Its football season, and that means that the Gameday series is back for another go around on the gridiron.. Anyone whos thrown a virtual pass the last couple of years knows that the franchise has fallen on hard times lately. In fact, Sony and 989 arent ones to shy away from criticizing the games, and have promised an all-new and improved football experience. Theres no doubt that Gameday 2003 surpasses last years lackluster effort, but it still cant compete with Madden or 2K3.

Gameday uses the same game engine as Sonys NCAA Gamebreaker and as a result suffers from all of that games visual shortcomings. In fact, many of the exact same cut scenes are used, such as the coin toss and the QB talking to the head coach at the sideline. Youd expect them to look similar, but the way in which the games look exactly the same make one wonder why youd want to bother owning both games.

Each stadium in the game is modeled after its NFL counterpart, but the stadiums are rather bland looking, and the lifeless crowds would be a disappointment on the PSOne. Drab, washed-out visuals were a problem when it rained in Gamebreaker and they are an issue in Gameday. The game is normally colorful and vibrant on a sunny day, but on a rainy day the game is boring and dull looking. This might be forgivable if the rain effects were decent, but they are not.

The player models are easily the highlight of Gamedays graphics.. They are large and detailed, right down to the mesh in the jersey. Each players helmet reflects the stadiums lights and stands, adding a little bit of visual flair to a generally bland looking game. Unfortunately, the players dont look as good while moving - as the animations are somewhat choppy and disjointed. There are some nice tackles (989 boasts 300 of them), but the great ones where a defensive player makes a touchdown saving lunge or the runner gets hit but stumbles a few extra yards, are too rare an occurrence. Other fancy moves, like one-handed grabs and bobble catches are far too common. Theyre cool to look at, but it seems like theres one on every drive. Like the rest of the game, the graphics are better than they were, but they still leave a lot to be desired.

For the first time in a football videogame, three men call the action on the field. Gameday veterans Dick Enberg and Dan Fouts are joined in the booth by Ian Eagle. For the most part, the trio does an admirable job of calling the action on the field, and analyzing what is or isnt working for a particular team. Too much of this insight can be a bad thing however, as Dick and Ian are constantly spouting off phrases that begin with Youre right Dan or Thats correct Dan. Other than that small gripe, the commentarys on the right track and easily the games biggest strength.

The crowds in Gameday sound nearly as lifeless as they look. Theyll cheer a little bit when the home team gets a drive going, but they dont get very vocal other than that. The players talk a lot trash before the snap, telling the other guy that theyre going nowhere and discuss the possible economic impact that a prolonged war in Iraq might have on the long term goal of our war on terror. Oh wait, scratch that, they just talk smack.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the gameplay in Gameday is substantially improved, but not enough to cause anyone at EA or Visual Concepts to lose any sleep just yet. The games defense is deficient, the controls are lacking, and while the online aspect of the game is deep, its community is nowhere near as bustling as the other online pigskin games.

Gamedays got all the requisite features to keep up with the other games, as it features a franchise mode as well as online play. The franchise mode is solid, and allows you to create, cut, sign, and trade players to your hearts content. Current rosters can be downloaded via the games online mode, so those people that are frustrated with out of date rosters or underrated rookies will be more than satisfied with being able to constantly download the most current rosters.

The basic controls are essentially the same as everyone elses games, but the special moves are a little too difficult to pull off. Performing successive super-swim moves from right to left involve hitting the L2+R2 buttons and then switching to the L1+L2 buttons. Throw in the probable need for a speed burst as soon as youve gotten an opening, and it becomes evident that the controls are too unintuitive. The juke move is largely worthless, making it not even worth trying since youre more likely to fumble while juking.

Gamedays style of play has always leaned more towards an arcade experience rather than a more realistic, momentum-based re-creation of the sport. Long gone is the super 7-yard diving tackle from the old PSOne games, but players still can cut on a dime or abruptly dive to the left despite facing to their right. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing is largely up to your own personal tastes.

On the offensive side of the ball, Gameday performs well, as the running and passing games are pretty well balanced. The QB scramble is still a little too easy to use to gain a cheap first down, and there are some runners that are a bit too dominant, but overall its solid.

The games defense isnt as well-rounded as the offense, as there are some rather significant issues. Defensive backs routinely blow their coverage, and are sluggish to react to the ball, and the linebackers dont offer much resistance to the run. Unlike Gamebreaker you cant run the same play the entire game, but this is something that shouldnt even have to be discussed. Its difficult to get pressure on the QB, and just like every other football game out there, forget taking control of a defensive back as thats a sure recipe to giving up a long pass play.

Gameday is one of three football games to have online features on the PlayStation 2, and while it boasts the most user-friendly environment, the lack of people with online capability, and the fact that most people seem to be playing the other two games, has caused Gamedays community to get off to a slow start. The first time I tried to go online to play a game, I spent an hour sitting in the lobby and not one other person was online. The next day I was unable to get the server to work properly, but on the third try I finally got a closely contested, lag-free game of football. There are several different skill groups available, and they only get unlocked for people who have qualified with good play, so lamers that disconnect shouldnt be much of a problem. You can also earn points for your favorite team with a victory of your own. This is similar to a clan, but most people dont seem to know each other, so its more like a matter of team pride for the people online.

Theres no question that this years Gameday is a far better game than any previous 989 effort on the PS2. Unfortunately, it still has a ways to go before it is a competitor to Madden or NFL2K3. The online capabilities of the game are arguably the most robust, and its the only game to allow in-game chat without pausing the game, so theres the groundwork for a strong online football community, but right now theres not one reason to choose Gameday over the big two.