NFL 2K3 Review (Xbox)

Aaron
That’s the thing about 2k3. It is the closest I have ever felt to playing real football. If you make a mistake, the game makes you pay for it. You wanna drop back 20 yards. You are gonna throw a lot of incompletions. Don’t want to read the safeties? You will get intercepted. Don’t want to follow your blocks? Get ready to average negative yards on the run. 2k3 actually makes you feel like you are calling a real game.

GAMEPLAY - OFFENSE
Jim
Control has been the defining factor of NFL2K3 since the beginning of the series. In earlier versions there were complaints that you had too much control of your running backs and for quicker backs this was probably true. The control is still very responsive but the defense is not as easily fooled by a quick change of direction as it was in the past. Running the ball and reading the holes is easily my favorite part of this game. The play on the line is incredible, it seems almost every play has a different look. It is not as simple as knowing that a certain play usually opens a hole between the guard and the tackle. The defensive pursuit is different on almost every play which keeps you on your toes in the running game. Looking for the holes and then hitting them gives me the feel that I am really playing the game.

Early on when I was running I was pounding on the speed burst button and getting nailed consistently as I tried to get through the hole. I realized that that speed burst button is almost like a magnet between the RB and the defender. I then started to lay off the speed burst button and trust the game and suddenly I was hitting the holes and evading defenders. You have all your basic moves like juke, spin and jump and speed, but it is the analog control that I like to use. With this method you get the most realistic running animations, if you make a quick cut to the left, your RB will kind of stutter step and angle his body that way. Through the line NFL2K3 utilizes the “Get Skinny” animation to near perfection, your RB will automatically and naturally try to fit through the hole, instead of getting stuck at the line. My one complaint with the running game would be the speed in which your runners run, it is kind of slow especially when compared to the other football games on the market. You can adjust the speed of the game, between slow, medium and fast.

You will also run into occasions when a slow defensive lineman will run down your fast running back from behind. However, unlike previous years this years game has sliders and one of those sliders is called pursuit, the lower you set this slider, the weaker the pursuit will be, so you should be able to find settings that will make the running game seem quite realistic.

Aaron
While turning down the pursuit slider does prevent slow defensive lineman from running your fast running back down, it doesn’t do the same for linebackers and defensive backs. If I have Randy Moss and his Speed rating is 98, a DB with a 87 speed rating should not catch Moss unless he has an angle. I have had too many long runs and catches taken away by a slower rated DB catching me from behind. Also it seems like most WRs and RB who break long runs tire quickly during the run. This can be changed by adding a litlle more of a boost to the speed burst.

Jim
It’s odd that even though NFL2K3 moves slower than it’s main rival Madden2003, that in the passing game you actually have less time to decide where to throw the ball. I think they have the timing just about right although it seems a little too quick to me on the default settings on the Pro level.

Aaron
I totally agree. I actually feel the time you get in the pocket is extremely realistic. You feel the pressure and it makes me feel like I’m actually playing the game. No other football game I have played this year simulates the passing game as well as 2k3.

Jim
As in previous years the play-calling screen is an overlay of the play over the field, for a one player game this is great, because you get a great look at the field and a pretty good idea how long the receivers route is. New this year is that once you get to the line of scrimmage you can hit both of the triggers and see the play diagram on the field. This all helps in the passing game but timing and understanding the defense are still the keys to success.

Aaron
The playcalling in 2k3 is the best in the business. Not only does it have team specific plays but some team specific formations. In real life, the Rams run a completely different offense then the Giants and it’s the same in 2k3. The fact that you can see the play once you get to the line of scrimmage was a great addition because there are many times that I forget the play by the time I get up to the line.

Jim
So it’s not just old guys who forget the play they just called? Cool. Passing is straightforward; simply hit the button of the receiver you would like to throw to. The trick is to know when to hit it and with what type of touch. It’s not hard but it takes practice, especially at the default PRO settings. More than any other game you really need to know your plays and how they work to succeed. There are a wide variety of plays that vary quite a bit, based on your team of choice.

