Blitz: The League II

American Football, what a sport! Beating the hell out of your opponents and maybe scoring a goal every now and then; nothing embodies that more than Blitz: The League 2 by Midway Games. This is a sports game here you play some serious sports but at the same time, it does also hit on some of the more pressing issues outside of the sport itself. Let’s take a look.

Gameplay

This is an American football game, akin to the Madden NFL 08 and even more brutal games like Backbreaker. This has some of the most run of the mill football mechanics I’ve ever seen but that doesn’t mean it was bad. One of the things that the game capitalises on most is the absolute brutality that can be displayed in this sport. While you have the ability to tackle, throw and kick the ball as you would in any other, you also have the ability to kick another player when their down and to brutalise them.

Making use of tactical gameplay and quick time events, it’s more the job of the player to kill as many of the opposing team as possible as opposed to beating them fairly in the sport. This alongside the x-ray slow mo shots of the internal damage shown, made for an astoundingly vicious game that was kind of a lot of fun to play. It really makes you feel like your players are at risk.

Story

The story of the game begins with the league explosion, two teams join and one is a player created team. You get to choose the city, team name and colours. The other team is the LA Riot and they are the main antagonists of the game. After a disagreement with the Riots coach, you have to fight your way up to match them head on by climbing the ranks to meet them. You play as Kid Franchise, the protagonist and only player who can focus on offense and defence. After that the player has to play through a division 3 as normal, then they get sent to prison and the game really kicks off. It’s far more brutal but offers an interesting change in attitude. To avoid spoiling too much, I won’t go any further into the plot but rest assured, it is an intriguing one, even if it’s a bit Hollywood.

Controversies

This game does really well not to shy away from the controversies that face a lot of what goes on both on and off the pitch. Although not entirely necessary, I still appreciated this grittier look at the sport.

Pros:

• X-ray vision was so cool
• Hard hitting
• Approaches sensitive topics

Cons:

• Story was a little on the silly side

Experience football like never before in this wild sequel to one of the most violent sports games of all time! In Blitz: The League II, you'll compete in a new football league where sportsmanship is never guaranteed. Unlike in other football games, you can play dirty, hit hard, and show no mercy against your opponents. Featuring multiple modes, including a story mode intended for adults only, Blitz: The League II is a sports game that pushes the boundaries while offering intense football play.

Main Game Features

• Story-based campaign
• Local and online competitive modes
• Over 20 teams to play against

Story

Unlike other popular football games like Madden 22, Blitz: The League II contains a story-driven campaign mode with tons of drama. As the story starts, the titular League is expanding its reach across the United States and recruiting more teams. After creating your custom team, you join the league at the same time as the Los Angeles Riot, a new team and your rivals throughout three seasons. Playing for the underdog team, you'll have to overcome greedy CEOs and corrupt players to earn the championship.

In order to beat the campaign, you need to proceed through three Divisions, battling the best teams of the bunch as you play your matches. Events in the story can negatively or positively impact your team's performance, such as a bad player being put on your team to intentionally lose or fights between players that leave them injured. In general, the story deals with controversial topics like performance enhancing drugs and player scandals, putting an adult twist on the standard formula.

Gameplay

The story in Blitz: The League II might be noteworthy, but unfortunately, the gameplay is entirely mediocre. Besides the campaign mode, the game also includes a Quick Play mode, custom tournaments, and online multiplayer. Regardless of the mode you play, the football gameplay is stiff and weird, with clunky animations and unsatisfying graphics. You can still pick your plays and try out different strategies, but passing the ball is always the best option. Run plays are often too risky and can have big consequences.

However, the game does include some cool twists, most of which involve cheating or bending the rules to your advantage. If you'd like, you can hit opponents after a play has ended, often leaving them severely injured. Athletes who need a boost can also use illicit drugs to perform better, as long as they don't get caught. Blitz: The League II tries to insert some mini-games to shake things up, such as fixing a broken bone or injecting athletes with a needle, but these become repetitive after a while. The gameplay isn’t offensively bad by any means, it’s just not that great when compared to its competitors.

Conclusion

In general, Blitz: The League II tries to push the envelope with risky ideas and story concepts, but it falls short in the execution. Gameplay is passable and the violence is shocking at first, but after the novelty wears off, you're simply left with a subpar sports game.

Pros

• Brutal football gameplay
• Bonus modes are fun
• Story mode grabs your attention

Cons

• Muddy and bleak graphics
• Bad voice acting
• Sloppy animations and hit detection

Blitz: The League II is a quality sports simulator where the player becomes the owner of an American soccer club and enjoys brutal matches while being distracted by humor and powerful replays.

Modes available to the player:

• Quick Single Game. Start and play a match!
• Match with a friend for the same team
• Campaign. Create your own team and control the team on the way to victory. Gameplay begins after the cutscene, which shows that the player's team has to fight their way to the top of the league. The first opponent is an elite team from Los Angeles. Next, the player creates his own team uniform. Of interesting things: friends will help find sponsors, and illegal doping will empower athletes

American soccer with all its brutality

The highlight of Blitz: The League II is the high level of violence and bullying. Soccer players can act very violently and injure each other. If an opponent or ally is injured, a replay will appear on the screen. The player will see people breaking their backs or skulls and getting seriously bruised. It sounds ridiculous, but such injuries are treated with a small syringe, which is injected with a simple minigame. Beat your opponents after knocking them to the ground with a hard roll.

Gameplay

Fans of sports simulators say the commentators aren't funny, although they try to be. When the players dance after a touchdown, it's not exactly funny either.

The good thing about the game is the many tactical plays. These developments are fun to watch. The system has the vulnerability that when a player learns to play the ball professionally, he will score touchdown after touchdown. It is impossible to lose under these conditions.

The graphics aren't bad, but they aren't good either. The shadows are cubes. The athletes look the same, and the characters behind the field are two-dimensional. The maximum image resolution is 720.