It looks like that Electronic Arts decided to make a lot of money because there are already three version of FIFA in the last eleven months! If you haven't read the reviews of the last two FIFA's, then do it now / FIFA Soccer 2002 (Oct 2001), 2002 FIFA World Cup (Apr 2002) / Every year the guys at EA Sport add/remove some features, but this FIFA looks to be the most mainstream-looking (and also most hyped) FIFA game yet.

FIFA Soccer 2003 features over 175 licensed entities -- 16 leagues, 450 teams (including FC Liverpool, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Manchester United, AC Milan, etc), 10,000 different players, 40-squad international roster, 4 modes (Friendly, Season, Tournaments and the all new Club Championship mode), two basic different gameplay modes - Arcade and Simulation, 4 difficulty levels (Amateur, Semi-Pro, Pro and World Class), over 24 accurately recreated actual stadiums (Olympiastadion, Stadio San Siro, Old Trafford, Santiago Bernabeau, Camp Nou, Highbury, Parc des Princes and Amsterdam Arena and Anfield), commentary by Motson and McCoist. The game also includes some improved gameplay features including: sprinting (detached ball from foot), jostling, passing, shooting, free kicks, making space for yourself, goalkeeping AI, great new "Have It" move for speedy clearances, EA Freestyle moves including Zidane spin, signature moves including Beckham and Carlos free kicks, Half time and full time highlights and stats, Ronaldo's trademark rabbit tooth when he scores a goal, and more.

The most important new thing about this game is the soccer ball. EA finally changed the gameplay by detaching the ball from the foot of the player, so it is about time. It will actually bounce with every step, you may even lose control of the ball. Maybe will surprise you that even gathering in a high ball on the touchline involves some precision and skill. This game is definitely an improvement over FIFA 2002 on most aspects, unfortunately the bugs with the AI keeps the game from truly rocking.

Despite the many improvements they have made into the game, FIFA 2003's gameplay is not without a few flaws. Very often the players on the field stand still and do nothing as a player moves past them, also playing defense can be nearly impossible sometimes because CPU AI does dumb things. Needless say that it's pretty lame to see how some star player is running in no-man's land, marking no one in particular, dozen of times every match. Also I didn't like that the computer plays with the same style regardless of team - there are no true tactical control of the teams and rosters are pretty inaccurate. Well, nothing is perfect. I hope they will release some patch to fix these goofs. If all of these gameplay flaws, in my opinion, were corrected this game would be a perfect 99% and a must buy. Anyway, after a couple hours of playing, I found FIFA 2003 to be damn addictive, especially the multiplayer portion (you to play through direct IP, LAN, Hot Seat or trough EA Sports Online for $4.95 a month after a free two month trial period). Overall, if you're into soccer, then this is definitely the game for you. Download playable demo (15MB).

System Requirements

Minimum: 350 MHz Intel Pentium II or AMD K6-2 CPU, 64 Megabytes of RAM (128 MB for Windows XP), DirectX 8.1 Compatible 3D accelerated 16 MB video card or equivalent with HW-T&L (Hardware Transform & Lighting) and 24-bit z-buffer, 450 MB free hard disk space plus space for saved games and additional space required for DirectX 8.1 installation, 4X Speed CD-ROM/DVD-ROM, DirectX 8.1 Compatible Sound Card, 56k Modem for online gameplay, MS compatible mouse, Keyboard
Recommended: 750 MHz Intel Pentium or AMD Athlon CPU, 128 Megabytes of RAM, DirectX 8.1 Compatible 3D accelerated 32 MB video card or equivalent with HW-T&L (Hardware Transform & Lighting) and 24-bit z-buffer, 1.2 GB free hard disk space plus space for saved games and additional space required for DirectX 8.1 installation, 4X Speed CD-ROM/DVD-ROM, DirectX 8.1 Compatible Sound Card, 56k Modem for online gameplay, MS compatible mouse, Keyboard or  an analog game pad such as the Microsoft Sidewinder Gamepad Pro, Logitech Wingman Rumblepad.

Note: Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 are not supported.