NFL Blitz

7.0 out of 10

Jan. 27, 2012

midnight

It's been a little over a week since the Packers effectively crushed my winter dreams. Dissatisfied with the end to the season, I downloaded a copy of NFL Blitz in order to control the Packers and show the world how it's done. That turned out to be an abject failure the first time I ran into a robot on the playing field. For those of you who've never played Blitz before, imagine NBA Jam only with a football. It's just as wild. This isn't the realistic Madden series … this is something more akin to Mortal Kombat with football players (minus the finishing moves). You'll get to control your quarterback, choose plays, and generally wreak some havok on offense, trying to score touchdowns because field goals in NFL Blitz are for wusses, clearly. On defense, there is no pass interference. Frustrating from time to time? Yes. But also incredibly fun. It's not realistic at all, but then again that's not the point. The point is to turn NFL football into something far more cartoonish and wild. So don't expect to see a penalty flag go flying if you attack the receiver before the ball gets to him … in fact, aggressively going after the receivers is one of the only ways to really contain any of the high-powered offenses. In addition to the online play and the regular mode, you can also climb a ladder of challenges that include a number of ridiculous “boss battles” where you find yourself competing against a non-NFL sanctioned team. It adds to the fun, although after a while you might find yourself pining for the more realistic version of the game. Ultimately, I had some minor quibbles that kept me from enjoying the game enough to spend more than a few hours on it. Taking your team to the Super Bowl has some meaning behind it when you're playing Madden. In NFL Blitz, it just means you managed to hit the other guys a little more (or one of your receivers “caught fire” and achieved bonus qualities). You might also find yourself a little annoyed by the minimal customization options as well as the announcers. Still, for such a cheap download, it's good to lead the Packers to glory against zombies.