The CPU mixes up its coverages pretty well and reacts to the ball well. If you throw into coverage there is a very good chance the ball will get knocked down or possibly picked. What I like the most is that you can usually see why you got picked. Maybe you overused a play or thought they were in man when in fact the CPU was in zone coverage. I don’t think I have thrown an interception yet where I felt like the CPU was cheating.

Another thing that stands out to me about NFL2K3’s passing game is the ability to get Yards after Catch(YAC), this adds so much to the passing game to be able to hit your guy on a slant or post and know that he is not immediately going to get hit every time. A lot of times he will get hit or drop the ball but there are enough times that you are rewarded for a well timed pass with YAC, that the risk of throwing riskier patterns is well worth it.

One issue I do have with the passing game is the default camera angle and even the far angle, is that they really don’t allow you to see the whole field very well. On shorter out patterns or speed outs and some hooks, throwing the ball is an act of faith that your receiver is open and that a defensive back is not waiting to pick of the ball. However within the camera selection menu you can choose and option to have activate the pass play far camera, this helps considerably on the outside patterns, but naturally everything looks pretty far away. Whatever way you choose to play it is just a matter of adjustment.

Aaron
The main concern that I have heard about 2k3 and previous versions of this game is dropped passes. Now, every body has their opinion on it. Some say it’s not a problem anymore and the amount of drops is a lot less than last year. Some say it’s still a problem and it’s a cheap way the game uses to lower completion percentages. I place myself in the middle of the two arguments. Its clear to me that drops occur a lot less than they did in 2k2 and with the inclusion of the catching sliders, drops occur at a more realistic way. I still feel that game uses drops as a cheap way to lower completion percentages more. I would love to see more underthrows and overthrows as a way to get incompletions.

Jim
Absolutely, this was one of the points I made in my Gameday review that they actually have bad throws.

Aaron
I feel the exact same way about the default angles. It’s a total guess when you throw passes to short out patterns. The problem with the far angle is well…. Its too far. I have trouble running with the far angle. Let’s hope Sega puts in a manual camera next year.

Jim
Your QB’s are fairly mobile, but unlike last year, you will really notice a difference between a guy like Chris Chandler and Donovan McNabb, McNabb is much more mobile, as it should be and this element adds to his game. You can also move around the pocket quite easily and buy yourself some more time, but in most cases you need to get rid of the ball quick if you are in the pocket. Rolling out can buy you some time, but you can’t throw very effectively on the run and throwing across the field is very risky. Once again knowing your plays and your team is key to success.

The passing game can be tough, especially if you are used to Madden or don’t have the time to play every night to learn your plays. I have never been a big fan of sliders but this year I started to come around and with NFL2K3 the sliders kept me competitive while I learned my teams plays.

Aaron
That is the most important thing that people buying this game must remember. THIS IS NOT MADDEN! Even though, I love both games but there are things in Madden that you can get away with that you cant get away with in 2k3. In order to have the most success in this game, you must realize that this game plays differently than Madden. In 2k3, you have to factor in the play you called, your team’s talent, your opponents defense and talent to decide who to throw to. This is the first game I have played where if you don’t factor in all of this things, your stats will show it. If you don’t read defenses or make smart play calls, get ready for a few 10-29 150 yard 0 TD 3 INT games.

Jim
One other comment on offense, fumbles don’t seem to happen very often, while this is OK with me, others might not like it. Personally, since I have no control over actually fumbling, I prefer to see less fumbles.

