August might only mark the beginning of the preseason for the NFL, but its the start of the regular season for John Madden Football addicts around the country. While its common for EA to not tempt fate by adding or changing too much in the series from year to year, Madden 2003 has gotten as big a face lift from last years version as any other game in the franchises history. The key additions are online play, which will finally allow you to test your skills on somebody other than your little brother, a mini-camp mode which teaches you mechanics, and a tweaked franchise mode that puts more emphasis on player development than in years past. The end result is a fantastic game that looks and sounds great, but one that does have some nagging AI issues that could keep series veterans from enjoying it as much as theyd hoped.

The difference between Maddens graphics this year and last year arent huge, but there are enough improvements that even the casual observer could tell this is the better looking game. EA went back and touched up little things like having actual field wear during the game, improved snow effects, and for the third year in a row, new and improved coaches. There didnt seem to be anything wrong with them before, but youve got to admire the attention to detail.

Each of the NFLs 32 teams play in their current stadiums, so the Bears play home games at the University of Illinois, and the Seahawks, Patriots and Texans all enjoy new digs. Fans usually flock to a new stadium, but if your team plays like a Pop Warner team, theyll slowly quit coming to the games. Its cool, but kind of depressing to see your once raucous endzone stands virtually empty towards the end of a dismal losing season. Another new edition to the series is the inclusion of cheerleaders, or dancers - whatever they like to be called these days. They do a little routine for halftime, and you can see them on the sideline during the game, but theyre nothing more than a nice touch.

Player models are largely unchanged, which isnt a problem since theyre the best of any series. A large number of new animations have been added to the game and include some sweet gang tackles, new fumble recovery animations, and some new release points for quarterbacks, so the pesky problem of not getting a pass off fast enough is less of an issue this year. Overall, the game looks better than ever, but the PS2 version is the weakest looking of the three console versions due to its lower quality textures and some painful shimmering thats apparent form certain angles.

After years of having lousy commentary despite being named after a broadcaster, Maddens finally made some huge strides in the right direction. John Madden provides the commentary of course, but gone is the crusty play by play of Pat Summerall, and in his place is Monday Night Footballs Al Michaels. Sure, Michaels has got some quirks, like the way he pronounces Miller, but his calls are far and away more interesting and appropriate when it comes to making the game feel like a real broadcast.

Maddens always got some music playing in the background during the menu screens, but this is the first time theyve gone out and gotten well known artists to provide the tunes. Bon Jovi, Andrew WK, Nappy Roots, and others are used for the multiple-genre soundtrack. This is all well and good, but every time a new song starts, or you switch to certain menus, a box with the song credits will appear in the top left corner of the screen blocking some menu options until it goes away. When coupled with the fact that there doesnt seem to be a way to turn off these boxes, the annoyance is inexcusable.

Madden 2003 provides enough gameplay modes, options, and difficulty levels that even when you dont feel like playing a full game, there something you can do. For beginners, theres Football 101, which teaches you the basics of each formation on offense and defense, and breaks down plays in each formation while teaching you how to run them. The new mini-camp mode is similar to the mini-games that SEGA uses in their tennis games, and is designed to make mastering certain fundamental skills more fun. There are drills for pass rushing, pass coverage, running the ball, staying in the pocket, passing accuracy, tackling, and even kicking field goals. Successful completion of a drill unlocks a game situation where the skill you just learned is key to beating the scenario in which you are placed.

The always popular two-minute drill, where you score as many points as possible with two minutes remaining in the game is just another of the games many play modes. You can also recreate classic scenarios or create your own game situations with the situation editor. If you want to play a tournament against your buddies, the tournament mode saves you the hassle of creating your own tourney with pen and paper. For those that need to practice for the big game, a practice mode where you can practice any play against any defense to your hearts content is available.

