the star of the show--it's the dynasty mode, stupid. With enough special features and stat categories to keep college football hopheads happy for months--including a comprehensive recruiting engine, a customizable intro screen that features your favorite school's colors and fight song, and a Trophy Room that displays all your bowl and rivalry game hardware--NCAA Football 2003 just might make fans forget the depressing length of the offseason. --Rivers Janssen

Pros:

Terrific AI
Fans of almost any Division I program will be happy with the team-specific features
Passing engine actually requires you to read defenses intelligently

Cons:

Commentary is a bit predictable

(This review refers to the PlayStation2 version of the game)

This is the game NCAA Football 2003 for the Xbox. This game may not come with the original case and instructions. We stand by our products and offer a 60 day guarantee. If a game does not work within 60 days from the time you receive it we will gladly exchange it for you.