GAMEPLAY - DEFENSE
Jim
First thing you need to know is that there is a tackling slider. The first three games I played on Pro with the default settings I won two of them and pretty much shut down my opponents running game. Then with the Bears against Ricky Williams and the Dolphins, he ran for 396 yards on me. He broke over 30 tackles. My next few games were very similar to this, way too many broken tackles. I have taken the tackling slider down 4-6 notches and now I have games with 8-12 broken tackles for the primary RB, this is about what my RB gets as well. I am not saying that the run can’t be stopped without adjusting the sliders, but in the long run it was a lot less frustrating for me to swallow my pride and adjust the sliders.

Even with my adjustments to the sliders the CPU still routinely runs for over 100 yards against me. With the tackling sliders now under control, your control on defense is excellent, it is very easy to switch defenders and if you line up the runner properly and hit the dive button you will make the tackle more often than not. The dive or tackle button is criticized by many for not being realistic, but for me it gives me the sense that I actually had something to do with the tackle. I think it helps represent the physicallness of football better than other games.

Aaron
I still think that the dive button is a little exaggerated. There are many times when a runner is clearly past me and one touch of the jump button leads to me making a crushing tackle. Other than that the control is pretty good. If you tackle a runner from straight-ahead, you have a better chance of making the play than tackling from the side. Just like in real football.

Jim
Another past criticism is the lack of momentum or the size of the players being taken into account when tackling. I have never found it to be as big of problem as some but this years game is an improvement. You will see more of instances where a bigger runner will break tackles or if he gets tackled it will be a more realistic tackle where he picks up some additional yardage after the hit. Good tacklers like Mike Brown, on the Bears will be successful on most tackle attempts and smaller cornerbacks bounce of a runner more often then a lineman or linebacker would. However, if you were not comfortable with the aspect of the game in previous years, you probably still won’t be. Football is a hard hitting game and I think this is what they are trying to represent in regards to tackling.

Bend but don’t break seems to be the best strategy when defending the pass. This is due in large part because of the CPU’s tendency to throw quick timing passes almost all the time. Consequently you will rarely get a sack and have to be satisfied with pressuring the QB enough so that he will throw the ball sooner than he wanted to. You can put pressure on the QB and the special moves do have some effect, but generally speaking the QB has released the ball well before you have a chance to touch him.

Aaron
The inability to get sacks and/or constant pressure on the QB is the biggest problem I have found in this game. Many people have posted that if you run a goalline all blitz play or blitz 8 or nine people, you can get pressure and sacks. While that may be true, that’s not real football. Teams should get some pressure if they rush 2,1, or even no linebackers sometimes.

I think the problem comes from 2 things: 1) The offensive lineman pass block really well and 2) the CPU calls too many 3 step drop plays. Now in most games moving the blocking slider down would make it easier to pass rush. The problem with moving the blocking slider down is while it may make it easier to pass rush, it will make it harder for the CPU to run. Visual Concepts made a big mistake by not making separate pass and run blocking sliders. I also can understand having a west coast offense team like the Eagles call a lot of 3 step drop plays, but it seem like every team calls those plays 80% of the time. It’s damn near impossible to get any pressure, if the QB takes 3 steps and throws every play.

Now it is possible to get some pressure on the QB if you utilize the special moves and sometimes you will even luck up and get a sack. Still, they are hard to come by and what makes it worst is that a lot of the time when you get your hands on the QB, he will slip out of the grasp of the defender. This is realistic but I feel it happens to often.

Jim
You can execute special move by holding down the L trigger before the play starts and then hitting X,B,Y. I enjoy using the X button when I am lined up with Ted Washington, he kind of tosses people out of his way. One problem I have when using the special moves is that if you don’t let go of the L trigger you can’t switch defenders and sometimes I have been burned by running plays cause I couldn’t switch to who I wanted to, but that is just my own stupidity coming through.

You have decent control of your linebackers and defensive backs in the passing game and can switch and gain control over your players fairly smoothly. I occasionally knock down a pass or pick one, in which I truly am in control. More often than not, I have to settle for trying to put a bone jarring hit on the receiver, mostly because as mentioned before the QB tends to throw quick passes and most of the passes are less than 10 yards. This type of passing game doesn’t really give you a whole lot of time to react and knock down a pass. Unfortunately this somewhat mirrors reality as most teams run some variation of the West Coast offense and rarely air it out.

