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GC

North America

NFL 2k3

by Andy Dursin - September 1, 2002, 4:49 pm EDT

7

With the NFL season just days away, Sega and Visual Concepts' NFL 2K franchise finally hits the GameCube. But is NFL 2K3 a genuine threat to Madden's throne, or is it merely a pigskin pretender? Check out the full review!

We've heard a lot this year about Sega's NFL 2K franchise -- about how it would finally take that next big step and contend with EA's best-selling Madden series for the vaunted NFL video-game crown. We've read about developer Visual Concepts' revamping of the game's franchise mode, how the ESPN license had been employed into the game's fabric, and vast enhancements made to graphics.

There's been a whole lot of talk, and GameCube owners have had to wait a couple of additional weeks before NFL 2K3 was released. In the meantime, Xbox and PS2 owners have been playing NFL 2K3, and general reaction has been polarized: die-hard players tend to prefer Madden, while various media outlets have either favored Sega's game or at least compared it favorably to EA's flagship title.

The bottom line for me, in playing the NGC version, is that Sega has laid a solid foundation on which to build this series. However, it still has a ways to go before it approaches the quality of Madden in most aspects.

Certainly NFL 2K3 starts out on the right foot with a dynamite opening.

An ESPN SportsCenter intro opens the game and you'll quickly be wondering if you don't have the dish connected instead of the GameCube. Dan Patrick appears at the anchor desk and welcomes you to the first Sega title to utilize the ESPN license -– a huge step-up for the cable network after years attached to lousy Konami games. The visual quality of this video is tremendous and got my blood pumping for my first Sega football experience on the GameCube.

The menu screens, properly attired in ESPN graphics, are simple to navigate. I quickly set up a rematch between the New England Patriots and St. Louis Rams at CMGI Field (now Gillette Field, but at least we'll always have this game to remember it by), and was impressed by the ESPN music and graphics that set the tone while loading progressed.

Next came the game screen proper, with a nicely-rendered stadium marred by just a hint of the jaggies. Player close-ups look utterly sensational and are certainly the game's highlight from a visceral standpoint, but we'll get into the graphics in more detail later.

The main issue here is how NFL 2K3 plays, and I found it to be a mixed bag of both good and bad elements. There some parts of the game that are second to none, but others that could use a lot of work. Overall, this Sega franchise needs a bit of spit and polish before it truly shines.

Play selection is typical of Visual Concepts titles. Like the menu screens in the NBA 2K series, you use an on-screen cursor to select the formation and play you want to run.

One of the more unique features of NFL 2K3 is its vast and diverse playbook, which allows you to choose between formations and plays of a both basic and extremely complicated nature. Quite frankly, I wasn't sure what to make of some of the formations, which would have made a feature like Madden's explanatory "Football 101" especially useful here. Otherwise, selecting plays is -– if anything -– easier than Madden in terms of cycling through the various options at your disposal.

As far as the game play goes, NFL 2K3's biggest problems boil down to "airy" physics in terms of ball and player movement. A "bullet" pass feels like a pop fly and tackling can be like entering The Twilight Zone. Players tend to display incredible leaping ability to the point where you may think you're watching a ballet class while your defenders drag down your opponent's running back.

Overall, the speed of the game is a little on the slow side (at least on the normal setting), but it's the tackling and ball physics that irritated me the most with NFL 2K3. No matter how much you try to overlook them, they're definitely there, especially when you see players continually bouncing and sliding off one another several yards apart.

Control wise, NFL 2K3 handles similarly to other pigskin video titles. You hike the ball with A and scout out your possible receivers by pressing the R and L buttons simultaneously.

Passing is similar to Madden in that each receiver corresponds to a particular button. Gun the ball by holding in the respective button, or press it lightly for a touch pass. One thing you'll notice in NFL 2K3 is that there's a definite "coasting" to the ball -– in fact, passing in this game seems to take an eternity. Throwing it down field feels often feels like you're throwing to a designated, immobile object. I didn't get the feeling of speed and the ability to hit runners in stride here that I have in other football titles.