Despite all of these options, the heart and soul of Madden 2003 resides in the franchise mode. This year theres a greater importance placed on team depth as well as scouting, drafting, and signing rookies. Since injuries seem to be more common in 2003, its important to make sure youve got someone capable of backing up your injured player. Drafting talented rookies is an essential part of this process, as this year its possible to find future stars in the later rounds of the draft by scouting players. Scouting a player allows you to send someone to evaluate the players potential, and the report can confirm or dispute certain skills that the player is supposed to have. You can also view times in the 40, shuttle run, and check how many reps the player can bench or how high he can jump. You never see the players ratings until after hes drafted, which makes the top couple of picks in the draft less of a sure thing than they were in the past.

To further fine tune your team, you can choose a custom playbook, and use it anytime except during online play. In this playbook, you can include the formations that you feel play to your teams strengths, and you can add and remove any plays from these formations that you want. For those that really want to get involved, you can now create your own formations and plays to throw off opposing coaches. The interface for creating these plays is simple, and as soon as youve got a play finished, you can take it to the practice field and try it out. If it doesnt work, you head right back to the drawing board and tweak it until it does. If you prefer to do your creative play calling on the field, the hot routes feature, which allows you to change routes at the line of scrimmage, has been changed to allow you to call for slant patterns for your receivers.

Yet another addition to the game this year is a full preseason mode. This allows you to see your rookies and free agents in action before the regular season, and gives you a chance to try out your offensive and defensive schemes against real opponents. As further incentive to play the preseason, its possible to increase players attributes with good play in these games, so that rookie that would have started the season as a 60, may now start it as a 65 if he plays well. Just like in the real NFL, starters dont play the whole game, and the computer will substitute in the backups at halftime. Of course you have the option to keep the starters in, but they cant get hurt if theyre on the bench.

Madden 2003 plays virtually identical to last years game, but there have been some noticeable adjustments, some good, and some not so good. One good thing is the spin move actually works, and when used in the proper situations, it can net some big time additional yardage. If used at a bad time, it can cause you to get blasted back a few yards, negating what was probably already a minimal gain. The stiff arm has also been improved, and actually works some of the time, making it a little easier for a running back to hold off a tackler for a few precious seconds.

Now its time to take a look at the bad stuff, which really only covers the games AI. Making the game a challenge is all well and good, but when the computer is playing you to run on 4th and 12, and they shift to the side where you are running as you line up the play - somethings up. You can audible the play to go the other way, but the computer somehow knows that the audible was just to change the direction of the play, not to change the play itself. You can put a runner in motion, but that could cause the linebackers to shift over, and may even drag a safety into the mix. The huge discrepancy in turnover differential is back this year, as its very difficult to intercept passes, and you are guaranteed to fumble the ball more than the opposition. There are also times where its obvious right from the opening drive that you are destined to lose the game. Coverages fail, you cant get any pressure on the quarterback (a big issue all of the time), and your receivers drop passes all game. Despite the fact that I went 7-3 against EA testers and beat NFL receiver Keenan McCardell at E3, there were times on All-Pro where I went two games with only one defensive stop in each game. Veteran players appreciate a challenge, but when it comes cheaply, it backfires big time.

For the first time on a home console, Madden is playable online. All you need is a network adapter, and an Internet connection. Its possible to play with a 56k connection, but for optimum gameplay, a broadband connection is needed. Getting online is simple, and once you are on, you can download updated roster files, view news, contests, or you can enter a room to get a game. Once in a room, you can chat with a USB keyboard, and view possible opponents records and disconnect percentage. A nice touch is being able to see a players run to pass ratio, which lets you know if all they do is throw deep, or they try to play the game as its meant to be played. The game runs great, the games are typically very close, and are virtually lag free, unless you are playing someone with a bad connection. Its disappointing to only be able chat while the game is paused, but its a small gripe.

EA really went all out to make sure that this game was vastly improved over last years effort. They succeeded in all aspects except for balanced AI, but even thats not enough to totally ruin the game for anyone. The online mode is great, and while not as deep as it could be, theres a great foundation on which EA can build a phenomenal online community. If you are wondering which game to pick, the PS2 version of the game might not be the best looking of the three, but since its the only one with online play, its easily the one to pick if you have a choice.