Blitz: The League is the antithesis to the Madden series. Think about every aspect in EA’s multimillion-selling franchise, turn it on its head and you get Midway’s American football sensation. Those who played it two years ago on the Xbox will know it throws tactics out the window in favour of aggressive, bone-breaking arcade action. Ultimately, its predecessor is Blitz 360’s biggest downfall.

If you picked it up in 2005, there’s no point in buying what is essentially nothing more than an upgrade. Sure, it looks a lot prettier and some of the animations are smoother, but we’ll confidently tell you that, despite this, the graphics are most certainly not true HD. Instead, Blitz has that cheap, slightly polished look. If there had been other changes implemented there’d be no problem, but guess what? There aren’t any. Sift through the visual sheen and the core is no different.

We’re a fair bunch, though, so we’ll give this its due. Blitz is still a fantastic alternative to the more-realistic Madden. You’re encouraged from the off to break bones and take your opponents down with remorseless aggression. Hell, you even get rewarded for it. A bar known as the Clash Meter fills up every time you successfully stiff-arm or annihilate someone, and causing enough carnage grants you the power of Unleash moves; safe to say they can be unbelievably sick, which in turn means they’re amazing! Due to this there’s little room for strategy, as the emphasis is definitely on throwing elbows and destroying careers.

This wasn’t enough for the guys and gals at Midway, though and the decision to include a story mode is a smart move. Being given the unenviable task of saving a team in crisis, you have to scrap the rule book to succeed; you can even inject players with steroids. It’s surprisingly fun but an inconsistent AI results in some matches becoming wearisome as you struggle to figure out the next best move.

If we’re only focusing on Blitz: The League, we’d tell you it was a barrel of fun wrapped up in a blanket of profanity and illegal drugs. Unfortunately, it’s just not possible to do that, as the Xbox version is pretty much identical and for that reason it’s impossible to advise anyone in that category to splurge. Still, if you’ve never sampled its charms before you’re in for a treat; let’s just hope Midway gets off its backside and makes a real sequel.

Simon Miller