On the plus side, I liked the way you have to pay attention to your QB's timing and take the appropriate steps to ensure a successful pass. The drop back pass, in particular, is well-executed here and is essential to running a successful passing game.

The art of receiving itself, though, can be frustrating at times. I don't know how many instances I've had a wide open receiver who hauls in my pass, only to have a defender knock it out of his hands in an awkward fashion. While I appreciate an aggressive CPU defense, it happens just a little too often for my liking here, and is something that VC should adjust in next year's rendition.

Along similar lines, running in this game requires a lot of patience. You have the usual moves at your disposal -– stutter steps, stiff arms, jukes in both directions and sprints -– but on the Pro and All Pro difficulties, having Jerome Bettis or Curtis Martin try to break free for a long TD run is a tough task. This comes in spite of the fact that CPU runners frequently will brush off any initial contact you make, breaking free of tackles and continuing to push ahead for more yardage. The bottom line is that, if you want to pound the ball down your opponent's throat, this isn't the game to do that.

On the defensive side of the ball, the game feels a lot more comfortable. You press X to control the nearest defender, Y to jump, B to dive tackle and A to sprint. It's not all that different from Madden and I liked the response of the defenders here.

In fact, I found that NFL 2K3 is a little more forgiving in the backfield than its EA counterpart. I never got the feeling –- as I do in Madden and NCAA 2003 -– that the CPU would cheat on long throws if I did a good job setting up coverage. You won't see nearly the amount of successful CPU threading-the-needle passes into triple coverage that you do in the EA titles, and that's to the credit of VC.

Another element of NFL 2K3 that I liked is its audible system. Pressing the Y button on either offense or defense calls up a mini-menu to select an alternate play/formation from. It's easier and more convenient than Madden's system, where you have to set up the plays ahead of time and remember which audible corresponds to its designated button. (More advanced audibles and "on-the-fly" hot routes are also accessible for those who desire even greater control).

Taking everything into account, though, NFL 2K3 just doesn't feel as tight as Madden. I hate to compare the two titles, but it's pretty much impossible not to when you have a title that defined this very genre so many years ago still alive and kicking.

As far as game play options go, VC has included all the usual modes you'd expect to find, concentrating specifically on improving the Franchise mode. They've revamped it for this year's NFL 2K and the results are more or less comparable with Madden.

You start in a coach's office with a full range of options at your disposal. You can pick up free agents, engage in recruiting college players (or importing your own draft class from NCAA 2K3), and in a particularly nice touch, attempt to talk players out of retirement! The usual draft functions are also available, along with player contracts and such. It's pretty straightforward and lacks some of the cooler bells and whistles of Madden 2003 (like training camp, for example), but should suffice for NFL 2K fans, who have had to settle with paltry, inferior modes in past versions of the game.

Sega has also launched a new element into the series here: the Sega Sports Challenge. With this enabled, you're basically playing NFL 2K3 as an arcade game (the SSC only works in "Quick Game" mode), saving your stats to a personal User Record. After playing a few games, you'll be given a code that you can utilize on a Sega website and compare it with scores from players around the country.

Graphically I found NFL 2K3 to be a mixed bag: certain aspects of the game are phenomenal, but others are poorly executed and disappointing.

On the plus side of the ledger, the players -– up-close -– look utterly sensational. When you see a full-on shot of Jerome Bettis, you may feel for the first time in a sports game that you're actually looking at the player himself. It's a remarkable accomplishment that the facial attributes have integrated with the player models so successfully to the degree that they are here.

Stadiums also look terrific, but during game play NFL 2K3 suffers in a few areas, at least on the GameCube.

Certain textures look a little ragged, and the field itself looks incredibly bland on the standard camera view. So plain and without any kind of graphical nuance, in fact, that I thought for a moment I was playing Madden on my N64! (Take a look at the hash marks in the distance when playing at midfield on the standard camera. Yikes!).

The player models themselves, during play, aren't anything spectacular, either -– it's when you're viewing close-up models or are closer in on the action (like being near an end zone) that the game looks the way you'd hope all of it would. Replays suffer from minor frame-rate problems and look a little choppy, though it's certainly not a huge problem. There are also some instances of slow-down: when you go to scout out the field before running a play, for example, the game turns markedly sluggish.

Presentation wise, NFL 2K3 scores a touchdown. The ESPN license has been nicely worked into the game and VC has incorporated a lot of sweet touches to go along with it. I especially liked the halftime stats and use of tellistrator during replays, which enhances the overall presentation. Shots of the offensive and defensive starters appear during the first couple of series during the game, just as they would on TV. Nice work!

The play-by-play by two fictional announcers (I assume we'll hear the ESPN guys next year) is more than adequate, while I found the crowd design to be particularly strong. When you're in a close game and find yourself going down to the wire in a road battle, you're sure to feel your blood pumping as the opposing fans really get all jacked up.

NFL 2K3's game play issues may be lessened when playing with friends, but sadly, the GameCube version lacks online play – something that's especially disappointing when considering that both the Xbox and PS2 have it.

Overall, NFL 2K3 is a pretty good game that's a little rough around the edges. It's not yet in the league of Madden, and isn't as polished or addictive as other Visual Concepts titles.

Still, there's room for two quality football games out there, and I think VC certainly has the goods to pull it off. Just look at their terrific NBA 2K and NHL 2K franchises for starters.

That said, the big step forward that NFL 2K3 was supposed to represent hasn't quite turned out that way. Maybe next year, with a little fine tuning in the game play department, Sega will have a real contender on their hands.

Score

Graphics Sound Control Gameplay Lastability Final
7.5 8 8 7 8 7
Graphics
7.5

Player close-ups look amazing, and rank as some of the best ever in a video game. On the other hand, the playing field on the NGC looks incredibly bland. There also some issues with slowdown and choppy replays, which detract from the sometimes stellar visuals.

Sound
8

Decent commentary, terrific crowd presence, and ESPN themes compliment a nice package on the audio side.

Control
8

Easy-to-learn, mostly intuitive controls similar to other football games (and Sega titles, for that matter) makes for a contest that generally feels solid.

Gameplay
7

A Jekyll & Hyde scenario if there ever was one. Defensively, the game feels terrific and perhaps even better than Madden. Offensively, though, NFL 2K3 needs work: the running game is often frustrating and the passing game could also use fine tuning. Ditto for the ball physics and "gliding" player movement. Play calling and audibles, on the other hand, are well handled.

Lastability
8

Any sports title will usually give you your money's worth for at least a full season, and NFL 2K3's improved Franchise mode should be a real treat for fans of the series. However, the game lacks Madden's superb extra modes and the GameCube version has no online play -- elements that NFL 2K4 will hopefully incorporate.

Final
7

NFL 2K3 certainly isn't Quarterback Club, but it also isn't Madden, either. Sega has laid the foundation to build a better game with this inaugural GameCube offering, but the fact is that there are a lot of disappointing elements inherent in the game play. Graphically, the game has an equal amount of great and disappointing points as well, though the ESPN enhanced presentation is terrific. NFL 2K fans will also love the revamped Franchise mode. Still, it's hard to recommend this game for those only making one NFL purchase on the 'Cube this season. At least for now, Sega is going to have to continue playing second fiddle to the big man in the broadcast booth.

Summary

Pros
  • Deep playbook
  • Excellent presentation with ESPN license
  • Highly detailed player models
Cons
  • Bland field textures and choppy framerate offset some of the game's great visuals
  • Disappointing game play, especially on the offensive side of the ball
  • Inconsistent player movement and ball physics
Review Page 2: Conclusion

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Genre Sports
Developer Visual Concepts
Players1 - 4

Worldwide Releases

na: NFL 2k3
Release Aug 19, 2002
PublisherSega
RatingEveryone

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