Blitz: The League

by Midway

Product Features

• Explore the on-field violence and the action that happens off the field, in all-new gameplay elements
• Lead your team from the cellar to the penthouse while dealing with drug problems, gambling, sex and all the other issues that turn up behind the scenes
• Pull off the kind of moves that get fans cheering, to build up your Clash Meter & get ability boosts -- fill all your Clash slots for an Unleash move - A big time catch on offense, or a turnover on defense and more
• The action gets heated and bench-clearing brawls will happen - the team with the most cheap shots get a boost
• Get in the trenches with all-new camera angles that throw the action in your face

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0009R1SRS
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches ; 5 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: September 8, 2006
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,174 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Blitz: The League offers a revolutionary type of gameplay that combines classic sports action with adventure and role-playing -- while taking you behind the scenes, for a peek behind the curtain. Guide your team to a winning record while dealing with all the drama and challenges of professional athletes. Realistic injuries reveal football action that's intense right down to the final gun

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun diversion from Madden., November 7, 2005

By 

Ivan K. Samuelson "Bolski" (OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Blitz: The League (Video Game)

First off, I love Madden. For those looking for a Madden replacement, this is NOT it. However, for those that loved the NFL Blitz game, it's back and it's amped and ready to break bones and tear ligaments off of the opposing teams. This is more of a "supplement" to Madden, but a fun one IF you understand where it fits in the grand scheme of football games for the console.

Remember "The League" on ESPN? This is basically it. You create a team (well, pick it's location and name, uniform style for home and away games and a stadium-style) and attempt to bring it up from the toilet-league in a 30-game season. The owner is a slime, working with the mayor to fund a new team to win the championship in a brutal league, wrought with players with rap-sheets longer than the entire Raven's roster! These players put Jamal Lewis to shame! He's a baby-candy thief compared to some of these criminals!

The "Campaign" mode is where you are tasked with getting this team to the championship. Along the way, cut-scenes occur, giving you an insider's view of what goes on at the sidelines and in the locker room. The story is not that fleshed out, but it's fun to watch and brings in another level of immersion that Madden doesn't have. Again, this is fictional and that's what makes the over-the-top play all the more fun and not a detractor from the overall gameplay.

I first thought that using fictional, non-NFL teams would detract from the game. In all honesty, it's one of the things that makes this game excellent. Creating your own team, choosing the city, the name, the uniform and the stadium has made me actually feel like this is more my team, than picking up the GM responsbilities in Madden for an already established team. True, you don't have control over who starts and such, but to me, those are not important. You can choose how you wish your medical team to make decisions and offer "medicinal" fixes. You can choose the safe route and use "legal" substances and training, or you can go the experimental route and try the new black market stuff that up front appears to give your team the "juice" it needs to win the big one. As you win, you gain more money to buy "upgrades" to beef up your team. This includes new training regimes, massage therapists, training equipment, uniform upgrades, and new "substances" to "enhance" your team. You can even wager bets on whether your team covers the spread or not. No fear of going "Pete Rose" here, but if you do choose to use questionable substances, you might get caught and fined and lose some serious cash you earned.

Game play and the immersion factor are what count, and creating the team from scratch makes me feel more like a part of the team. You're more in the coach/player role, but you receive messages from rival players trying to get your goat, as well as from the owner, demanding better play from your team. As you get e-mails from rivals players, coaches and your owner, they might have a challenge with them. Meet the challenge and you unlock other extras to help your team win along the way as well as other extras, including behind-the-scene movies of how the game was created, cheerleaders and other cool extras.

Graphics - 5/5
You thought Madden's players looked like steroid users? Wait until you get a load of these guys. The graphics are detailed, right down to crisp tats on some of the players. When you get a vicious hit on a player, it goes into slo-motion and depending on the hit, you might see blood fly. When an injury occurs, it switches to an x-ray view, showing you what gets injured, along with the sounds of the bones cracking or muscles tearing. OUCH! As cheap as it sounds, when you're playing against a team with a trash-talking, loud mouth jerk, and your D takes him down, it's VERY satisfying and never gets old!

