Played this game for about an hour today. Its the most generic vision of a Blitz game I can imagine, and the blinking passing mechanic in favor of button icon passing is baffling. Be weary, hopefuls. Try the demo first.

@ColumnBreaker said:

Played this game for about an hour today. Its the most generic vision of a Blitz game I can imagine, and the blinking passing mechanic in favor of button icon passing is baffling. Be weary, hopefuls. Try the demo first.

Icon passing is in the options.

@Disengage said:

@ColumnBreaker said:

Played this game for about an hour today. Its the most generic vision of a Blitz game I can imagine, and the blinking passing mechanic in favor of button icon passing is baffling. Be weary, hopefuls. Try the demo first.

Icon passing is in the options.

I managed to randomly enter a code on the load screen that enabled icon passing for that game. Knowing its in the options makes the purchase somewhat less regrettable.

I love it. Plenty of depth and room for improvement.

@ColumnBreaker said:

@Disengage said:

@ColumnBreaker said:

Played this game for about an hour today. Its the most generic vision of a Blitz game I can imagine, and the blinking passing mechanic in favor of button icon passing is baffling. Be weary, hopefuls. Try the demo first.

Icon passing is in the options.

I managed to randomly enter a code on the load screen that enabled icon passing for that game. Knowing its in the options makes the purchase somewhat less regrettable.

I don't regret it at all but I also love NFL Blitz.

I'm not sure I like it yet. I'm not a big Blitz fan being from the UK, but I like my American Football games, and I think this game isn't crazy enough. Everything seems kind of muted and slow to me. I rarely get double pass plays to work, It takes forever for the QB to pass the ball, many times I've passed to dudes off-screen in hope that their in space simply because a defender is up in my grill and there isn't any other way getting out of it, the spin and juke moves take WAY too long, and don't do enough when they do actually work.

If I sound like a Blitz noob, that's because I am, but I also think that there's no point remaking / rebooting if you're not going to overhaul it.

That and I had to go onto my USA gamertag in order to buy it, because it's not out in the UK. Why? They did this for that bobblehead MLB game, which I kinda liked, too as well as Apples to Apples. Is this due to licensing, or perceived lack of interest or what?

Its Blitz without the attitude. Replaced the attitude with more influence from the NFL and cheerleader loading screens.

I wasn't happy with the passing at all until I found out you can turn on icon passing, but it's okay now that I've turned that on.

The main thing I don't like is that most of the focus is on the online league, I would have liked being able to build a team in single player too.

I wasn't happy with the passing at all until I found out you can turn on icon passing, but it's okay now that I've turned that on.

The main thing I don't like is that most of the focus is on the online league, I would have liked being able to build a team in single player too.

Is it true that lefty QB's such as Vick and Tebow throw right handed in the game? Something like that would bug me. I know it's minor, but it would still bother me.

I'm waiting until I see the GB Quick Look on it. I just cannot go into this game on a blind purchase. I really wish I could, but I was sorely disappointed with the NBA Jam refresh and I don't want to be that disappointed again.

@ColumnBreaker said:

Played this game for about an hour today. Its the most generic vision of a Blitz game I can imagine, and the blinking passing mechanic in favor of button icon passing is baffling. Be weary, hopefuls. Try the demo first.

Button passing always confused me when it came to Blitz. That's not Blitz at all IMO. Blinking is what makes that game.

@jakob187 said:

I'm waiting until I see the GB Quick Look on it. I just cannot go into this game on a blind purchase. I really wish I could, but I was sorely disappointed with the NBA Jam refresh and I don't want to be that disappointed again.

As a fan of both games, I feel that EA got NBA Jam down pat (and I'm a bit confused as to why you didn't like the new one, unless you're just based it on some of the imbalances gameplay-wise) and Blitz...less so. The controls feel a bit more sluggish which is telling in a game that's all about accuracy & speed. I do miss late hits, but it's definitely not a dealbreaker. Spins/jukes are slower and seem more ineffective,but I'm more of a stiff arm guy anyway so that doesn't bug me all that much. The tackles are toned down and I rarely, if ever, hear player specific commentary from the commentary crew.

I have problems with it, but like 70% of the game is still classic NFL Blitz, and even with that, it's still the best football game out there, bar none.

Every game I play of this I like it more and more. I've played ten games online and every one has been close with some crazy stuff happening. It took me exactly one game to completely forget about the fact that they took out player control after the play's dead. If you're on the fence about this because "Blitz without late hits isn't Blitz!!", then I'd urge you to try to get past that and look at the game for what it is. And this is coming from a die-hard blitz fan who's been playing the N64 versions several times per month for years now.

It takes a bit to realize that old blitz strategies don't hold up as much in this game, especially defensively. Safe Cover was the only play you should use in the old games, but I've found that a single-man blitz can work well if you control your safety well. Safe Cover will leave the QB with so much time that a human opponent can become too comfortable with their time to throw and will keep their eyes downfield while running backward. If they see the human-controlled defensive player NOT blitzing, they get even more comfortable, so they might not even notice the AI blitzer coming. Zone coverage still sucks...

