Topic: Blitz: The League

[Roger]

I played Blitz: The League this past weekend, and it's AMAZING.

For those who don't remember NFL Blitz, it was a football game that was all about late hits, fast gameplay, and no rules.

Well, there have been many incarnations of it, but the new one strays from the original formula in a way.

First of all, there is no NFL License, because it would make the NFL look bad.  So you don't find your favorite player or team on the game.

You start off with a team from the city of your choice, and with a nickname of your choice (Mine were the Honolulu Gangstaz), and you have to get them from Division 3 of the league up to the Division 1 championship.  You do this any way you can.  Make your players lift weights and use dietary supplements, or go the illegal way, and use steroids.  Each game, you can wager money on your team, and try to win more money to afford equipment, services, and supplements to make your team better.

Also new to gameplay is "dirty hits."  You can use dirty hits to have a higher chance of injuring an opponent or causing a fumble.  When you cause an injury, the screen shows an x-ray of whatever part you're injuring.  For example, if you cause a player's leg to break, it shows the bone, and then it snaps into pieces.  If you cause them to tear a muscle, it shows the muscle rip.  When your players are injured, you have a choice.  You can either treat them, and let them sit out the normal amount of time, or you can "juice" them and they'll be back in a couple of plays.  When I played, I caused a guy a spinal contusion, and his team juiced him.  He was back in 2 plays, when he'd normally be out for 6 games.  If you juice, and are caught by the league, however,  then your team gets fined a large amount of money.

Of course, the story mode isn't the only part of the game, there is quick play, where you can play as any Divison 1 team, or your created team.  It has all the same features minus the money gained after a game.

Overall, I would recommend this game to anyone (17+ since it's rated mature) looking for fun, whether you're a football fan or not.

[Lil Loco]

i looked into it a lil bit...im considering gettin it, but i aint sure yet.

[Roger]

i looked into it a lil bit...im considering gettin it, but i aint sure yet.

[snapback]247830[/snapback]

You should.  It's well worth the $40 it costs.

[Lil Loco]

$40?  iz that how much gamez cost over there?

[Roger]

Most games are 50, but Blitz: League was 40.

[Lil Loco]

hahah, then i jus might get it then...$10 less meanz more incentive to buy.

[Fifth Dynasty]

Hmm...there's a lot of choices out there to pick from. I was thinking of getting Tony Hawk's American Wasteland before I read this, but that review made me shift my mind. I have 20 bucks, and I'm VERY tempted to buy Kingdom Hearts (then rent Kingdom Hearts 2 when it comes out and switch them if you get what I'm saying)...so, Roger, do you think I should save 20 dollars more and get Blitz: The League?

[Roger]

Hmm...there's a lot of choices out there to pick from. I was thinking of getting Tony Hawk's American Wasteland before I read this, but that review made me shift my mind. I have 20 bucks, and I'm VERY tempted to buy Kingdom Hearts (then rent Kingdom Hearts 2 when it comes out and switch them if you get what I'm saying)...so, Roger, do you think I should save 20 dollars more and get Blitz: The League?

[snapback]247866[/snapback]

I'm not much of an RPG person, so I'm not going to say.  But Blitz: The League is a ton of fun.

[cmonkey]

The reason the NFL isn't involved in it is that EA has exclusive licencing rights with them.

[Roger]

The reason the NFL isn't involved in it is that EA has exclusive licences rights with them.

[snapback]248333[/snapback]

I've always heard that it was just the NFLPA that EA has the license with.  That would mean they could use team names, but not player names.

The NFL would never license the game anyway.

[cmonkey]

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 13, 2004--Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced exclusive licensing relationships with the National Football League and PLAYERS INC to develop, publish and distribute interactive football games. These five-year agreements -- which EA negotiated separately -- give EA the exclusive rights to the NFL teams, stadiums and players for use in its football videogames. Both agreements also include exclusive rights for console online features. Financial terms of the agreements were not disclosed.

Though you're right, apparently Midway's licencing rights were revoked before EA's deal was made.