Blitz: The League

It may not have penalties or referees, but Blitz: The League has plenty of far-fetched fun to go around.

As a "football" game featuring team brawls, betting, illegal drug use, prostitutes, and superhuman special moves (without any sign of referees), its no wonder why Blitz: The League isn't an officially licensed sports title. Unsurprisingly, this latest series installment maintains the Midway legacy of remarkably unsportsmanlike sports entertainment games. Though it may lack the polish and panache of mainstream football franchise games, Blitz: The League plays to its strengths as an over-the-top, hyper-aggressive action-sports experience.

Bigger, Faster, Stronger
Blitz: The League follows the pattern of unruly, no-holds barred football laid down by its predecessors, but improves upon the proven formula by being the most outlandish and exciting Blitz game yet. This Blitz puts a new spin on the typically stale "season mode" with a cool (if cheesy) story mode that has you pulling a failing pro team out of the cellar and into the championship. There are plenty of opportunities for customization too, with illegal performance enhancers, personal trainers, and high-end equipment choices for you to experiment with. Even legendarily seedy aspects of professional sports like illegal betting and buying call girls to wear out opposing teams are included here, giving players an atypical gamming experience. But the coolest new Blitz feature by far is the addition of the "Clash" mode that serves as a slow-mo bullet-time ability that allows you to pull off ankle-breaking jukes and career-ending injuries (complete with quick, close-up, x-ray cut scenes of injuries). While all the crazy moves and special powers might seem more appropriate in an action or fighting game, Blitz makes terrific use of these funky (albeit ridiculous) features.

Clash of the Titans
There are a few weak areas though where the violence and vulgarity fail to gloss things over. The repetitive wannabe gangsta-rap tracks quickly become tedious, and the blocky, polygonal graphics seem glaringly out of place in a late lifecycle PS2/Xbox title. Also, some of the new features (like the team brawls) come off feeling half-baked, while the lack of any sort of penalties (like the beloved "passing interference") can cause a few controller-crushing moments. However, the biggest gripes come from vainly attempting to defend against your opponents "Unleashed" moves, which can decimate a perfectly called and well trained defense with a few superhuman stiff-arms and silly spin moves. Although these new special moves are fun when you use them, they tend to come off feeling cheap when you're on the receiving end, griping away and inventing new forms of profanity.

Though its far from perfect, Blitz: The League does enough things right to happily entertain football fans fed up with the serious, strategic approach of other games. Players looking for a fresh approach to a stagnant genre might want to give this title a try. Just don't expect any post game handshakes.

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