NFL Blitz review

by Dr_Worm on Oct 10th, 2012

*Note: This game seems to have only been released in North American regions.

It’s been far too long since the Blitz series used the NFL license. Now that EA swooped up Midway’s football series after the company fell out, the two have reunited, and returned the series returns to its arcade roots in the XBLA/PSN release simply titled NFL Blitz.

Fans of the original NFL Blitz games will be pleased to know that the 2012 edition plays just like the classics. At its core, Blitz is more arcade-like, as opposed to the simulator-like Madden series. Downs are 30 yards long as opposed to 10, quarters last 2 minutes, and there are no penalties. This means that not only is pass interference acceptable, it’s encouraged. Other than that, it still follows almost standard American football rules. There are only 18 standard offensive plays, and 9 defensive plays, so even though play-calling isn’t very in-depth, the plays are easy to memorize. You also have a turbo button to make your players run faster, pass more accurately, and defend more efficiently. You can also enter cheat codes before each match just like the original games. Even the classic announcers are back, however their commentary, as funny as it is, starts repeating pretty fast.

The controls should be familiar to veterans – controlling players feels nice and responsive, but it still uses the frequently-inaccurate and equally-frustrating directional aiming. In order to pass to one of your 3 receivers, you have to point the control stick left to aim to the leftmost receiver, up to middle and right to right. It can often be tough to avoid blitzes and pass to particular receivers simultaneously because of this control method. Fortunately, Blitz does have an option to use icon receiving instead, which is where you press a corresponding button. It’s nice to have the vintage control method, but it shouldn’t have been default. I recommend switching right away. Another minor issue is that kicking timing is a bit delayed, but it is possible to adapt to. Why it hasn’t been patched yet, though, I have no idea.

All the current NFL teams return and are available for play, and even though they differ in simple statistics (offense, defense and special teams), they don’t feel very different from each other, nor does any team feel especially under or overpowered. Feel free to pick your favorite team without feeling like the playing field is imbalanced. Keep in mind that, due to releasing in January of this year, the roster is based on last year’s season, meaning rookies like Robert Griffin III and Andrew Luck are non-existent, and players like Peyton Manning and Tim Tebow are on different teams than they are this season. Regardless, even having a moderately up to date NFL Blitz is pretty nice.

This edition of Blitz has a handful of game modes, almost all of them new. Of course, if you just want to pick up and play with friends or against the computer, the Play Now mode is already highlighted when you start up the game. The offline campaign mode, as opposed to a standard season mode, is the Blitz Gauntlet. Think of it like Mortal Kombat, where you have a pillar of opponents you need to fight to reach the top. It’s separated into three tiers of three NFL teams plus one fantasy boss, including robots, bigfoots, zombies, and literal cowboys. When you beat these fantasy teams, you unlock a code you can use to play as these teams in any mode. A nice touch is that certain teams are always in certain tiers, so teams like the Bills and Lions are always on the bottom tier, while the Falcons and Steelers are always top-tier. Unlike Mortal Kombat, matches last around 15-20 minutes each, so 12 matches is a lot longer than you may think.

If online is your cup of tea, Blitz has you covered. Playing online (or with friends) is kind of like chess – simple, yet surprisingly tactical. Most of the time, online play is entirely lag-free, and even when it does lag, it’s almost never unplayable. There are two online modes, one being Blitz Battles, the requisite one-on-one online mode. Before each match, you can pick any team you want, but your overall record in the mode will be displayed to your opponent. If you play well, you climb a regional leaderboard, then move on to more and more widespread leaderboards.

Elite League is much more interesting. Instead of picking a specific team, you make your own based on fantasy-like rosters that you get to assemble yourself. However, to get players on your team, you need to buy players through card packs using Blitz Bucks that are earned in either online mode. If you know a fair bit about key NFL players, getting card packs can be marginally exciting. When your team is built, you can take it online against other players. The only real problem with this mode is that you can’t play it offline. I understand that you shouldn’t be allowed to grind cards offline to use online, but when Blitz’s servers eventually go offline, whenever that will be, you won’t be able to play this mode.

I really wish Blitz had a standard season mode. Even the older console versions of Blitz had season modes, so it doesn’t make sense not to have it. Hell, combine it with the Elite League and that would have been awesome. Another quirk is that many of the game’s advanced techniques, like onside kicks, are explained only on loading screens instead of the in-game manual. Also, you can’t change quarter length like in older games, and you can’t choose to spectate CPU games just for fun. Strangest of all, the NFL apparently doesn’t want after-play hits in Blitz. What’s up with that?

Despite its shortcomings and lack of depth, NFL Blitz’s arcade gameplay is just as fun as it was when it debuted over 15 years ago. It’s really easy to pick up and play, whether it’s with 3 other players on the couch, playing online, or just by yourself. If you’re looking for an arcade football game, or possibly just a cheaper, simpler alternative to Madden, then Blitz is easily worth the $15.

4 out of 5

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