Over the course of its life span, 989's GameDay franchise has reminded me a lot of my favorite team, the New Orleans Saints. Much like the Saints, the off season is full of hope - maybe this year will be different, but once the season starts, it is all downhill from there. Sure both have had one or two good years - but for the most part, both have been average at best. Now, as a new season begins, gamers are full of renewed hope that the GameDay series will have a good year. Unfortunately, while the Saints have improved, hope is all that GameDay fans have.

In some cases, NFL GameDay 2003 is a big step over last year's incarnation. The best and most noticeable improvement is the game's top-notch animations. Whereas most games give you a few different tackle animations, GameDay 2003 gives players over three hundred. Just like real-life games, no two tackles are the same. Helmet reflections, accurate stadiums, and good coin toss round out what could make for a great presentation - if only the players and weather effects were up to par.

Once again, the players are way too blocky. When playing other games such as Madden and 2K3, I have had people stop and ask me what channel the game is on. They look that good. However, when looking at GameDay 2003, it is clear that you are playing a video game. I also found the size of the players unbelievable. Yes, football players are big guys, but when your kicker looks like a 'roided out hulk - there are problems. Weather effects are always a welcome in football games, but if you are going to include them, go all the way and have them affect the field and players. Grass fields in pouring rain tend to dirty up - but in GameDay 2003's parallel universe, this is not the case.

As much as I hate Dan 'I point out the obvious' Fouts, the sound in GameDay 2003 is very good. The addition of a three-man team (Dan Fouts, Dick Enberg and Ian Eagle) helps to keep the game's TV presentation believable, especially since phrases aren't repeated nearly as much as other games.

Obviously, these things could be overlooked if the gameplay was there, but it's not. The running game is nearly unstoppable, plays can be run repeatedly without the computer catching on, and a plethora of other defensive problems cause GameDay 2003 to fumble more that Ricky Williams in the backfield. While there is a noticeable improvement over last year's version, the underpinnings of a good football game never seem to be in place. For example, while playing a game with the Saints, I was able to amass a total of nearly 600 yards in one game. Sure, this is doable if you just run the ball, but I also threw for about 200. I will admit, Joe Horn, Aaron Brooks, and Deuce McAllister are all good offensive weapons - but if they were that good, the Saints might have a chance at a winning season!

Although I was able to pass for ungodly amounts of passing yards, the passing game does deserve some credit since it is one of the more improved aspects of the entire game. The ball physics are pretty much dead on in regards to how the ball acts depending on how it is thrown. Early in the game, this will have you cursing up a storm that your guys can't catch, but as you grow accustomed to the ins-and-outs of the passing game, it becomes more true to life. What this means is that you will not have QBs gunning the ball down the field into one-handed catches.

As dismal as things may look, there are a few bright spots - namely the game's features, especially the Online play. As usual, the Season, Exhibition, and Front Office modes make the team as does drafting players from Gamebreaker and the play editor.

When put against Madden and 2K3 in single player modes it flounders like a QB after being sacked, but nothing rivals GameDay 2003's Online modes. First of all, this is the only game that allows for players to type messages during the game (a USB keyboard is recommended). This is a great way to tell other players how you really feel, especially when they are playing like cheesey game (online gamers will know what I am talking about). I was also very impressed that the games were almost lag-free, something the other two cannot boast about.

Nevertheless, from the highest peaks, NFL GameDay 2003 again falls to the lowest valleys. Simply put, the computer's AI is terrible. The biggest, and most noticeable, problem is the computer's inability to adapt itself to human play calling. For example, if I were to call one play, only to change it before the snap, the computer will still run it's defense like you were still running the other play. To make things worse, I was able to get the computer to bite on just about every trick play I ran.

Play Action - BAM! Touchdown!

Fake Field Goal - BAM! Touchdown!

QB Sneak - BAM! Touchdown!

As you can probably tell, high scoring contests were not unusual.

In what is the theme for NFL GameDay 2003 - the controls show some improvement, but fall short of the first down. The controls are tight and responsive, however you never feel like you have total control over your players. Running players feel like they are gliding on just mopped, partially melting ice rather than grass (or turf). There were times when a hole would open, but my back slid so much that he was able to overshoot the hole and would end up being stuck on a lineman. On a positive note, I liked the 'advanced' running moves such as jumping over the pile.

As I mentioned before, the passing game is rather good - especially when compared to previous games. However, once the receiver catches the ball the game runs into same running problems that botch the running game.

When the final whistle blows, GameDay shows some improvement over previous incarnations but still never makes that last second, game winning stride into the endzone that it hoped it would. The underpinnings are starting to take shape and it's a decent game of football, but when compared to both Madden and 2K3 it falls terribly short of the mark and can't keep up.