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Blitz: The League II Review for Xbox 360

Blitz: The League II Review for Xbox 360

A Real Ball-Buster

Since losing its NFL license in 2004, Midway hasn’t stopped making Blitz titles, but redefines them with even more violence, controversy, and Mature content than the NFL would ever allow. 2005 saw the first Blitz title without NFL involvement, which jabbed at the league and loosely mocked the actual corruption that underlies it. Blitz: The League II takes things even further with more vulgarity, drug use, and humor than its predecessor. Midway continues to offer its unique, controversial take on pro football to rival the competition without all the fancy jerseys and big names from the league that revoked their license.

Blitz: The League II screenshot

The original gridiron Blitz football game is back with a few tweaks to its bone-snapping eight-on-eight. Though the NFL Street series brings a similar arcade style, nothing is meaner or more violent than Blitz’s comparable cartoon-like aesthetic, over-the-top animations, loud music, and tough guy posturing.

The difference between Blitz and any other arcade football title is the in-depth storyline that surrounds the game in Campaign Mode. Parodying the NFL (a little bitterness, perhaps?), Midway continues its satirical yet dark storyline that makes full use of the game’s Mature rating. The League II tells the story of a corrupt football league and a dim-witted rookie nicknamed The Franchise, who you’ll be playing as. Disappointingly, you won’t be able to change any physical attributes, just athletic abilities when starting up. You’ll name your character to represent The Franchise as well as your own team, which will be continually referred to as “Franchise’s Team”.

Foul language runs rampant throughout the campaign, which is full of humorous plot twists and picks up where the last game left off with former quarterback Mike Mexico and defensive end Jacob Williams serving time in prison together for running an illegal gambling operation – alluding to Michael Vick’s dog fighting scandal situation. Lawrence Taylor returns to lend his voice for league figurehead and resident bad guy Quentin Sands of the New York Nightmare, Jay Mohr voices The Agent, and the wildly entertaining Frank Caliendo of Mad TV plays The Warden, commentating each game in his famous John Madden impersonation.

Blitz: The League II screenshot

Five new expansions join The League this year as Los Angeles Riot, Houston Riders, Vancouver Beavers, Milwaukee Hounds, and Atlanta 404 all join the fray with their own home stadiums as well. There are some new functions given to the similar style of gameplay from the original Blitz: The League, most notably the newly implemented Precision Aim Tackling system. The new feature is actually one of the best aspects of the game, allowing you to focus your tackle on a specific body part such as the knee, shoulder, or back to cause a serious injury. The system has some depth to it as well. You can target a number of areas of the body, all of which come complete with a bloody animation. Several injuries seem to occur per game, and the camera focuses on them by zooming in to show the internal damage with a slo-mo X-Ray cutscene complete with splattering blood. Target the ball-carriers forearm to watch it snap in half, or target his nether-regions to cause a ruptured scrotum and an animation that looks as graphic as it sounds.

One of the biggest selling points of The League II is the amount of injuries that have been turned up for in-game action. But just as easy as it is to cause a serious injury, the opponent is also given the opportunity to repair injuries manually using the analog sticks to perform various treatments like guiding steroid injections on the sidelines or violently snapping bones and joints back into place. Drug use becomes a big part of the game, as players juice up to gain strength and stamina. But, with drug use comes consequences, as hopped-up athletes are more prone to injury. It’s a completely unique feature for a football game, as Blitz attempts to be anything but your average title with a dab of shock value. Unfortunately, it’s also pretty unentertaining. Not only does the physical act of injecting performance enhancing drugs become boring, but the somewhat distasteful humor is quickly lost after the first few times seeing athletes being treated like animals and springing into “roid rage”. Fortunately, the injury mini-games don’t pop up too frequently to overshadow the meat and bones of the football mechanics that ultimately determine how fun this game is to play.

Blitz: The League II screenshot

This is where the game is somewhat hit-or-miss. Blitz football is partially defined by its Clash Meter and Unleashed Mode, which, when used correctly, usually determines the winner. As you run successful plays, your Clash Meter fills. Once it’s full, you have the ability to send the play into slow motion on offense or defense by holding down the left shoulder button.

