 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Sport Developer: Midway Publisher: Midway |
For every great simulation game released, there is an arcade alternative that just takes up space of the store shelves. It has been this
way since the beginning of gaming and this is the way that it will always be. For the release of the “Madden NFL” franchise, there was
the release of the “Blitz” franchise. In the first years of the franchise, “Blitz” gave gamers a much simpler style of fun and excitement of
smashing other players into the ground with body slams and more bone shaking moves, but the series has recently taken a turn for the
worst. It seems more like a horror game with how scary it is because of a lot of mediocre or just bad elements of the game.
“Blitz: The League II” continues to be the franchise game that has a campaign mode and script for players to work their way through.
The game gives the players a feeling of being a part of the strange world of football where sports injuries are cured simply by injecting
the players with steroids on the sideline and deals are made by sleeping the executive. Sadly, these elements don’t only bring the
entire game to a lower level, but it also limits the audience that can play this game.
Oddly enough, the over the top elements of the game that make the game so interesting also happen to be the elements of the game
play that make the game suffer. “Blitz: The League II” brings many of the same aspects of the first game, such as Clash and
Unleashed moves become available for good yardage and good plays on defense. Luckily, the moves in the game have been
expanded quite a bit and allow players to target specific body parts to injure of the opposing team and to repair the injuries with bone
setting and needle injecting mini games. Actually, these are a bit on the disturbing side for those who aren’t ready for them.
Late hits are also back in “Blitz: The League II,” but they take a slightly more violent form than players have seen before in the franchise.
Rather than simply performing an over the top tackle on an opponent who has always been tackled, players will go to one of a handful of
set positions and start wailing on the poor player’s body part. Sometimes players will attack with their cleats, sometimes with a
helmet. It all ends with a blood splatter on the screen, a little over the top, but that is what this whole game is about, over the top.
The injury mini game works well and remains fun through each game, mainly because they aren’t used very often, but the late hit
attacks can get old in a hurry. At least they could have had a quick event trigger rather than a button smashing prompt. It is a great way
to drain the stamina from the opponent’s key players. It often gets old and players eventually won’t even do it anymore.
All of the crazy action that takes place in the game is driven by a ragtag football league of tough troublemakers, where players take on
the role of the new starring member of the league. They are a hot rookie who turns down a deal to play in their own hometown. Their
character talks acts like a complete idiot in every situation, yet is still able to come out on top with women and money. Lawrence Taylor
and Joy Mohr add their voices to the game with Lawrence Taylor coming back to the franchise as the evil New York Nightmare
linebacker and Joy Mohr plays the role of the player’s agent. They each do a good job, but the plot falls a little short.
The worst part about the game isn’t anything that players would expect to be the bad part of the game. Sadly, it is the football portion of
the game that brings the largest flaw of the game into action. The animations look really bad with very rigid movements and crazy
bouncing motions at work. The hits don’t always line up and the AI is constantly making terrible decisions in the plays. Players rely
entirely on the Clash abilities to form any type of running attack, meaning that the level of defense is a little high, especially for someone
picking up the game and trying to play right away.
Visually, the game comes off to be quite mediocre. The player models look alright, but they still have a little bit of a plastic look to it,
especially in the rain. Animations are unrealistic and rigid. The frame rate is good and the presentation values for the campaign mode
are kept at a fairly high level even if the content isn’t there.
With the addition of Jay Mohr and Lawrence Taylor, the storyline is a little better, but is not better than the rest of the game. Frank
Caliendo also delivers his John Madden impersonation in the commentary booth and it would have been a lot more fun if they would
have recorded more lines of dialogue. Players will hear the same phrases over and over again.