The conservative passing game also leads to very high completion %’s for CPU QB’s, but minimal yardage. It is not uncommon to see a QB with a line of 15-20 for 135 yards. It would be nice to see the CPU teams go deep once and awhile, but they seem content and taking what you give them. So unless you do a lot of blitzing you will not be burned for many long passing plays.

Aaron
One problem that I had with 2k3 was DB jumping. On certain plays the DB would jump in the wrong direction of the pass when trying to defend. This would result in the other teams WR making the catch and scoring a touchdown. Now this doesn’t happen in 2k3 as frequently as it did in 2k2 but it still occurs. Hopefully VC can fix this for 2k4.

Jim
This problem still plagues this title, it seems to happen more often with DB’s with poor awareness, but even I am not stupid enough to jump in the wrong direction.

GAMEPLAY - SPECIAL TEAMS
Jim
The punting game is improved from last year but most of the punts are less than 40 yards for both you and the CPU. It helps the return game and it is much easier to cover punts and the average return for both you and the CPU is pretty realistic, but it is still not quite right. On the default settings it is way to easy for a skilled or even not so skilled gamer, like myself to boom the kickoff into the endzone. The CPU also ends up kicking the ball deep in the endzone as well. I have returned a few kicks for TD’s and most of your returns end up in the 20-30 yard range, pretty realistic feeling. The biggest difference on Field Goals is the wind effect, it really does effect your kicks and you do have to adjust accordingly.

AI
Jim
One of the things I have always enjoyed about the NFL2K series is that it creates the illusion for me that I really have to have a gameplan and that the plays I call are important. You often hear coaches or players talking about finding a rhythm on offense, NFL2K3 recreates that feeling very well. Some games you just seem to have a knack of calling the right plays at the right time and in other games it seems like almost every thing you do is wrong.

When you attack the CPU defense it is refreshing to see that you can burn them, they will get caught in a coverage that doesn’t match up well against your offense. Just like in real football if your receivers find the seams in a zone and you deliver the ball to them on time and you can slip a tackle you can break some big plays. The CPU does a good job of mixing up its coverages so it is not always easy to spot if they are in man coverage or some type of zone. Many times I have been burned because I thought one DB was going to pick up on receiver when in reality he was in a zone and just settled in the area I decided to throw the ball to.

The CPU does adjust to what you do and whether by coincidence or design they seem to be ready for you in crucial situations. If you go to your favorite play too often in 3rd and short situations you will be shot down. One thing I notice not directly related to AI is the spotting of the ball when trying to get a first down. Many times I have come up just short but when I look at the replay it is obvious that I made it easily, it can be very frustrating during crucial moments in a game.

Aaron
The problem is that the AI doesn’t factor in forward progress that well. A few times I have had a RB get a first down, get tackled causing him to go behind the first down marker and the AI spots the ball where he landed not where his forward progress ended.

The AI does a good job at preventing you from running the same play over and over again. If you keep calling the same Counter play to the right side, you will start to see the CPU adjust its linebackers to the right. You will also find that you will have trouble running that play for positive yards.

Jim
On the plus side, I don’t get the feeling that the CPU is calling it’s plays based on what I just called but calling them based on the situation and my tendencies. It makes for a more realistic game in which sometime you will see your receiver running all alone downfield or your running back may break one tackle and have lots of room. Other games seem to be ball focused wherever the ball goes 6 or 7 guys immediately appear even if they were not close to the play. Of course if you boost up the coverage and pursuit sliders you will see much tighter coverage.

