NFL 2K3 (PS2)


Sega delivers - but only for die-hards

By MARTIN KINGSLEY

America is basically the only country that actually plays Gridiron, a.k.a American Football.

Over here, in the land of sun and surf known as Australia, we're playing rugby, and we're proud of it.

In fact, we can attest to playing the Real McCoy, since rugby was where Gridiron originated, although the rules were mutated and mutilated over and over again, the worst offender of such rule disfigurement being Walter Camp in 1880, the point when the NFL was created.

Worldwide, Gridiron is hardly a huge market outside of the good ol' US of A and, except for American expatriates and fans of insomnia-derived 5am cable replays of yesterday's NFL match, we don't have too many fans of the sport.

As one independent observer reported, American audiences subjected to watching rugby matches constantly flinch and ask, "Are these guys crazy?" when they see 6'4" blokes tackle each other to the ground wearing nothing but a tee-shirt and some shorts, despite the fact they see much the same thing in Gridiron, although it must be said that their favourite Gridiron players wear upwards of 15 kilos of padding and a damn-near-bullet-proof helmet.

With the general backing of rugby, NFL works in this way: As the quarterback, you must choose the play. The emphasis is on one player in charge of attacking with his team around him.

When the play starts and when it ends, you will have either succeeded in making the play you wanted to and will have gained yards by muscling your way through/passing the ball to other players, or you will have lost yards by being tackled/intercepted. Then, you stop, restart and make another play.

Unfortunately, NFL2K3 makes the bad choice of assuming that whoever is playing knows exactly how every single facet of the game works, and makes weak or, more likely, non-existent attempts to hand you the knowledge necessary to play.

If you persevere with the seriously over-complicated manual, you may eventually get the idea…or you may not, instead wishing for the days of NFL Blitz, when the game explained itself and didn't bother to take itself too seriously.

The worst part is trying to understand the plays you can make, as, other than some simplistic chalkboard drawings, there is no actual information as to how the play works, leaving you with no choice but to choose some random play and hope for the best.

I mean, Gridiron is, inherent in its design, complicated, and NFL2K3 does absolutely zip to help you understand.

Better is the visual/aural presentation, which absolutely oozes style.

From the ESPN-sponsored menus, score boxes and commentators (who are excellent, I must say), to the crisp, sharp graphics that retain a smooth framerate no matter how chunky the action gets on the field.

I thank God, however, that there is no video footage of players telling us which college they went to, as, having an American Football addicted friend, I have unfortunately become accustomed to seeing this on his huge Plasma television.

Controls are straightforward and logical for throwing, and positioned well, although they require split-second reflexes if you want to run more than three yards before being steamrolled by six bruisers from the opposing team.

Speaking of teams, NFL2K3 gives you the full treatment, as well as some of the classical lineups. However, the stats don't include the recent Super Bowl results, so Tampa Bay is still underrated. [Boo, hiss - Ed]

As I said before, the commentators are excellent, and amazingly dynamic. They're almost perfect, and you'll be hard-pressed to hear repetition of sound samples. Most impressive is the pre-game line up, where the two observers discuss the various skills and players on each team.

In closing, for anyone with a serious fixation on NFL, and a good head for rules and an idea of what the advantages of an offensive lineup is, NFL2K3 is for you.

If you don't know what an offensive lineup is, but still want your own little slice of NFL aggression, you should try NFL2K3's opposition, i.e EA's highly enjoyable Madden games.

ORIGINALITY 80%
SOUND/GRAPHICS 85%
PLAYABILITY 75%
ENJOYMENT 75%
OVERALL 80%