Publisher: Midway Games
Developer: Midway Games
Genre: Football
Release Date: Available now
Review by: Mark Turcotte

In a world with only one officially licensed NFL game, our choices are rather slim when it comes to football. With Blitz: The League II, Midway once again brings us their version of the hard-hitting sport, abandoning realism in favor of over-the-top action. This arcade alternative to EA’s Madden series tries to be an NFL simulator, but is this crazy brand of football worth huddling up to play?

The rules in Blitz II are different than those of regular football. You helm a 24-man roster, with eight players per team on the field at one time, and you need to gain 30 yards rather than the usual 10 to get a first down. You only have a handful of plays to call, and overall they’re rather simple compared to some of the in-depth plays found in other football games, but the action in the Blitz series is fast and intense. Plays are completed in mere seconds and require you to make quick decisions on passes and jukes. Like most football games, your player has an arsenal of moves that can be accomplished by either button presses or the right analog stick. A turbo button is available, but what makes Blitz: The League II a little different is the incorporation of the Clash meter. The Clash meter fills up based on your on-field action. When used correctly it highlights body parts and allows you to pick which one to target. A short mini-game opens in which you must mash on the button to cause the most damage to that body part. This results in a rather gruesome hit.

Speaking of gruesome hits, Blitz: The League II is full of them. Regular tackles are brutal and fast, while bones break and muscles tear in Clash-mode hits. The game zooms in and shows the body part from a view under the skin in rather graphic detail. While playing I saw guys break their shoulders, get concussions, and even break their necks, severing their spinal cords. These injuries can put your player out for a few plays, a series of games or even the entire season. When an injury happens, yet another mini-game opens in which you align the analog sticks to set broken bones back in place. You can also inject your players with medicine that gets them back on the field more quickly. I must admit, the first couple of times it’s pretty neat to see the breaks and repair them, but after a while it loses its appeal, and the injuries seem to happen much too often.

One thing that differentiates Blitz: The League II from its competitors is its campaign mode. The story opens with you, a cocky player called “The Franchise,” deciding that you want to defy the League Commissioner and play for your hometown team. You then have to answer questions from the press, with your responses determining your starting statistics and the positions you will play on offense and defense. Throughout the campaign your stats are affected by those of your teammates and your training. Once your make all your personal choices, you finally strap up your helmet and get set to take the field, but before your cleats hit the turf you have to decide whether or not to use performance-enhancing drugs on yourself or your teammates. Before each game you can juice up to three players to boost their stats. These drugs can increase your players’ stamina and the damage they cause their opponents. The campaign mode also features cinematic cut-scenes between each game. They tell you a little bit about your next opponent and fill you in on the story behind the team’s star player. Maybe that week it’s a wife-beating, alcoholic quarterback with a wisecracking mouth, or perhaps a hot running back with a thug background. The game tries to create stories for each of the players and give you some sort of incentive to win. There’s also a gambling component in which you can bet on each game and make more cash, which is then used to buy drugs. The Franchise even gets an agent and girlfriends. Both call you periodically and give you certain challenges for each game, such as getting a certain number of touchdowns or tackles. If you complete these challenges, you get sponsorship deals and better equipment that boost your stats. These actually work pretty well and have you focusing on not only winning the game, but also completing the challenge of the week.

Blitz II multiplayer lets you bring your created player from the campaign mode on-line and face the world. There are leader boards that keep track of wins and losses, and there are some neat modes that allow for various gameplay challenges, such as no helmets and pads or ones in which the point value of a touchdown is affected by how many plays it takes you to score. These things can add to the overall lasting appeal of the game, but don’t really do much to expand the experience.

At the lowered price point this could be worth a pickup if you need a football fix and Madden isn’t your thing. If you currently own any of the previous Blitz titles, I don’t really see a reason to buy this. You know how it plays and this version doesn’t really add much. If you don’t like the Madden-style realism and get a kick out of injuring your opponent to the point that they can’t walk, then maybe this is the game for you. It’s fun while it lasts, but the campaign mode is short and the gameplay elements get old fast. Blitz: The League II is just an average arcade football title that tries a little too hard to grab your attention.

Our Score:

Our Recommendation: