NFL Blitz 20-02
Midway is back with a next-gen update of classic arcade football, but is this Blitz really a new game?
Published: March 25, 2002
For whatever reason, I never really dug any of the Blitz games after around the 2000 edition. It wasn't that the games got any worse exactly, it's just that like so many other games, Blitz was one of those games that really relied on everything else that was going on in life for it's fun factor. I'd moved in with a couple of friends near the University of Washington and life was grand. We enjoyed the occasional alcohol fueled get-together, rent was relatively cheap since we split it like 80 ways, we had a friggin' brick grill built into the patio out back in one of the places and when we wanted to play games with someone else, there was almost always a sports game freak around willing to stoop to the level of an occasional game or two of Blitz. Sure, it wasn't a sim, but then again, they could probably whoop my ass. Not always, but often.
This was the appeal of Blitz, it attracted both the hardcore sports gamer and the don't-hurt-me-I-don't-like-balls-flying-at-my-face gamer alike. Two or three years later, Blitz still has that extra arcade punch, but it really does require someone to play it with, despite having all the same great options that the old games had, and one hell of a graphics upgrade. For the most part, if you've played any of the Blitz games in the past, you've played this game, sans some playbook options, different rosters and the obvious graphical upgrades that moving the next generation of hardware offers. There's more to this year's Blitz, of course, but on the surface, that's what'll stand out the most.
For the next-gen edition of Blitz, the designers started from scratch, and rightly so. Any next-generation effort should be truly next-generation. There should be better graphics, better animation, better sound, and the game should at least try to take advantage of any other hardware gains the newer wave of systems offers over the old. 20-02 delivers on those areas, especially in the graphics and animation department, where a slew of new motion capture data was logged and implemented. The result is hits that are more detailed, though not anything wildly different from what you saw in previous years. In fact, that's the feel of the entire game; it doesn't really feel like a whole new Blitz, it just feels like a yearly upgrade. This is certainly a next-generation version, but the whole feel is very, very familiar.
The standard quick start and season games are in full effect, so if you're looking for a little more game time than a single match-up will provide, you can choose a team and play a full season, taking them all the way to the Superbowl. You won't get all the authentic stadiums or coach likenesses, but then again, you didn't pick up this game for its turf-perfect recreation of the game. Playing an entire season lets you experience the ups and downs of an imperfect (or is that perfect, sports stud?) set of games, of course, gives you the opportunity to experience the occasional agony of defeat on the way to football glory.
Oddest of all for a game that's supposedly completely overhauled is the noticeable lack of new features. This is the same Blitz game as years past, options wise. There's no create a player or create a team (something that would have rocked with all the secret players that have been a trademark of Midway games since NBA Jam), and with the exception of Tournament Mode, which allows for a bracketed tourney with multiple players for those hardcore sports get-togethers, there's nothing in the way of new game modes. Playbooks are exactly the same for every team, save for one page of six plays unique to each, although there is a little more variety in the fact that you can finally call audibles and switch to other plays from the page you decided on while in the huddle.
Blitz taps the stunningly flexible and diverse RenderWare Engine to crank out visuals, and as is to be expected from the engine that powered lookers like AirBlade, Rayman 2 and Burnout, the game has some eye-popping moments. The textures for the field look absolutely amazing, with razor-sharp grass that somehow manages to look good no matter how far away the camera is, yet looks just as good - if not better - when close-up. There's plenty of animated fans crammed into stadium seats pumping their fists and otherwise providing a nice looping ambiance. The game is almost always locked in at a creamy smooth 60 frames a second, which makes everything that much more impressive.
The player models have gotten an obvious upgrade, but they still can't touch the player work in Madden or NFL2K2. The hands are just textured numbs or blocks rather than realistically modeled fingers, but the animations are plenty smooth and quick, so you won't really notice it except on replays. High-res textures abound, covering everything with plenty of detail and variety. There's some odd pop on most of the animations as the models move from running or standstill positions to tackles or hits, but since the actual animations look good, the tweening isn't too much of an issue. Midway has made an effort to up the TV-like feel of the game with fast, flashy wipes during replays and a little broadcast style window while selecting plays.
This year's commentary stands about on par with games of the past. It sounds better, but there's still plenty of repetition and comments sometimes have no bearing on the on-screen action. The give and take between the commentators is hilarious, but the repetition kills most of the commentary after a season's worth of play calling. The effects are as high-impact and explosive as ever, with plenty of groans and concussive booms during hard hits, and little nuggets of reactions from the players as they recover from particularly big hits with a whiney comment or moan. Again, though, repetition beats these little sound bites into your skull long after you care to hear any more of them.
Blitz 20-02 certainly isn't a low point for the series. There's enough new animations thrown into just about every area to keep things new looking and the graphics have enough of an upgrade to make it worth your time. A full-on purchase is another matter, however. If for some reason you ditched all your past PlayStation versions of Blitz, this might be a viable purchase. It's certainly a good rental if you and a bunch of friends are looking to throw down with a mix of hardcore and occasional sports gamers alike, especially if you can factor something like alcohol or bets into the mix (the game still has enough random fumbles and interceptions to keep things very, VERY interesting if money's on the line), but there are plenty of other games to spend your $50 on. Blitz might be playable for just about any gamer, but sports fans are sure to pick up the sims first, and casual gamers will probably head to something like MGS2 or GTA3 before they spot this one. If (or more likely when) the price on this game drops to Greatest Hits level, it should be a perfect impulse buy.
This was the appeal of Blitz, it attracted both the hardcore sports gamer and the don't-hurt-me-I-don't-like-balls-flying-at-my-face gamer alike. Two or three years later, Blitz still has that extra arcade punch, but it really does require someone to play it with, despite having all the same great options that the old games had, and one hell of a graphics upgrade. For the most part, if you've played any of the Blitz games in the past, you've played this game, sans some playbook options, different rosters and the obvious graphical upgrades that moving the next generation of hardware offers. There's more to this year's Blitz, of course, but on the surface, that's what'll stand out the most.
For the next-gen edition of Blitz, the designers started from scratch, and rightly so. Any next-generation effort should be truly next-generation. There should be better graphics, better animation, better sound, and the game should at least try to take advantage of any other hardware gains the newer wave of systems offers over the old. 20-02 delivers on those areas, especially in the graphics and animation department, where a slew of new motion capture data was logged and implemented. The result is hits that are more detailed, though not anything wildly different from what you saw in previous years. In fact, that's the feel of the entire game; it doesn't really feel like a whole new Blitz, it just feels like a yearly upgrade. This is certainly a next-generation version, but the whole feel is very, very familiar.
The standard quick start and season games are in full effect, so if you're looking for a little more game time than a single match-up will provide, you can choose a team and play a full season, taking them all the way to the Superbowl. You won't get all the authentic stadiums or coach likenesses, but then again, you didn't pick up this game for its turf-perfect recreation of the game. Playing an entire season lets you experience the ups and downs of an imperfect (or is that perfect, sports stud?) set of games, of course, gives you the opportunity to experience the occasional agony of defeat on the way to football glory.
Oddest of all for a game that's supposedly completely overhauled is the noticeable lack of new features. This is the same Blitz game as years past, options wise. There's no create a player or create a team (something that would have rocked with all the secret players that have been a trademark of Midway games since NBA Jam), and with the exception of Tournament Mode, which allows for a bracketed tourney with multiple players for those hardcore sports get-togethers, there's nothing in the way of new game modes. Playbooks are exactly the same for every team, save for one page of six plays unique to each, although there is a little more variety in the fact that you can finally call audibles and switch to other plays from the page you decided on while in the huddle.
Blitz taps the stunningly flexible and diverse RenderWare Engine to crank out visuals, and as is to be expected from the engine that powered lookers like AirBlade, Rayman 2 and Burnout, the game has some eye-popping moments. The textures for the field look absolutely amazing, with razor-sharp grass that somehow manages to look good no matter how far away the camera is, yet looks just as good - if not better - when close-up. There's plenty of animated fans crammed into stadium seats pumping their fists and otherwise providing a nice looping ambiance. The game is almost always locked in at a creamy smooth 60 frames a second, which makes everything that much more impressive.
The player models have gotten an obvious upgrade, but they still can't touch the player work in Madden or NFL2K2. The hands are just textured numbs or blocks rather than realistically modeled fingers, but the animations are plenty smooth and quick, so you won't really notice it except on replays. High-res textures abound, covering everything with plenty of detail and variety. There's some odd pop on most of the animations as the models move from running or standstill positions to tackles or hits, but since the actual animations look good, the tweening isn't too much of an issue. Midway has made an effort to up the TV-like feel of the game with fast, flashy wipes during replays and a little broadcast style window while selecting plays.
This year's commentary stands about on par with games of the past. It sounds better, but there's still plenty of repetition and comments sometimes have no bearing on the on-screen action. The give and take between the commentators is hilarious, but the repetition kills most of the commentary after a season's worth of play calling. The effects are as high-impact and explosive as ever, with plenty of groans and concussive booms during hard hits, and little nuggets of reactions from the players as they recover from particularly big hits with a whiney comment or moan. Again, though, repetition beats these little sound bites into your skull long after you care to hear any more of them.
Blitz 20-02 certainly isn't a low point for the series. There's enough new animations thrown into just about every area to keep things new looking and the graphics have enough of an upgrade to make it worth your time. A full-on purchase is another matter, however. If for some reason you ditched all your past PlayStation versions of Blitz, this might be a viable purchase. It's certainly a good rental if you and a bunch of friends are looking to throw down with a mix of hardcore and occasional sports gamers alike, especially if you can factor something like alcohol or bets into the mix (the game still has enough random fumbles and interceptions to keep things very, VERY interesting if money's on the line), but there are plenty of other games to spend your $50 on. Blitz might be playable for just about any gamer, but sports fans are sure to pick up the sims first, and casual gamers will probably head to something like MGS2 or GTA3 before they spot this one. If (or more likely when) the price on this game drops to Greatest Hits level, it should be a perfect impulse buy.