Offensively the CPU does a great job of mixing up it’s plays and it is pretty traditional it generally runs in running situations and passes in pass situations. It also tends to pass out of pass formations and run out of running formations, but on a realistic basis. The CPU mixes in just enough running plays out of pure passing formations to keep you honest. Also even if you kind of have an idea of what is coming, stopping it is another issue altogether. There is a problem with how the offensive line lines up for the CPU that will tip off pass and run on most plays, but even knowing that, I haven’t been able to stop the CPU consistently.

The CPU will call the occasional audible, they are usually kind of amusing because receivers and tight ends will often switch sides of the field and you end up with way too many people in motion. My biggest complaint with the CPU offensive AI is that it just doesn’t throw deep passes or even 15 – 20 yard passes very often. Once again this is somewhat similar to the style of play in the NFL these days but it is taken a little too far.

Aaron
Now this isn’t a complaint, but one thing I am looking forward to in a game is seeing the AI take advantage of talent mismatches. It seems to me that the AI calls the same game and runs the same type of offense no matter who he has. I can understand calling for short passes and slants if you have the Eagles with no great receivers but if the CPU is the Vikings, it should be throwing the ball deep to Moss a lot more. I still haven’t found a game that does this correctly but team specific AI play calling is something that would be a great addition.

Jim
Great point, hopefully they will implement this next year.

Clock management is much improved over last year especially at the end of the second half. The first half is another story, they don’t seem to be concerned with the clock and even though they may pass the ball and look like they are trying to get in scoring position they will not use there timeouts. At first I thought that maybe they were trying to be conservative and make a mistake that would change the course of the game, but after enough games that didn’t seem to be the case, since they were passing the ball. With more games I see no consistency in clock management at the end of the first half.

Fortunately this is not the case in the second half, the CPU seems very aware of the clock and if it is down by more than one score it will actually go into the hurry up offense with 4 minutes or more on the clock. It will also use it’s timeouts wisely on offense or defense, it is not perfect in this regard since it will usually take all of it’s timeouts on the first three plays that don’t stop the clock after the two minute warning. Its playing calling in these situations is generally pretty sound and is a tough opponent at the end of a game.

Aaron
I’m still a little disappointed in the clock management in 2k3. I thought this was one of the top 3 things they should have fixed from 2k2. While it is better in the second half then in the first, it is still clear that there is some work to do. I cant understand why it would be that hard to program the same AI for the end of the first half as there is for the end of the second half. Also, while it doesn’t happen all the time, I have still found some instances where the CPU will be down by less then a field goal at the end of the game and the CPU will let the time run out. This is still in area where VC has some catching up to do.

Jim
I will include the playbooks in the AI section since it has to do with the thinking element of the game. NFL2K3 shines in this area, the playbooks are diverse for each team and represent the style of play of those teams. Even more impressive is the difference between each teams playbooks. You will see plays that are truly unique to a team and if your like me and like to play as many different teams you will find learning and utilizing the strengths of the different teams quite challenging.

One thing that really impressed me was that with the Bears playbook on Nickel and Dime coverages, the standard lineups already had Colvin moving up to defensive end and Traylor coming out of the game. It gave me the idea that they really are trying to represent the style of the teams and the personnel that makes up those styles, impressive stuff.

Weaknesses in the playbooks are that there are no plays that you call for a double team, which kind of offsets the great addition of Defensive Matchup were when in man coverage you can assign a player to a specific receiver. Another issue is that although the offensive playbooks are diverse and have players in motion, you can’t put in motion any player you want at the line of scrimmage. For me this isn’t a big deal, but it is a contrast to the Madden style where many people use the man in motion as an extra blocker on running plays.

Aaron
Great point about the inability to call for a double team. Still 2k3 has the best playbooks in any video game. They are totally team specific and they are large. The Rams have plenty of 4 and 5 receiver sets while the Giants have more two tight end sets. It’s a great touch and really helps the realism.

