Blitz: The League II – 360 – Review

Blitz: The League II comes at a time
when arcade (“extreme”) sports are failing. NBA Street V3 was a so-so mix of
rehashed gameplay. NBA Ballers: Chosen One managed to be worse, and, like a
countdown to the worst games of all time, NFL Tour was a complete disaster.

With such depressing games ruining
what was once a thriving subset of the sports genre, it’s hard to hold a
positive outlook. But one game that’s been easy to count on (even when the NFL
license no longer could be) is the Blitz series. All Blitz fans have their
favorite game in the series, and favorite moments they wish could be relived.
Unfortunately, Blitz: The League II won’t help you relive them. Like it or not,
this game is Blitz’s answer to NFL Street, which is ironic because NFL Street
was originally designed to be different from Blitz.

However, if you’re one of Street’s
or Blitz’s die-hard fans, there are some things to love about Blitz: The League
2. But be warned: “love” is a feeling you’ll experience while grumbling that
this is a clone game and could have been so much better.

The Kickoff

Blitz: The League II picks up where
the last game left off: hot on the heels of NFL Street. That’s the boring part.
The League is interesting – even exciting – by increasing the quality of the
original game’s foundation. It’s still littered with clueless moments. When a
ball bounces off the field and hits a referee (or anyone else standing there),
you’d expect some kind of reaction. You won’t get one. Tackle animations are
decent, though a tad repetitive, and evasive maneuvers are pure arcade
(purposely unrealistic).

In other words – don’t expect to be
impressed by anything you see in Blitz: The League II. This is not a game for
the Madden crowd. This is not a game for the average NFL Street player who will
not appreciate Blitz’s invasion into EA’s territory. EA and Midway have to
realize is that they had a great thing going – they produced two completely
unique football experiences. Now Blitz plays like Street, and Street is on
hiatus, replaced by a “Tour” de farce.

If it sounds like I’m ranting,
that’s intentional. I know what you’re going to think when you pop this game
into your Xbox 360 for the first time because I experienced it too. What is
this? Why am I not blown away? Why is the first Blitz made specifically for Xbox
360 and PS3 not a revolution? After a couple games through the campaign mode –
which is filled with fictitious teams, profiles, stats, and historical facts –
there didn’t seem to be much of a “game” here at all.

For many players, that will be the
end of the story. They won’t care about the nuances, subtle improvements and
potential fun that could be had with this game in the long term. They’ll simply
go back to playing the classic Street and Blitz titles – which were grand the
moment you started playing – and forget about the new League.

Blitz: The League II may very well
torture some gamers by limiting multiplayer, online and offline, to just two
players. That means no matter what, you can only have one real opponent!

Boy, this sure paints an ugly
picture. But if you’re still here, you must be a big enough fan of the series to
wonder why Blitz: The League II scored a 7.4 instead of something in the NFL
Tour/NBA Ballers range. The answer is what will turn some of you into grumbling
addicts.

If It’s Not In The Game…

Throw it in anyway. Blitz: The
League II has one unique feature – the ability to break specific bones while
tackling. Street gave birth to super tackles, which increased the chances of a
fumble. Blitz does the same, but when performing a Clash tackle (hold the left
trigger while pressing X to dive or A to tackle), the game switches to a slow-mo
screen. During this time, one or several icons will appear on your opponent’s
(the one about to be tackled) body. Use the left stick to select one of those
icons, pinpointing a specific area – his arm, foot, shoulder, etc. – to be
broken.

After making a selection,
button-mash the A button to fill the circle with bone-crushing power (a green
meter shows how much progress you’ve made). If at least half of the meter is
full when the game speed goes back to normal, there’s a good chance the play
will end with your opponent falling to the ground in agony, followed by an up
close House MD-inspired animation sequence where the player’s insides are fully
visible. Skulls are fractured, necks are snapped, and feet are crushed into what
could be described as a newfangled flipper.

This is pretty cool, and though the
game risked repetition by including it, Blitz: The League II evades that worry
by adding rewards and by keeping the animations short. Break an opponent and he
will be out of the game for at least one play. His ability to return depends on
a crazy (sometimes hilarious) mini-game where you must either set the broken
bone or give an injection to overcome the pain. The latter requires you to line
up a syringe with a spot on the player’s body, which is moving quick and
uncomfortably. The other challenges you to move both analog sticks (in unison)
toward specific icons within a circular playing field. These mini-games are
timed and can be finished in about three seconds, thus giving the player few
chances to be annoyed by their presence.

If your opponent is successful, that
player’s absence should be limited to just one or two plays. He will also gain a
2+ stamina boost. But if he fails the mini-game, he’ll be faced with a longer
recovery period and may receive a stamina reduction.

Late hits are back and they are
meaner than ever. When the “late hit” message appears on screen, defending
players will have the chance to run up to an opponent and pound a few stamina
points out of him. Late hits range from painful (beating a guy with his own
helmet) to downright cruel (kicking him between the legs).

Keeping with the madness, players
can perform victory celebrations where bragging – or making a complete fool out
of yourself – is all that matters. One of them shows a player squatting down as
he drops the ball between his legs. This celebration is called “The Pooper.” You
might laugh at it once – if you’re in a silly mood or whatever. But you won’t
laugh twice.

The Fun Begins

Only after playing for a few hours –
by force or not – will you begin to enjoy Blitz: The League II. In trying to be
like NFL Street (as the first Blitz: The League game did), you’ll discover that
while the game is by no means spectacular, it very closely matches the gameplay
style of Street while creating a better version of its own game. All the nuances
of Street – like being able to tap the ball to interfere with a pass or switch
players at the last minute to create a near automatic intercept – are in Blitz:
The League II.

When combined with the
hardest-hitting tackles on the planet, this game lives up to its goal: to be the
most violent sports game around. Underneath the rehashed feel and lack of unique
football action is a game that is actually worth playing. You won’t like this
one from the start – and unlike the first Blitz and Street games, you might not
like it a year from now either. But give it a fair shot. You’ll be surprised at
how addictive it can be when played with someone who is equally as obsessive and
competitive as you are.

Gameplay: 7.0
Blitz: The League II could be a huge success … if it were released on a
planet where the previous Blitz and NFL Street games did not exist. With those
titles hanging in gamers’ minds, it will be impossible to avoid hating parts
of this game. But if you give it a few hours, you’ll be surprised at how
addictive it can be as a whole – in spite of the things that will make you
scream, "I can’t believe it’s not Street."

Graphics: 5.0
Nowhere near the quality of what an Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 sports game
should look like.

Sound: 6.0
Sounds like another football game. Yet another football game.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium
If you’ve mastered NFL Street, Blitz: The League II is one big piece of
cakewalk.

Concept: 5.5
Specific bone-breaking combat: excellent idea. Rehashing the first game,
which rehashed NFL Street: terrible idea.

Multiplayer: 7.6
Only two players? Are you insane!? Apparently so. Regardless, the one-on-one
multiplayer is still the best part of Blitz: The League II.

Overall: 7.4
As mentioned, Blitz: The League II is addictive "when played with someone
who is equally as obsessive and competitive as you are." If you are not
obsessive about the Blitz and/or Street series, you probably won’t get much out
of this game. But those who are obsessive should give it a thorough
testing.