What people search:
 | Title : NCAA Football 2003
Author : Electronic Arts
Release Date : 20020725
Binding : Video Game
Regular Price : $49.99
Amazon.com Price : $29.88
(40
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Editorial Reviews :
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.
Buyer Reviews :
EA Sports pleased a lot of college football fans by deciding to release NCAA 2003 on all 3 platforms this year. Gamers who played both NCAA 2002 and Madden 2002 may remember that although both games use the same engine, NCAA's gameplay was more attuned to the offense-oriented play found in college football while Madden seemed faster and played more defensively. While both games were the best playing football games to date, there were still issues with 'money' plays and unrealistic running games (in Madden, running to the outside was much easier than running inside which is not what you'd expect because of the speed of the pursuit defenders in the NFL). You could fiddle around with the AI sliders to tune the gameplay but it was often a laborious process and often frustrating because everyone played with different sliders.
Although NCAA 2003's gameplay is eerily familiar, I decided to purchase it because of it plays so beautifully out of the box. One thing that I noticed right away is the ability to break long runs up the middle (I play on All-American mode). This was sorely missing in the previous EA Football titles. Running plays outside are no longer sure 10 yard gains. The passing defense AI has been much improved to increase the number of interceptions (the defender will catch a majority of balls that come right to him whereas last year's version made every secondary defender look like Rickey Dudley).
As far as the features go, NCAA is basically building on what they know works. The Dynasty mode is terrific as you can take over a team, compete in BCS rankings and even recruit players during offseason. There is also the new Mascot game and the Rivarly game. I'm not big on features but the gameplay definitely hooks you in and the features make you come back for more.
I haven't played Madden 2003 yet but by all accounts, it should be a great game. If you're planning to get just one football game this year, you should wait until Madden comes out and see which is better. Madden features create a play option and special practice modes. For me, I chose NCAA 2003 because of the varied gameplay (running option plays and all the different schools with different styles of play). This is the most complete football game to date (at least until Madden 2003 comes out).
(by Michael Pio)
Features/Technical Specs :
* Over 140 schools
* Authentic pageantry
* 200 fight songs, 3D cheerleaders
* Trophy room for your booty
* Management features include red-shirting and high school recruiting
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