Jim
Overall the AI is sound but could use some work still with clock management and passing the ball beyond 15 yards. One wacky bug that I have had and a few others have seen is the CPU QB throwing the ball 40 yards behind him. In my case it was McNabb as it was in a few others, where he just takes a step back and turns around and fires the ball behind him.

GRAPHICS
Jim
Everyone knew about the addition of the ESPN license and they are utilized well and add to the overall look of the game. I would like to see statistical overlays a little more often and wider variety of them. One thing that is disappointing is the ESPN wire at the bottom of the screen, it just doesn’t stay on the screen long enough, you usually see only one score even if you are waiting to see them. However, in NCAA2K3, it was kind of annoying that the ticker remained while you were running a play, so maybe this is a better alternative.

The overall look of the game is great, the stadiums are well represented with plenty of sideline activity and from my recollections seem to be pretty accurate. A pleasant addition are the numerous throwback uniforms they offer, some of the teams changes are very subtle but others have changed quite a bit. The colors of the uniforms are rich, bright and accurate, if you have like the looks of any Sega sports games you will love looking at this game.

Aaron
Stadiums are what VC does very well in all of their games. I was always impressed with the job they did in their NBA series but 2k3’s stadiums look great and are extremely accurate. There is no comparison when it comes to Stadiums to the other games. Its clear that VC took a lot more time on this part than any other game. The ESPN license is a good addition. 2k3 has everything from the Sportscenter music to the ticker and it all adds to the game. I cant wait to see what the ESPN license adds to 2k4.

Jim
There are numerous animations, what is most impressive is the animations at the line of scrimmage between the O-line and D-line, each play seems to take on it’s own personality and the animations are not for show they actually have impact on the game. Sega seems to be aware of this as a good portion of their replays seem to be of great blocks.

The running animations are also fun to look at especially the get skinny animations or animations that result as you try to change direction. There are also numerous tackling animations, my favorite is the shoulder charge tackle, which knock a RB off his feet. You will certainly see certain animations more than others but they are not animations for animations sake. It is pretty cool when you throw a pass to watch your receiver actually come back and adjust to the ball and to not catch the ball in the same place or manner every time.

After a month of play I still see things I don’t recall seeing before.

AUDIO
Jim
I personally hope that if Sega uses ESPN talent to do the play by play next year that they make them take it seriously. One of the things that has set NFL2K3 apart is the realistic commentary team of the fictional Dan Stevens and Peter O’Keefe. Over the last few years some of their lines have gotten old, but they sound like they are into the game and at the game you are playing. It adds a life and realistic feel to the game that Madden has always lacked.

The player trash talking is still there and the players will call out formations. The crowd is generally into the game and does seem to pick up in excitement towards the end of a game. I am not big on the little extras like this in a game I can just tell you that it feels right the sound adds to the game and doesn’t detract from it.

Aaron
All I have to say is that if Sega uses ESPN talent to do play by play next year I will be very upset. There is no way that they will have enough time with the ESPN personalities then they do with the actors that they use. So there is a good chance that the quality of the play by play will be worse with the ESPN personalities. As for 2k3, the commentary is still the best in the business.

FRANCHISE
Jim
Managing the salary cap is tough. I am in my 4th season as the Bears and to try to keep the core of the team together while staying below the cap is quite challenging. You can select only one team in franchise mode (but can have multiple franchises saved at the same time), once you select the team you are presented with the challenge of managing that team for upcoming years. This includes contracts, drafting, free agent signing and cuts.

Aaron
This is one of my biggest gripes about the game. No multi-team franchise. I’m not going to go on and on asking why they couldn’t add this to the game but this is an option that will increase the longevity of the game for some people.

Jim
The contracts for your players appear to be proportionately accurate, by that I mean that guys with big contracts or long term deals, have them in the game. In your first year you obviously start out under the cap, but after year one depending on the team, I found myself doing a lot of wheeling and dealing in order to stay under the cap. I walked in naïve in my first year, tried to keep my best players, sign some free agents that would help my squad and then went into the draft.

