Genre : Video Game
Publisher: Midway
Developer: Midway
Players: 1-2
Retail Price: $60
Availability: Xbox 360, Playstation 3
When EA bought the exclusive rights to the NFL license four years ago, it seemed like that would be the end of the Blitz series. Undaunted, they simply said ‘Fine, we’ll make our own league’ and released Blitz: the League in 2005. The sequel (which seems to have dropped the colon — ha, it’s a pun, because of the injuries that — never mind) continues the format of ‘football on illegal substances,’ which in many cases is literal, as you can ‘juice’ up to three of your players before each game to get a gameplay benefit.
Besides the drug use (sure to endear the game to Jack ‘Mr Debarred’ Thompson), there are some other changes to the rules of football: it’s first and thirty, quarters are two minutes and, oh yeah, dirty hits are not only allowed but actively encouraged. Each team has a Clash meter that fills up as they gain yards/stop the other team. On offense, this meter can be used to slow down time and perform super moves like repeatedly stiffarming the defense or juking out of the way of a tackle. On defense you can use it for the aforementioned dirty hits, which generally involve picking the ball carrier up and throwing them down in some way.
Performing these moves correctly, along with scoring touchdowns, sacking the quarterback and other fun actions, get you Clash Icons. Fill up the Icon meter and you go into Unleashed mode, which lets you perform one incredibly dirty hit or super tackle evade. These generally cause injuries, even — maybe especially — if you’re on offense. Dave managed to evade my sack attempt by jumping and kicking me in the face, breaking my spine.
Injuries are a big part of the game, and speaking as a violent-games-give-me-catharsis kinda guy, were probably my favorite part. Occasionally when tackling a player you’ll be given a few circles around key body parts like the arm, neck and stomach. You can choose which to target and then mash A to build up the injury meter, though when I was playing I generally just shouted ‘ooh blood!’ and pounded the pain button. You’ll then be treated to a CSI-style zoom in of the injury, and if you were on the receiving end will have to either shove a needle into the area or snap the bone back into place in a visceral minigame. It’s not for the squeamish, but it is fun. Check out the video below for examples of broken bones and triage.
The violent, aggressive gameplay was something I expected out of a Blitz game (though I was pleasantly surprised at how violent and aggressive it actually was). What surprised me was the story, in that it has a fairly in-depth one. You play the role of a newly drafted two way player that you customize, giving him a name, two positions and playing style. You also choose your team from a (fairly big) list of cities, name it, choose its logo and color scheme and then go to town on the jersey and helmet design. Once the season has started you can also alter the uniform of any player: I gave myself a different facemask and a visor for kicks.
Your player — nicknamed Franchise — is given a task to complete in some games for sponsorship deals. As I was a Wide Receiver/Defensive Lineman, they’d be things like ‘get over 200 passing yards’ or ‘get a dirty hit on their quarterback.’ These challenges, along with the experience meter that fills as you play well, meant that I ignored pretty much every other player on my team. At least 80% of my quarterback’s passing yards were to Franchise, and I had -6 running yards in my first season because I had been sacked once. Just when I thought the strategy of ‘Choose a passing play, hike it, press X’ was all I needed I ran into some trouble and had to vary my plays up. It was still on the easy side, though, and I now had to press X a mere 75% of the time, but the difficulty does ramp up a bit at least.
The story, as I said, was remarkably in depth and crazy for a football game. You get into disagreements with the league, get girlfriends, run into trouble with the law… the plot goes all over the place, and was a fun addition to the gameplay. Along with all of the customization of your player, the equipment you can buy to upgrade your team, sponsorship deals and the juicing, there was a lot more depth than I expected.
Also unexpected was the voice talent of the game. Their big star is Lawrence Taylor, yes, but while playing the tutorial I said ‘the announcer sounds like Jay Mohr.’ Apparently I have a good ear, as in addition to the tutorial voiceover work he also plays your sleazy agent (it seems like everything the guy does is ‘sleazy ___,’ but if it works…). In addition, Frank Caliendo does the color commentary. Best known for his impressions on MadTV and now his own series, Frank TV, he’s in the ‘not Madden’ football game doing his impersonation of John Madden. The poetry of it is beautiful, and it works very, very well.
While the general execution of ‘brutal hits and over the top gameplay’ works well, it’s not without its faults. Frequently the offense would go into Clash mode and stiffarm one of my players, but then remain invincible for a few more seconds to all tackling. I understand that the player is stronger, but if I hit him head on I’d say that he should go down, dag nabbit. Also, in an odd choice, every time you play an exhibition mode with two players the tutorial video plays. It only takes a second to skip it, but it’s still an annoying second.
These are minor annoyances in the grand scheme of Blitz, though. In addition to the story mode there are ‘bonus’ modes that tweak the rules, like making injuries more likely (the equivalent to Double Stuff Oreos, in my opinion), reducing the point for a touchdown every play you don’t score, ‘make it, take it’… there is a ton of content in this game. It’s not Madden, that’s for sure, but that’s by choice: I guess football purists might turn up their nose at the game, but those of you who enjoy turning the knob to eleven for the hell of it will find more than enough fun to keep you occupied. Just be warned: performing the TD Celebration B-A-B-Y while your female friend is near may be ill advised. True story.
