Xbox
Released in 2002 by Microsoft Game Studios
Grade: B-
This game has an arcade feel but with realism and depth that’s more sim-focused. It’s challenging and fun, but won’t offer the satisfying football experience of a well-rounded sim.
Where it falls in the series
It’s the second of three in the Fever series, exclusive to Xbox. At first glance it’s just like the first, NFL Fever 2002, but it has key improvements to the gameplay.
Praises and gripes
Playing the game feels arcade-like, with ultra-responsive controls and machine-like movement, but it has sim elements, like full playbooks and stout defense that inspires well-planned strategy on offense.
The game has a nice colorful look. The snappy animation is solid, but the players are all bulky; it’s easy to mistake a safety for a lineman. There are new animations for more types of tackles, broken tackles, and catches, which helps make the action more unpredictable.
Tacklers are vicious and DBs consistently break up passes. The most noticeable difference from last year is that lineman rush the QB harder, so you don’t have nearly as many slow-developing pass plays. The QB needs to move or get rid of the ball. This is offset a bit by improved fluidity in the passing game. When you put these little changes together, the game feels more fair and realistic this year.
I still have trouble with DBs in the open field getting turned around; there’s no sidestepping movement that modern football games have. Quarterbacks can release the ball quickly, but they have running issues too, sometimes looping around when you want a simple sidestep. Running backs have some nice controls to work with, but finding the open gaps and following blockers also feels a bit mechanical.
The playbooks are big, but not different from team to team. There are decent strategic options such as hot routes, motion, bump and run defense, etc. There’s a lot you can do, but the strategy still isn’t as deep or well-designed as Madden from the same year. While some plays seem better engineered than last year, the game still struggles to capture realistic play-action, and a lot of passing routes are useless in your passing attack.
The CPU opponent is tough but dumb, never knowing the right coaching decisions near the end of a game. If you’re behind, you’ll almost always get a second chance at a comeback. You need to play against a friend for NFL-level intensity.
All in all, it’s a pretty fun, balanced game. If you’re comparing 2003’s football games, it doesn’t match up to Madden 2003, but it tops NFL 2K3 and the other football sims on the market.