It has been a couple of years since a decent Blitz game has been released. Midway has taken the old formula and changed it all around however with their latest installment Blitz: The League. They are successful in most aspects and the result is a very solid, hard-hitting football game.

Features:

• Hard-Hitting Football Returns
  
• New Campaign Mode
  
• Online Game Play
  
• Use “enhancements” to boost your players
  
• 8-on-8 Football

Gameplay:
It has been a while since I played a Blitz game, and when I booted up Blitz: The League I was expecting a totally different game. I have been playing ESPN football for way too long apparently. The League is a return to the roots of Blitz with its super fast gameplay, amazing hard hits, and some great new elements. With no NFL license, Midway had to come up with their own teams and players. Each team in The League has its own background history and interesting stories to tell. This really isn’t important to the gameplay, however it is good to see that Midway put some thought and depth into each team.

There are three main modes in Blitz. First is a quick play mode. This allows you to jump into the action immediately. You can choose from a variety of teams with their own star players. This is fine and dandy, however there isn’t much to the quick play mode when you break it down. Midway put most of their effort and thought into their second mode which is a Campaign mode. In Campaign mode you are trying to build up a team from scratch and are trying to win the championship. You get a nice selection of customization for your new team including a team hometown, name, logo, uniform design, and a home stadium. After that you get to choose a new coach and a few starting players for your team, each with their own specific areas where they excel. The back story behind the campaign mode isn’t anything unexpected and ultimately kind of boring. In a nutshell, you are trying to win the championship and get a new stadium for your team.

Within the campaign mode you have a variety of options open to you. First you are able send your players to training camp where you can have your players focus on certain workouts to improve their statistics. You are also able to use “enhancement” agents to boost their stats. This is an interesting element but it doesn’t really seem to make too big of a difference in the game. You can also receive messages from past players and other people about your season. Often they will throw different goals and bets your way for you to then try and accomplish. Then, of course, you can just play out the season normally.

The last major mode in Blitz is an online mode. This mode allows you to take your created team online to play against all of your friends.