that's not the only reason it 'sucks'.
Take for example the situation in which a lone opposition forward is being marked by just one of your defenders.
A low searching pass is dropped to the front of this player, what does the marker do? Why he stops pressing and heads off to the opposite end of the wing.
why?
Because FIFA 2003 is all about graphics, and not much else.
This is just one example. There are many many more.
I like the new passing, the generally fluid movement, and the fact they've actually bothered to take note of fans complaints and changed more than the starting rosters.
But it's still FIFA, and it still 'sucks'.
There are so many unresolved bugs and gameplay issues it's laughable. I'm just glad I have Direct-Connect.
PES has it's share of defensive AI problems (they constantly let the opposition down the wing freely... so you have to manually edit the formation in order to prevent this) Fact is - PES has the option to fine tune, FIFA doesn't. While they've brought back the team management feature, and it's a welcome return, they've removed control from you, the user and you have to stick with pre-defined formations and attack attitudes. You can't tweak, and honestly - there'd be no reason to anyway.
PES also doesn't look all that nice anymore, something FIFA has achieved admirably
(FIFA 99 was the best looking in the series, from then on the graphics got more blocky and unrealistic if I remember rightly. 2003 is a LOT better )
Tackling is a little weird, theres no need for pinpoint accuracy on sliding tackles, the bounding box for which you'll succeed seems take up half the pitch
- while the conservative tackle almost never fails on you, or your opponents. Which is rightly annoying when you have the ball, and all the defender has to do is get close enough to press D once and wait till he catches up and relieves you of your possession
Ball physics are as strange as ever - it sometimes springs into certain locations and everyone except the player it was intended for is unable to get it.
You'll all remember that one from previous FIFAs, and I'm sure you'll see it and a whole host of new friends a lot more.
Player control is also as restrictive and annoying as ever.
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Sorry to ramble on... but I felt the need.
Your defense constantly has problems due to the fact they are all inept characters that serve no purpose other than to look good :P
FIFA 2003 <i>has</i> been changed, and tweaked slightly - but it's too little too late - and don't let the 13 to 14 year olds on this forum tell you otherwise.
(if your looking for a simple, good looking arcade football game and don't mind being ripped off on the price - then 2003 may be just up your street)