Cheap FIFA Soccer 2003 (Software) (Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows 2000) Price

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Customer Reviews of FIFA Soccer 2003

very good game play; interface lacks some features
ok, this is a much better simulation of soccer play than fifa 2002. the ai has improved tremendously allowing for a very realistic game play away from the 'arcade' theme. the players run, turn, pass, shoot realistically. the graphics is also much better than in the previous version showing accurate face detail (you can actually recognize who the player is), accurate net motion when the ball falls into the net, less dramatic (and less embarassing) celebrations after a goal is scored, very convincing player movement animations. other things: you can't pass 'through' an opposing player anymore, you can't do magical 180 degree turns/passes, players lack the magical 'super-player' property of previous fifa games.

this game is not perfect however (i give 5 stars as a relative rating to what is out there). i found a few things annoying, like: you have no power control when passing the ball, you can't curve the ball left/right like you used to in fifa2002 you can only direct it in the general direction of the net (left/right), no control of replays, no control of weather/time of game, team strategy is not modifiable during a game, team strategy is chosen from a smaller palette of hard-coded player positions.

initially when i started playing the game i was frustrated with how the ai worked because the fifa2002 game play has been imprinted in my mind. then i realized, hey this is how the game is supposed to be played and had to re-educate myself in playing this game.

all in all, it's a great game for people who enjoy the play of soccer and don't mind a few inconveniences. i would give fifa2002 3 stars now.

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FIFA 98 still the best game of this series...
...which makes it pretty sad that every year, EA continues the folly of improving the graphics at the expense of gameplay.

everyone who was lucky enough to play it knows the graphics of FIFA 98 don't measure up to what's around nowadays. yet in the 98 edition, you could take (for example) the cook islands, and starting with the regional qualifiers play them all the way into the world cup, first against similarly pitiful island nations and getting progressively tougher over time. passing was risky, headers flew all over the place, defenses converged with rapidity and precision, goaltenders flew all over the pitch.... in 98, the game was truly breathtaking. and it is still fun - to play as a tiny island nation, or juventus, or crystal palace - all the big euro leagues were in the 98 edition.

the last edition of fifa i paid for was 2001. the graphics were unquestionably better, but most of the international teams were jettisoned, and you didn't play qualifiers anymore. the korean league and some others had been added... but why? as for gameplay, there were NO, NO, NO headers, defense was an absolute joke, the commentary was shrill and lifeless compared to when andy gray ruled the booth...

2003 adds to the eye candy but continues to pile on the lifeless game play. player attributes are inaccurate, the defense and passing still aren't what they were in the '98 game, and there is still not the depth of gameplay the game had five years ago.

i'd love to give EA a better rating for this, but the truth is they are killing this franchise. i hope someone does for footie what high heat did for baseball - make EA take a year off to reconsider what they're doing, and come back with a much better product after an overhaul of the system. fifa 2003 is a tremendous disappointment.

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Crap
The software won't install with newer computers (P4-3GHZ, ati radeon 9800 pro, 1GB ram, audigy2 zs). Don't buy this software.