Offensively, you have to be aware of how much time it takes to actually get a pass off. Jump-passing can be invaluable, but it also takes longer (this is important as it relates to your receiver position, not because it gives the defense more time to sack you. Jump-passing is always a good idea if you have a blitzer coming at you). Also, you can't instantly mash throw after you hit the jump button because sometimes that won't cause your QB to jump first. You have to be more deliberate about your actions and when you press buttons. That applies to tackling as well. You can't just mash A+B (or, in the new game, B+Y) over and over to make every player on the field dive toward the ball carrier. You have to be more careful about where you aim your dives.

It's a lot of fun, especially the Elite League and it's Risk and Reward mode. Too bad there are no late hits, though.

I really enjoy it. It is a bit slower, yes, but I don't think that detracts from the experience at all. In fact, it's a bit more like football now, which is a plus for me. Every online game I've played of it has been really enjoyable, and I'm just having a lot of fun with it. I'm a little bummed that the bulk of the gameplay is online, just because I'm worried about how many people will play it post-release, but for now, it's a really awesome football game. I encourage everyone to give it a shot, and please be open-minded about late hits! It really wasn't the main reason why Blitz was good.

EDIT: Also, I haven't gotten a single disconnect in the 30 or so games I've played today, which is awesome!

@VinceNotVance said:

Snip

It's always pretty cool when I don't have to type as much because I agree with nearly everything another user says.

I have never understood any sort of hate for the new NBA Jam either. Especially from fans of the classics. In my eyes, they fucking nailed it and then some.

With NFL Blitz, if feels like they got it down as much as the NFL would allow them to, along with a few other kinds of weird changes that we'll have to see develop. But the fact that it's for sure Blitz at heart and the gameplay is no doubt straight Blitz at it's core still makes it one of the most entertaining damn games available.

I'm liking what I'm hearing, I was hoping for pretty much an exact remake of Blitz on the 64 with better graphics, and it sounds like that's more or less what this is, with some other game modes and other shenanigans. Sounds legit.

I have problems with it, but like 70% of the game is still classic NFL Blitz, and even with that, it's still the best football game out there, bar none.

My two cents: The exclusion of late hits are a bummer, but the core gameplay is still pretty fun in small doses. I do welcome the idea of the "Elite League" custom team but in practice I fear it will become another one of those grind-fests where the people who have more free time to play games online can build a team that will destroy anyone with similar skill just starting out. Having said that, the netcode is ok in the few games that I've played online. I guess it's worth $15, but for others I'd say play the demo and see how it feels to you.

The more I play this the more I'm realizing that this version might have more thought and depth in it's gameplay than the originals.

Plays seem more effective in general now, especially defensive plays, which just gives you more options to approach the situation with. Offensive plays (at least for now I guess) can really be tricky, and if your defense isn't prepared accordingly, you can really get ripped through.

I've never been big fan of "real" football, but of course there's a strategy there that has to be respected. The whole game feels like it got a nice injection of a little bit more (but not too much, it's still Blitz) of that football mindset which I think is healthy for it. We'll have to see how it goes. I'm really digging this version.

I really wish I could understand how the blink passing works. I will have a completely wide open reliever highlighted and as I hit the button it highlights a player that has 3 guys on him.

@KamikazeCaterpillar said:

I really wish I could understand how the blink passing works. I will have a completely wide open reliever highlighted and as I hit the button it highlights a player that has 3 guys on him.

Even though the blink passing is in my blood from the originals, honestly just switch to icon passing. It just seems to work better for this version. I don't know if it's because it's been a while or what, but I had the same finicky issues you had with blink passing in this.

And what's worse is that if you use blink passing you have a pretty big disadvantage in online play, because it will show your opponent which receiver you're highlighting too. Of course this is unavoidable in local play, but why they would still allow the defender to see it online, especially when icon passers have none of that, seems pretty unfair for blink passers.

@durden77 said:

@KamikazeCaterpillar said:

I really wish I could understand how the blink passing works. I will have a completely wide open reliever highlighted and as I hit the button it highlights a player that has 3 guys on him.

Even though the blink passing is in my blood from the originals, honestly just switch to icon passing. It just seems to work better for this version. I don't know if it's because it's been a while or what, but I had the same finicky issues you had with blink passing in this.

And what's worse is that if you use blink passing you have a pretty big disadvantage in online play, because it will show your defender which receiver your highlighting too. Of course this is unavoidable in local play, but why they would still allow the defender to see it online, especially when icon passers have none of that, seems pretty unfair for blink passers.

I was feeling like a blink pass purist for a while but after a game with 5 fumbles because I accidentally passed to a receiver that got knocked down behind the line has me ready to change to icons.

Also, played an Elite League match tonight with 13 turnovers. Shit was crazy.

I played in 3 Elite League matches and in every single one the opponent ragequit within the first 2 minutes. Shit is getting annoying.

I totally forgot, blink passing is nothing new, right? It took me a while to get re-acclimated to it but I think I've got it.

I'm doing okay online with about a 9-9 record and am in the Rookie-Midwest ladder. Most of my losses have sadlly come to people who've enabled icon passing. I can't come up with a good strategy to stop them. It almost seems unfair? The whole concept of trying to knock guys down at the line of scrimmage to "cause chaos" as Jeff put it in the QL goes out the window.

It's so much fun with your friends. I love it.

@ColumnBreaker: dude all Blitz games have been directional passing. Only the shitty non-licensed versions of Blitz had the icon passing, which were horrible games.