Oops, I forgot to leave myself much money to sign any of my draft choices. One solution for this is to just start cutting players, but then you lose good players and still take a penalty salary cap hit. Trading is the option I chose. You can put players on the block and other teams will make offers, but that works better during the season than in the off-season. Working your own trade is more fun and allows you to be creative in freeing up some salary cap room. One trade I made was David Terrell for Michael Westbrook, they were rated roughly the same but Terrell salary is much higher. Once you propose a trade to another team, the CPU can accept the trade, decline or make a counter proposal.

The trade logic seems pretty sound, I made some trades where I feel like I got the better deal, but in no cases that I tried, did I get steal. The counterproposals were generally pretty sound, one thing that can be frustrating is that you can accept the CPU’s counter proposal but than he will decline the offer. Realistic I am sure, but frustrating. The trade screen is easy to navigate and the player ratings are easily accessible and you can always press in the right analog control to get the player card. You can make 2 for 1 trades or even 3 for 1 trades as long as the other team is under the cap or does not have too many players. You can also throw in draft choices to try and sweeten a deal.

Aaron
The trade logic is one of the best I have seen in a game. If you get a steal, usually it’s because of money reasons or the computer team doesn’t think too highly of the player. No matter what you do, you aren’t gonna be able to build a super team unless you give up a ton of draft picks or talent. You won’t see any Brett Farve for Bryant Westbrook trades in NFL2k3.

Jim
Signing Free agents in the off-season is fun because you have to bid against other teams and it last 46 days. The players are rated and the top players usually have offers in the first few days, the screen will show the top 3 offers the player is considering. I would go in and bid on someone that was more in my price range and for 20 days you might be the only one bidding on this player, but then suddenly he starts getting other offers. If you don’t monitor his offers everyday you run the risk of losing the player. It is key not to panic and bid more than you want for a player, just so you can feel like you won the bidding war.

The free agent screen will show you the years and dollar amounts that the player is expecting and once you make him an offer there is a bar that shows you the level of the free agents interest. It is funny sometimes, how $50,000 will make the difference. Each day you can see which players you have made a bid on before going to the next day and some times you will get the good news that your player accepted your offer but others you will find that they chose someone else’s offer, even though you made him the original offer, no loyalty. You can also sign free agents during the season but you don’t have to bid against other teams, they either like your offer or don’t.

Aaron
For some reason 2k3’s free agency seems more realistic to me than Madden’s. In Madden, it always feels like only money matters in the negotiation. I could have the Bengals and Peyton Manning could be a free agent. All I would have to do is offer him the right amount of money and I would have a good chance at signing him. In real life, there is no way Manning would even consider coming to the Bengals. In 2k3, you can have the highest bid with the Bengals but in the end, Manning’s chooses another team.

Jim
Great point, the player will sometimes have 3 equal offers.

Drafting is fun but I think it could have been done a lot better. Basically all the decent draft information you can acquire is during the 4 days of the combine and you are given 7 hours each day to apply toward scouting various players. You can apply 1 hour to get a real basic comments like, “Doesn’t have good hands”. You can apply 2 hours to get a more detailed report and the comments. The report has three categories, which varies by position, for a receiver they are speed, hands, and route running. For 2 hours you will get a rating of Good, Average, Poor, etc in these categories, if you apply 3 hours you will get a detailed report which gives you the players rating in numerous categories, this is obviously helpful, but if you commit 3 hours to each player, you can only get info on 9 players.

Aaron
2 hours is the way to go during the draft process. The report that you get features enough information for you to make a decision. I would only use 3 if you honestly can’t make a decision about 2 first rounders but only in this case. Just think about it. That extra hour could have been used to scout a steal in the later rounds.