“Blitz: The League 2” provides gamers with an okay football game, but it isn’t “Madden NFL” by any means. Nothing in the game, from
the campaign to the online play to the extra game modes, stands out. However, it isn’t so bad for those who are looking for a fun and
interesting over the top football game. Though it isn’t for children, the game is a lot more interesting, and probably more realistic, than
what most people see on the television screen on Sunday afternoons.
way since the beginning of gaming and this is the way that it will always be. For the release of the “Madden NFL” franchise, there was
the release of the “Blitz” franchise. In the first years of the franchise, “Blitz” gave gamers a much simpler style of fun and excitement of
smashing other players into the ground with body slams and more bone shaking moves, but the series has recently taken a turn for the
worst. It seems more like a horror game with how scary it is because of a lot of mediocre or just bad elements of the game.
“Blitz: The League II” continues to be the franchise game that has a campaign mode and script for players to work their way through.
The game gives the players a feeling of being a part of the strange world of football where sports injuries are cured simply by injecting
the players with steroids on the sideline and deals are made by sleeping the executive. Sadly, these elements don’t only bring the
entire game to a lower level, but it also limits the audience that can play this game.
Oddly enough, the over the top elements of the game that make the game so interesting also happen to be the elements of the game
play that make the game suffer. “Blitz: The League II” brings many of the same aspects of the first game, such as Clash and
Unleashed moves become available for good yardage and good plays on defense. Luckily, the moves in the game have been
expanded quite a bit and allow players to target specific body parts to injure of the opposing team and to repair the injuries with bone
setting and needle injecting mini games. Actually, these are a bit on the disturbing side for those who aren’t ready for them.
Late hits are also back in “Blitz: The League II,” but they take a slightly more violent form than players have seen before in the franchise.
Rather than simply performing an over the top tackle on an opponent who has always been tackled, players will go to one of a handful of
set positions and start wailing on the poor player’s body part. Sometimes players will attack with their cleats, sometimes with a
helmet. It all ends with a blood splatter on the screen, a little over the top, but that is what this whole game is about, over the top.
The injury mini game works well and remains fun through each game, mainly because they aren’t used very often, but the late hit
attacks can get old in a hurry. At least they could have had a quick event trigger rather than a button smashing prompt. It is a great way
to drain the stamina from the opponent’s key players. It often gets old and players eventually won’t even do it anymore.
All of the crazy action that takes place in the game is driven by a ragtag football league of tough troublemakers, where players take on
the role of the new starring member of the league. They are a hot rookie who turns down a deal to play in their own hometown. Their
character talks acts like a complete idiot in every situation, yet is still able to come out on top with women and money. Lawrence Taylor
and Joy Mohr add their voices to the game with Lawrence Taylor coming back to the franchise as the evil New York Nightmare
linebacker and Joy Mohr plays the role of the player’s agent. They each do a good job, but the plot falls a little short.
The worst part about the game isn’t anything that players would expect to be the bad part of the game. Sadly, it is the football portion of
the game that brings the largest flaw of the game into action. The animations look really bad with very rigid movements and crazy
bouncing motions at work. The hits don’t always line up and the AI is constantly making terrible decisions in the plays. Players rely
entirely on the Clash abilities to form any type of running attack, meaning that the level of defense is a little high, especially for someone
picking up the game and trying to play right away.
Visually, the game comes off to be quite mediocre. The player models look alright, but they still have a little bit of a plastic look to it,
especially in the rain. Animations are unrealistic and rigid. The frame rate is good and the presentation values for the campaign mode
are kept at a fairly high level even if the content isn’t there.
With the addition of Jay Mohr and Lawrence Taylor, the storyline is a little better, but is not better than the rest of the game. Frank
Caliendo also delivers his John Madden impersonation in the commentary booth and it would have been a lot more fun if they would
have recorded more lines of dialogue. Players will hear the same phrases over and over again.
“Blitz: The League 2” provides gamers with an okay football game, but it isn’t “Madden NFL” by any means. Nothing in the game, from
the campaign to the online play to the extra game modes, stands out. However, it isn’t so bad for those who are looking for a fun and
interesting over the top football game. Though it isn’t for children, the game is a lot more interesting, and probably more realistic, than
what most people see on the television screen on Sunday afternoons.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
