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This Is Football 2003 for PlayStation 2
This Is Football 2003 for PlayStation 2 combines football matches with building a team. Choose a club or national side, keep the ball moving and find an opening between defenders. An unmarked player along the touchline can keep an attack going, while a misplaced pass gives the opposition space. Your formation and tactical choices determine which areas of the pitch you occupy and how your team responds to losing possession.
In Career, you start with a school team and try to progress into professional competitions. Your results give the team a continuing story beyond the next kick-off. Signing players costs money, so transfers and the available budget influence the development of your squad. There are also single matches, seasons and custom competitions. The editor lets you change players and kits, giving you influence over your team away from the pitch as well.
Up to eight participants can play football simultaneously on the same television, divided between both teams. Everyone needs a separate controller; more than two players require PS2 Multitaps. One Multitap lets you connect a total of five controllers to the PS2, and two allow up to eight. Controlling a team together calls for shared responsibilities: one person makes a run, another looks for the pass, and space at the back needs covering. Historical teams in Timewarp also give these matches different squads from the regular season.
Region and language
Our PlayStation 2 games are PAL editions and come with a Dutch or English box, unless stated otherwise. By default, you receive the version for the European market. We note it in the product details if the region is different or the box is in another language. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
This Is Football 2003 for PlayStation 2 includes the manual unless the product title states otherwise. If the booklet is missing, the title says “No Manual”. This lets you see before ordering whether the game comes with a manual.
The manuals included with our games usually contain at least English and often around six European languages. The exact languages vary by edition, so Dutch is not always included. The booklet explains the controls and the main rules. You can use it to check how to control the game, which actions are available and how its different features work.
The history of This Is Football 2003
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe released This Is Football 2003 in Europe in 2002. Development was handled by SCEE London Studio, which continued the football series on PlayStation 2. The year in the European title therefore does not indicate the year of its first release. North America received the game in 2003 as World Tour Soccer 2003. That regional name means the same instalment can be found under two different titles in old press releases.
An important addition was the new Career structure. This Is Football 2002 already had a separate competition for school teams, but the sequel turned that small starting point into the beginning of a longer path towards professional football. Transfers and money management linked matches with assembling a squad. Alongside individual games and seasons, the series thus gained another form of progression, keeping the club at the centre over a longer period.
On the pitch, the team continued working on player animations, faces and the movement of computer-controlled footballers. Teammates were expected to find space and defenders to react to runs; camera sequences around fouls and other events enhanced the television-style presentation. The selection also expanded to include competitions beyond the familiar European countries. The result belongs to football around the 2002 season, with player data and club arrangements from that period. Later improvements from This Is Football 2004 and the face feature from This Is Football 2005 are not part of this PS2 instalment.
Similar games for PlayStation 2
This Is Football 2002 contains the same foundation of club football, national sides and custom competition settings. School teams already appear in Jumpers 4 Posts, but only in a separate competition. This Is Football 2003 makes a school team the starting point of Career and adds budget-based transfers to that longer development. The difference therefore goes beyond different player data: the role of school football within the game's progression changes.
Pro Evolution Soccer shares tactical eleven-a-side football and the option to play locally with others. Konami's first PS2 instalment has Master League as its own form of team building, with pass direction and power playing an important role. This Is Football 2003 offers a different career in response, beginning with school football. Both connect matches with longer-term development, but the starting point and structure of the club career differ clearly.
Pro Evolution Soccer 2 develops Master League further with three divisions, contract negotiations and cup matches. This Is Football 2003 also uses transfers and money to grow the squad in its Career, but starts that route with a school team. The similarity lies in combining football on the pitch with decisions about the team. Konami expands its existing club competition, while Sony makes school football part of a new path towards professional competitions.
This Is Football 2004 carries over the school-to-professional career from This Is Football 2003 and develops the transfer market further. Passing, shooting and ball behaviour are also reworked. Both instalments therefore offer a longer career alongside individual matches and local multiplayer. In 2003, you play an earlier version of that structure; the sequel changes both decisions about buying players and the execution of actions during a match.
This Is Football 2005 retains Career, seasons and custom competitions, so its structure remains recognisable alongside This Is Football 2003. One notable difference is the optional EyeToy: Cameo feature, which lets you create a player's face with an EyeToy camera in 2005. That camera is not needed for ordinary matches. This Is Football 2003 does offer tools for editing players and kits, but not this later camera feature for a footballer's face.