Jim
As part of the combine and the draft there is a mock draft for the first round and the big board which shows the top 25 players overall and the rookie report which shows you the top players at each position. Problem is unless you scouted a particular player you have very little info on him. This isn’t very realistic, there are all kind of outside sources available, like ESPN’s own Mel Kiper, plus your teams scouts should have been working all year. You can pick the top guys from the list, but it is an uncomfortable feeling since you have very little info.

One nice touch in the draft is that you can view a screen with a Palm Pilot with suggested picks, which sometime make sense and other times they don’t. I like the idea about assigning hours to players but the lack of information on other players left me feeling kind of like Mike Ditka on draft day.

Once you have made your selections in the 7 round NFL Draft, you have to sign your players. The negotiation process is similar to the free agent screen, you will see what the player feels he is worth and you can make him an offer. The first rounder I chose in with the 27th pick in the draft wanted 3.5 million, second rounders want roughly a million. So if you didn’t draft wisely you end up putting a lot of money into guys that might not play much depending on how they progress.

I don’t have a real good feel for how the player progression is working, it seems to be based on playing time and age and success to a certain degree. I have just simmed through my franchise seasons so I don’t know if I worked my backups into the game more if they would progress better. One thing to be aware that is a problem if you are playing games in your franchise and simming the other teams games, is the quarter length. I have found that if you are playing the games that 9 minute quarters work the best for me, I get about the right amount of plays and the ebb and flow of momentum that goes along with a game. Problem is that the simulation works best when the quarters are set at 5 minutes. So you will see ridiculous stats like 7 games into the season your field goal kicker might have attempted close to 50 field goals, QB’s will have thrown way too much, so you can forget about leading the league in any offensive categories although you will probably lead the league in team defense. There is a work around for this problem, you can make sure to go back to change the quarters to 5 minutes before you sim any games and then change it back when you want to play, but this isn’t really fair to the gamer.

Aaron

That bug isn’t a big one but it shows that Madden’s sim engine is more advanced than 2k3’s. Its frustrating because you know if Sega had some real football gaming fans to beta test this game, that is something they would have picked up on before the game came out. I found out about the bug 20 minutes into owning the game. Small things like the sim bug and no 3rd down back are things that distract from the game. Those issues don’t make or break a game but they can add to the game.

Jim
Given 5 minute quarters, the simmed stats come out pretty realistically, except for punters for some reason they seem to be averaging in the 35 yard range and even odder is that there longest punt might only be in the 40’s.

Aaron
Also in some cases, I will have two WRs with 2000 yd seasons, which is something I don’t think has been done in real life.

Jim
Other modes of play are Season, where you can play as, as many teams as you want, but you can only control one, but you can play any teams games. There is a tournament mode and the most useful mode is the practice mode, you can set up situations and allow the defense to be random or you can select a certain type of defense you want to work against. The practice mode can actually be quite entertaining as it allows you to work on your plays without the pressure of winning a game.

Aaron
I can’t understand why Sega would only let you control one team during season mode. Its understandable in franchise mode to prevent the user from manipulating the other teams during the free agent process and the draft but I cant understand why Sega would put this in Season mode. Well, just another reason for me to buy NFL 2k4.

Jim
Upon further investigation I did notice in season mode you can change other teams depth charts. I haven’t had a chance to check out the on-line mode, but from what I hear it is promising.

BOTTOM LINE
Jim
This was a really tough game to score, parts of this game are outstanding, running, passing and making big hits are unsurpassed by any other game. The mental aspect of calling and executing your plays is engrossing. On the down side, it is very tough to sack the QB. Without sliders, tackling a good runner can be ulcer inducing and the CPU needs to open up it’s deep passing game. I have hard time imagining casual or serious football fans who won’t have fun playing NFL2K3.

Aaron
2k3 is a good game and light-years better than 2k2. The game made all types of improvements from the gameplay to the franchise mode. Still, the game has a little ways to go before it’s a complete game. The sim engine and the inability to get sacks are parts of the game where improvements are needed. It’s still a good game and worthy of a purchase.