Purchasing NFL Blitz marks not only a return to one of my favorite sports franchises, but also the first breach of my EA/Activision boycott in about 4 years. Making the transaction felt kind of dirty, but I've been itching to play some Blitz and the price was right.
The main thing I like about Blitz is that it cuts through the crap and gets straight to the heart of the matter: fast-paced gameplay. I felt that Madden had gotten a little soft over the years, focusing too heavily on fluff like Franchise Mode, Superstar Mode, etc, and neglecting the core gameplay at hand. It feels more like a simulator and less like a sport to me, and I quietly let that bandwagon roll past long ago.
Thankfully, EA's rendition of Blitz is remarkably faithful to those of Midway's past. It employs the same rules, controls, announcers and overall feel, with the unlockables like big heads, costumes, colored footballs and such that are Blitz staples. With present day online accessibilty, it also adds robust new multiplayer features, most specifically the ability to play coop - either with a friend sitting next to you or linked up online - against others. Had it not offered online coop I would've passed, but I love me some coop, and I give a hearty nod in favor of the online coop link, something I felt was glaringly missing from Mortal Kombat's online tag matches. NeatherRealm missed the boat on that, IMO.
EA added even more replay value with "Elite Blitz" mode where you create a team using random player cards and improve upon it by spending points earned in online multiplayer games to buy better random player cards. Your team starts out in a state's local region of your choosing (North Carolina for me) and works it's way to national status by winning and climbing the ranks. Earning points can only be done online, and makes a worthwile reward for doing so. Unfortunately, profanity filters restricted me from naming my team "Redneck ASSault", so I settled with "Carolina Blues".
Playing online is where the true challenge awaits. On day 1, my buddy and I struggled to beat the AI in "Blitz Gauntlet" mode, but we managed a few victories. On day 2, we went online and got absolutely creamed. We played a few games and got handily beaten every time, granted, we were using weak teams against stronger ones (more on that later). After that, we went back to Guantlet and were beating the stuffing out of the AI. In fact, my only win online so far was by 1 point when I converted a 2-point PAT on my last touchdown of the game.
While Blitz presents a solid package, there are still a couple of nagging nuances about it. For starters, I was hoping that Blitz would level the playing field between all teams. I play games to escape reality, one in which my 2 favorite football teams (Panthers, Bills) have been perennial stinkers for quite some time. I'd like to be able to hop into a game with my favorite team and stand a fighting chance against people who pick the best team simply for a competitive edge. It's somewhat blasphemous for a true fan to pick another team, especially a rival team, just to remain competitive. I can understand this happening in Madden, but was hoping Blitz would escape this trend. It must be said, though, that I could actually build a solid team in Elite mode and slap a Bills or Panthers logo on it, but it's just not the same.
The other problem I have is with players running out of bounds during a pass reception. When the ball is thrown, the receiver gets locked into his route trajectory and steps out of bounds if he's led a little too far towards the sideline. What makes it worse is that it's done by a matter of inches, a measurement so minute that it's impossible to judge by the naked eye, and seems like a perceivable glitch. It's absolutely infuriating when this happens to wide-open receivers during the heat of a tight contest, and, to me, is unforgiveable.
At any rate, I'm having a blast playing Blitz, and there's something about getting trounced online by big-headed sasquatches that makes losing okay with me. This doesn't, however, mean I'll be buying more EA/Activision games anytime soon. The boycott begins anew, day 1...
What I like:
Retains the feel of Blitzes gone by.
Online coop with online friends against other coop teams.
The price.
What I don't like:
Random catches out of bounds.
Playing field not level for all teams.
Custom team matchmaking is imbalanced, sometimes pitting your weak fledgling team against ones that are starkly superior.
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