Blitz: The League II screenshot

It’s a key element to the game, as it allows more time to make decisions, complete certain plays when needed, and target your tackles better to cause serious damage to cripple your opponent and leave him writhing in pain. But you’ll need to use your Clash build-up sparingly if you want to reach Unleashed Mode. Filling up six Clash Meters allows you to become Unleashed, similar to an NFL Street Gamebreaker 2, at which point you basically become unstoppable for a single play that will usually lead to a sure touchdown if used on offense or a turnover on defense. The system is a staple in the Blitz franchise that has never added more depth to the arcade, but is better than ever using Precision Aim Tackling.

The new Late Hit Beatdown feature elaborates on the wildly entertaining late hits with a series of cheap shots that allow you to go so far as to slam an opponent then stomp on his helmet after a play or beat him with his own helmet. Randomly mashing buttons pulls off various beatdowns, and the other player is given an equal opportunity to counter the attack after the whistle and return the punishment. Breaking the traditional rules of football is something Blitz has long been famous for, but never has the after-whistle violence been so brutal. While dirty plays such as these may not appeal to the more traditional football purists, they sure rub salt in the wound and allow for some fun trash-talk when playing against an opponent. Braggadocios elements are taken to new levels with player-controlled touchdown celebrations as well, another element Blitz has implemented that distracts from on-field gameplay but adds to the juvenile fun of the game. Choose how you want to celebrate when scoring a TD, with options that are as lewd as expected, including one that involves dropping “trou” and wiping your butt on the goalpost. While it’s not all that functional, it does provide a chuckle for the snot-nosed ten year-old inside all of us.

Another highlight of The League II and its predecessor is the attention given to the massive, fictional stadiums that pack people in to witness bone-crushing football. The futuristic architecture of the colossal arenas provides elaborate backdrops like no other football title on the market. Stadiums such as the Nightmare Cathedral and Miami Stadium are completely over-the-top atmospheres, and are especially so when combined with the sound of roaring crowds and loud music to parallel the exaggerated football happening on-field. Overall, there is a dark aesthetic to Blitz that also emphasizes the corrupt undertone of the game.

In all, Blitz: The League II is a fun game that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Therefore, players shouldn’t take in-game action too seriously either, and if true-to-life football, play-calling, and tactics is your thing, Blitz is definitely not for you. At the most, this is an arcade intended for a good time, though the fun can tend to be short-lived.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 3.2 Graphics
While in-game animation is a bit rough around the edges, X-Ray images of bones bursting and detail given to elaborate stadiums are fun to look at. 3.1 Control
Addition of Precision-Aim Tackles adds depth to the foundation laid by the long-running arcade game style. Injury mini-games grow tiresome rather quickly. 4.0 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Excellent, energetic soundtrack hip-hop fans will enjoy. Hilarious voice acting from a decent cast, highlighted by the terrific Frank Caliendo. 3.0 Play Value
The game doesn’t take itself too seriously, though some gameplay elements suffer as a result. It builds positively on last year’s installment, and anyone who enjoyed the previous experience will have even more fun with The League II. 3.0 Overall Rating – Fair
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

  • Precision-Aim Tackles: For the first time ever in the Blitz franchise, take control of the new hit-targeting control system to inflict serious pain on explicit areas of your opponent’s body.
  • All-new vicious tackles and gruesome injuries, including the return of late hits and new three-man tackles that pack the power to shatter helmets, crack bones, tear crucial ligaments, and send teeth flying.
  • Enhanced Clash Mode is triggered with a single-button, allowing players to slow the competition and unleash special offensive and defensive maneuvers. After collecting pay-dirt, trigger the player-controlled touchdown celebration and let the fans know who deserves the green.
  • Campaign Mode puts the player in complete control as he ventures through brutal on-the-field competition and entertaining off-the-field drama in his quest to reach the League Championship. Peter Egan (Playmakers) returns to pen the most entertaining Blitz storyline yet.
  • Online competition and downloadable content: Available modes include an all-new Campaign Mode, Quick-Play Versus, and fully-featured Online Modes.

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