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Without a doubt this is one nice lookin' pigskin brawl on the PC. I've played all of the Blitz 2000 versions, and I've just found my favorite. Blitz 2000 is a hybrid of the console and arcade versions of NFL Blitz '99, with some cool extras thrown in to the mix. If you want hard hitting football action without those annoying rules, look no further than this hot ticket item.
Warning: You really have to play this game with a joystick. Pick up a Hammer-Head FX by Interact (it's their PSX Dual Shock PC cousin) and you'll be ready to tackle anything that comes your way (pun comes at no extra charge in review). You'll need at least an 8-button pad to make this game work for you. Trust me, you don't want to be screwing around, trying to play an arcade game on a keyboard. Once you get the pad configured, choose your favorite NFL team out of the 31 provided and go out and bust some heads. Of course, Blitz 2000 is based on real football, without all of the rules that make it a civilized (ahem) game. Just to make it interesting, you'll now need 30 yards for a touchdown and everyone will be out to maim you. Sounds like fun, huh?
Just as in any sports game, arcade or sim, it is handy to know the rules of the game before playing. If you haven't played Blitz before, I'd say a 30 - 60 minute learning curve will be in order. If you know nothing of football and have never played a football video game before, you might need to spend some extra-curricular time with this one. You must understand the ideas of passing plays, running plays, earning first downs and tackles before entering the gridiron. Picking up and playing Blitz isn't all that difficult due to the arcade style of the gameplay. Simply configure your joystick and go. Passing is as easy pressing to the left, right or center once the ball is snapped. This will light up your available receiver. This is referred to as "one button passing" and it works like a charm. I personally prefer icon passing, but that wasn't available in this version. If your man is too far out, he can dive for it, or if you are on defense, you can slam into a waiting receiver hoping to get him to fumble that ball. Nothing is frowned upon. This game is all about playing a speedy, action packed game of football just like the NBA Jam series. In fact, like NBA Jam if your team is doing well, they'll be on fire, which means they'll be pretty hard to stop. Real football this ain't.
The gameplay is king in Blitz 2000. You can select from 3 pages (fully editable) of offensive plays or 1 page when on defense. You may even flip each play if you feel the need to shake things up a bit. Heck, you can even hide your selection so that players 2, 3 & 4 won't know what you are going to select. Once you get out to the line of scrimmage and see the opposing team's lineup, which you don't like the look of, simply call an audible and change your play on the fly. And just wait until you see those bone crunching flying tackles. With the vibration feature on (if your joystick supports it), you can feel the impact. Ouch. Play through an entire season or play the odd game. It's completely up to you. If the playbook is getting a little tired, then check out the Play Editor. This will give all of you armchair quarterbacks the chance to finally prove it to yourselves that the bonehead plays and strategies you think up during Monday Night Football, really wouldn't work in an actual game. That's why they have a coach and you have a couch. But if you must experiment, Blitz 2000 lets you muck up the works.
There are a surprising number of defensive and offensive moves in addition to the standard jump, turbo and passing. All of the moves are context sensitive, meaning that if you are on offense, defense or waiting at the line of scrimmage, each button will perform a different function. The various moves you can execute throughout the game, while on defense, offense or waiting for the snap are as follows: Audibles, show players names, run, jump, pass, stiff arm, hurdle, high-hurdle, turbo run, jump pas, fast pass, spin move, tackle, dive tackle, power tackle, intercept, lateral, and change player. Learning all of those moves will certainly keep you busy.
Graphically Blitz 2000 is sweet. The PC version rivals the crisp visuals of the arcade presentation, which makes everything look extremely clean. If you look closely, you'll even see brown patches of grass on the field. Different sized players give the game some authenticity in the realism department, even though that's the furthest thing from Blitz 2000's mind. As well, the animation is flawless and brutal. Brutal, of course, referring to the life threatening tackles and take downs this game thrives at.
As trash talking is the order of the day, expect to hear a lot of it. Mind you, if you are playing with other players, you can expect to hear the real thing. That's what this game is about; in your face football. If you can't talk the talk, then you can't walk the walk when it comes to Blitz 2K. There really is no play-by-play announcer, he's more there as the "Ouch, that's gotta hurt" guy. Just don't expect in-depth color commentary ala Madden. The crowd noise is done well and you'll hear them spit out jeers and cheers depending on if you are the home team or not.
Depending on the size of your monitor, you may want to try and have 4 players go at it. I have a 19" monitor and it would work well, but when you start getting into the 14"s and 15"s, I think you'd have a bit of a problem crowding around it and seeing everything. That's not to mention the logistical nightmare of hooking up 4 joysticks. I know of heavy duty PC gamers that would shudder at that thought and never mention it again. An Internet or network ability would have been a very cool option. Maybe next time.
Complaint Dept. As pretty and as smooth as Blitz 2000 is, the players come off looking a little blocky. That has to tell you how fast things are improving in the world of videogame development. A year and a half ago this game was state of the art and now it's crap. Kidding! Kidding! I'm really not going to rag on it, because there was no real reason to change it. The game still looks and plays great. My last complaint is of a more serious nature. This concerns playing the game on anything but a Glide accelerated PC: My advice? Don't. You really need the graphics horsepower of a decent 3D graphics card to play this game. I tried it on a PII 233 MHz without a 3D card and this game was dropping frames faster than Richard Simmons hugs fat people. If you are serious about gaming, then my advice is to get serious about a 3D graphics card, fast. It's only going to get worse. On my PIII 450 MHz Voodoo 3500 system, this game flew out the door.
I'm not a fan of real football at all, but fat chance this game will ever come off of my PC. It's too good. I know a game is fun, when playing it doesn't seem like a job. This game is one of my favorite sports titles and I would love to see Midway make an NHL Blitz very soon. You'll need a PII 233 MHz to run Blitz 2000 properly and it says that a 3Daccelerator isn't necessary, but I have my doubts on that one. Anyway you slice it, Blitz 2000 definitely scores a touchdown! Highly recommended!
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