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- NFL Blitz 2001
NFL Blitz 2001
- November 24, 2000 14:47 PM PST
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The mention of NFL Blitz always brings guilty, bloodthirsty smiles to the faces of hardcore sports gamers, and now Midway perpetuates the formula in Blitz 2001.
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Offensive Football
NFL Blitz is known for being fast, loose, and out of control. The emphasis has always been on fun and action over true football strategy and realism. You play Blitz on a short field with 30-yard first downs and seven-man teams (three linemen, three backs/receivers, and a quarterback), and you basically try to ram the ball into the end zone as hard as you can. Plays typically only last seconds, and you can bodyslam, choke, elbow drop and otherwise maul your opponents all you want without worrying about someone pressing charges.
The problem with this PlayStation version of Blitz is twofold: Almost everyone who wants to play Blitz has been playing it for years already with few changes, and the PlayStation's aging hardware still can't keep up with the glitz of Blitz. Your team members come across as abstract renders of football players, and the lack of distinction makes it hard to tell what's going on in the chaos. You generally want to use the blob with your team colors to tackle the blob with the opposing colors; that's as detailed as the graphics get. The stadiums are downright ugly, and the sounds, from the muffled announcer to the silly cartoon bleeps and buzzers, seem slapped-in and cheezy. Controls fare better because they're so simple, and the fun only enters the game once you figure out how to connect long-distance passes.
Loose Ends
NFL Blitz was a good idea when it started, but it has a lot of growing up to do to remain interesting. Hardnosed action football fans will lap this one up like a bowl of milk, but more hardcore armchair quarterbacks will want Madden or GameDay in their offensive line.