Sounds - 5/5
As I stated earlier, the sounds of the game are awesome. The jawing going on between the players is hilarious. Parents, there is a reason this game is rated M - F-bombs, sexual references and drug use. The drugs are meds to help "amp" up the players during injuries or to help increase their abilities. Still the sound is excellent in this game. You have an "announcer", but rather than being irritating, he only talks after the play, and it's pretty funny. It's about the same as the guy in the original NFL Blitz.

I also like the cuts to the coordinators in the booth when a play goes your way or blows up in your face. Hilarious, especially when he says "You're on your own. I have to go to the bathroom". Well, that's the G-rated version of what he says, but it's hilarious none-the-less.

Gameplay 4/5
Not quite there. It's simple to learn. You have a limited number of men on the field (eight in total) along with a limited play book. You can put a man in motion, audible at the line, including flipping the play, but that's it. You can't alter receiver routes, call for a block, etc. You have evade moves and such, but that's the extent of it. But, the point of this game is not how much "fluff" it can throw at you, but rather how much hurt can you inflict on the other team?

On O, if you continually advance your team forward, you build up your unleash meter. As long as you have this built up, you can make some excellent breaking plays to demoralise the D. Get enough and you go into unleash mode. Use this to unleash a major QB throw or RB run and you become almost unstoppable.

On D, each sack you get or INT builds up your unleash meter. Get it into unleash mode and time it right, you can sack the QB or hit the RB or WR and cause a fumble when you need it most. Keep that unleash meter filled so you can do dirty hits. Dirty hits reduce the effectiveness of the players you hit, so don't stop dishing out the pain!

The only problem with the unleash mode is once you learn it, it can make it almost impossible to lose. It's not a game stopper, but it could use some tweaking, but it's not something that spoils the game.

Plus, within about 30 minutes, you can have the controls down and play and win games, unlike Madden which can take a long time to get down. But, it's meant to be that way and that is in no way a smack against Madden.

Also, catchup logic is present and there's no way to turn it off. If you start to win big time, you'll notice in the 4th quarter your players begin to fumble or throw INTs a lot, while the CPU will break off 90+ runs using its unleash mode to make it impossible to tackle, even if you have a full unleash meter and lay a dirty hit. But, I haven't had a game where I've had a large lead become a loss because of it. However, I have had a game where it was tied 14-14 in the 4th, and I threw a crucial INT. This never happened before, but at that time, my team was 7-0 in the campaign mode, so the CPU decided it was time to make me lose and I could NOT bring him down, even with a full unleash meter going. But, even NFL Blitz was like this.

Overall, this game is a fun diversion. Since I've purchased it, I haven't been able to stop playing it. Just the bone-crushing hits alone make it fun and it never gets old when you lay a mean hit and see the other team's player go down.

Again, not for the kiddies (drug use, sexual references including cheerleaders with G strings on the field and numerous F-bombs), but loads of fun!

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars best football game ever, November 3, 2005

By 

Terrel "Sammy" (Washington) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Blitz: The League (Video Game)

I Love this game. The braking bones part is the best invention ever thought of. The running back can break tackles more easely and it looks a lot cooler. The QB EVADE is also the best too because you can control it unlike sucky MADDEN 06 where it's automatic. Seriously if a line backer is coming to sack you just hold L and press the direction it tells you and home free. The Unleash is beautiful because of the amazing and COOL things they do. I just love this game it is addicting. I used to like MADDEN but BLITZ is way more fun. The campaign is beautiful but yes you don't know who you are BUT still the graphics are BEAUTIFUL WHEN YOU DO THE UNLEASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The unleash moves on defense is the coolest thing because I POWERBOMBED someone and KNEED someone in the chest. GET THIS GAME, it will take about 10 minutes to get used to the controls and thats it. Just go to training camp and you will learn everything. GET THIS GAME MUST HAVE!!!!!!!!!!!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tons of fun, October 17, 2005

By 

Jon Walsh (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Blitz: The League (Video Game)

I got to play a review copy of this game and it was a blast. You can actually try to injure players, it's awesome. I really don't think there's ever been a sports game like it. It's everything you always wanted to do in Madden but never could. You can actually send escorts to wear out an opposing team prior to a game! I mean they have some just unheard of stuff in there. You really got see some of it to believe it.