Review by Shawn "Speedy" Lopes With a hundred-plus accurately modeled stadiums and scenic backdrops, a myriad of offenses and defenses, and a first-ever recruiting mode, it was hard to imagine a more complete college football title than EA Sports' NCAA Football 2002 for the Playstation 2. Yet a year after its introduction, the successor to this groundbreaking video game improves on an already impressive and finely detailed model.
slopes@starbulletin.com
Gameplay on NCAA Football 2003 is as realistic as in former versions, with new features to replicate the pageantry of the real game. For example, cheerleading squads and school mascots cheer on their teams after a big play, and a fanciful mascot function substitutes football players with a team of mascots such as the University of Wisconsin's Bucky Badger. Frivolous stuff, sure, but with EA Sports' legendary attention to detail, it was just a matter of time before these features made their way into the game.
With each victory in rivalry mode, you claim one of college football's coveted trophies such as the Old Oaken Bucket (Indiana vs. Purdue), the Victory Bell (UCLA/USC) and the Golden Boot (Arkansas/LSU). Points are awarded for outstanding performances (catching a pass for 30-plus yards, making more than four tackles with one player, etc.), which can be redeemed later to unlock such special features as power-ups and hidden teams.
In one game player's humble opinion, what has always made the NCAA Football series superior to EA Sports' Madden NFL series is its seemingly boundless variety of teams, offensive and defensive schemes, and home fields. The visual detail given to every Division I (and some I-AA schools) squad in the country is superb. Just as in real life, the University of Hawaii's team jerseys feature a tattoo-print trim, and Boise State's turf, true to the genuine article, is colored blue.
What is frustrating is that some of the oversights that tainted previous incarnations of the game still haven't been addressed.
Take the UH team. Head coach June Jones' run-and-shoot scheme does not, nor ever has, included tight ends or fullbacks, yet EA Sports insists on including these positions in their version of the offense.
In addition, perhaps to keep the game "competitive" during single-player mode, the computer-controlled defenses often shift formation as if they've read your quarterback's mind. The game may be trying to get you to switch things by calling audibles just as a real quarterback would do. Unfortunately, as with many sports titles, it has to cheat to keep up with its human opponent.
If EA Sports would eliminate these minor flaws and do a better job of scouting each player's abilities (a daunting task, considering the thousands of athletes playing college football), it could lay claim to the most realistic and enjoyable sports title in all of video gamedom.
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