Blitz: The League II Review (PS3)
Let me make one thing clear, I have been playing madden since I recieved it on the gameboy, and the only other blitz games i played was the versions on the arcade. With that being said, I havent played madden since 2005 on the ps2, and this year I purchased both madden CE and blitz the league 2.
While a review isn't supposed to be a compare and contrast, in the case of this game, it almost has to be. When you play madden, it is like playing a crappy ripoff of a racing sim. Most will say that madden is the best of the best when it comes to football games, but for my money and my time, madden has become about numbers and stats instead of making a football experience. Even when something like NHL 09's Be a pro mode changes the hockey scene, madden seems to go into it's own corner and still just update the graphics and the roster.
Plain and simple, the way it works is you update one position, one aspect, and all of the other aspects seem to be gimped as a result. When the defensive side of the ball gets audibles, offense becomes a joke, things like that. While Blitz hasn't had yearly iterations, it is a return to basics approach to the madden formula. No more hit stick and 100 different audible options, this game is all about football.
As a fan of football, seeing the commercials for this game with the bones breaking, ruptured scrotum, frank caliendo, and the rest of that, I became immediately hyped for this game. The same thing happened with madden, but lets just say that I am only ever going to play one of these again.
When I picked up blitz I didn't care that gamestop charged me 60 bucks for an opened "new" copy of the game. no one else had it and I wanted to knock some foos. So i pop in the game, hit single player, and am immediately hit with one of this games biggest pluses. I MADE MY OWN TEAM. It isnt about playing with someone you like to watch on sunday, this game is about becoming the guy on sunday. After that you are led into another big plus of this game, the interview. instead of just choosing between 10 different sliders, the devs made this one half-way interesting. You feel like a player who has just been drafter, deciding what to tell the press. It isnt something big, but as a way to suck someone into the football experience.
With that behind us, it is time to take a look at the visuals. This game, in plain english, is the best football game to date in terms of graphics. The cutscenes look good, the field has great weather effects, and when you see a bone break, you see what it would look like, unfortunately. It is also easy to see the plays, easy to find an open reciever, and just plain fun.
The gameplay itself might be a challenge for some, but as i went through the tutorial and learned the basics, this game took on a whole new meaning. Instead of the typical madden goal of getting 500+ passing yards, this game came all about getting my player to the big show. Whether it was doing a task that a sponser requested, or just plain breaking a record that i saw from the trophy list, i spent each game trying to do something, and it never became boring.
This is probably because each opponent has its own unique approach to the game, and you have to play against them a certain way to come out with a W. While this might not seem like a big deal, when you are playing through in story mode, this becomes key. You might need to do a certain task which is difficult against an opponent, but the reward is extremely high.
Now, we all can tell that i love this game, but does it have drawbacks? Of course. For starters, as with any any other sports game, the annoucer is repetitive beyond normal. While it is funy as hell, it is still annoying after a few games. The next thing is that some might see as bad, the way players take damage. I don't mean the stamina system, but I am referring to how if you break your collarbone, you simply take a shot of pain killers and hop back in after a few plays. I wish that certain things were more realistic, like the broken bones and such.
The good thing is, if you like football, want a compelling story, and now want it for cheap, you cannot do any better then this game. Its basic in its controls, complex in its difficulty, and it is all about having fun. Plain and simple, this game is fun.
-nabokovfan87
