NFL Blitz 2003

October 03, 2002

Reviewed by: Rock_On

Intro:
I remember the first NFL Blitz that came out on the N64, and how fun I had with my dad, beatin’ the crap out of each other on the screen when one of us scored a touchdown. Of course me being a broke 11 year old, I couldn’t ever buy a game and that was the time when my parents thought games were going to fry my brains (now look how I turned out). So I’d say I rented that game about 14 or 15 times, and every time I’d enjoy the game just as much as I would have if it was the first time I had ever played it. Since the first game, i haven’t touched another one of the Blitz games. Why? Cause’ I’m extremely lazy and didn’t even bother.

Now fast forward to today with the three next generation systems(PS2, GC, X-Box), where NFL Blitz 2003 released across all three systems, after the series was kind of “forgotten” about, that adrenaline football rush was coming back. So now that Midway has done the improvements on the 2002 version, here comes the 2003 version to pave the pavement that last year’s game laid (ok so that was a bad analogy).

Gameplay:
First and foremost, if you’re looking for a real to life football sim, you’re at the wrong review. But don’t be embarrassed, this is sort of like forgetting which period is next and so you end up in a class that you’re not suppose to be in until two periods from now (I wonder who did that?). So anyway, NFL Blitz isn’t exactly “legal” football and is purely an arcade game with awesome gameplay that outweighs anything else that would be wrong with the game.

There are 2 or 3 different game modes, and first lets talk about the new create-a-player feature. I’m not sure if this was introduced in last years game or not, because I haven’t played last years game, so I’ll be talking about it as if this was the initial debut into the Blitz series. When I first started messing around with this new option, I wasn’t really expecting there to be any kind of extraordinary depth to it, however I was quite surprised. First of all, you can change their Names and jersey numbers, along with how heavy and tall they are, what kind of equipment they wear, and then you’ve got their attributes such as Speed, Agility, Strength, and Hands. You’ll only start out with 20 attribute points, but by winning exhibition games or answering Trivia questions, you’ll get more points to use. You’ll get 5 points for every three games you win in exhibition mode, and 2 points for every 5 questions you answer correctly. So basically, you’ve got a fully customizable create-a-player mode (for an arcade game that is). As for the other modes, you’ve got the traditional Quick play, Exhibition, Season, and Tournament options. In quick play, you pick whether you’re home or team, what team you want, and you’re on the field ASAP for some in-your-face football. Exhibition mode allows you to play with up to 4 manual players, and allows you to challenge all 32 of the NFL teams, including the new Texans team. For tournament, you’ll pick the number of teams competing, how many human players are competing, and then you’ll start headin’ onto the field for a “last man standing” hoedown.

As for Season, before I get into that, lets get one thing straight. If you’re expecting to find any kind of realism in Blitz, you’re playing the wrong game. NFL Blitz isn’t a realistic game at all, and it wasn’t meant to be as it’s sole purpose is for the amusing enjoyment you get out of pile driving the quarterback after you already dove at him from 15 feet away and sacked him. Also, if you were expecting some deep Franchise mode or something like that, you’re also playing the wrong game, because although fun, Blitz’s Season mode is as plain as it’s going to get (aside from Gameday). So anyway, in the season mode you’ll get to select any of the 32 NFL teams and play through a full NFL season, with stats and standings that are saved after every game as you progress to the Super Bowl. Speaking of teams, all 32 teams are present, including the new Houston Texans I think their name is, and each team has specific attributes to look at like offense, defense, etc., and this year the better teams are the Rams, Chargers, and the Bears. I think it’s cool how one year a team could have high attributes, and then when the next year’s game comes out, they’re the worst team and the worst team from that last year is the best team.

Ok so you’ve got all these different modes, what makes this game so damn fun? Well it would have to be the gameplay, which includes “screw the rules” and now you’ve got a no bar-holds game of football. Each team will have 4 types of plays, with 2-3 pages each, and each one can be reversed to add a little variety in your play running. Blitz isn’t big on running plays, so for those who love to play the passing game like I do, you’re going to be in heaven playing Blitz, because there are all sorts of passing combinations and my two favorites, Da Bomb and Hail Mary. Each team consists of 8 players, and the focal point of Blitz isn’t necessarily the offense as it usually is in any sports game, but is how much fun you can have with the defense. The best part of Blitz is the fact that every hit is a “hard” hit, and with no rules and it being an arcade-like game, you’ve got floaty dives, and the ability to beat the crap out of a player after the play’s already over. Something that’s changed since the early version of Blitz is that even if you’re on offense, you wont’ get your a$$ laid when you run into a defensive man after play’s over and you can now attack them also. Also for offense, one of the bigger differences between this and other football games is the fact that a first down is only attainable after every 30 yards instead of the regulation 10, so learn the passing game quickly and have fun.

So NFL Blitz 2003 isn’t going to win an award for the most realistic football game ever, but I’m sure it’s going to be noted for the best game play as you can now get revenge by jumping on someone’s back after the play’s over. Aside from killer tackles, on the offensive side you’ll have a jump and turbo (available for defense also) maneuver, and also a stiff arm and kind of “shaky shaky” juke type thing, but there’s no DIVE. What the hell? There was a dive in the other ones, why can’t I dive now? Whether I just haven’t found the right button or combination of buttons for it or not, any football game should have the ability to dive on offense.

Graphics:
The gameplay is rather shallow, and it’s not the most realistic football game you’ll ever see...but it’s got some nice graphics including smooth texture models in the arenas and players like reflections off of player helmets, and the player movements aren’t as smooth as the movements in NFL 2k3, but they’re still pretty good for a non-realistic game. The field is proportionally small compared to a regular sized field, which in English means it’s about half the size of what a real field should be, so you‘re not going to be running long distance to the touchdown, making the game a tad easier. I believe this is the least I’ve ever said about the graphics in the game, but there’s not much more to say, the graphics are nice and although having their small little screw ups, they’re nice and colorful with all the team jerseys, and the player physics look just about right, besides the body slamming and choke slamming going on.

Sound:
This is by far one of the better parts of the game, as each and every sound effect is captured just right to give that emotional effect. Such as scoring a touchdown and hearing the crowd cheer, or a guy groaning after getting smashed in the groin, or the clashing of every single player’s helmets, pads, and the screams you hear when someone’s leg has been ripped off by a steamrolling linesmen. Ah, the sounds of football, one of the 5 foundations of a man’s life; Beer, food, women, video games, and football.

Rock’s Thoughts:
Overall, NFL Blitz 2003 is a really fun game, and lets you get away from ordinary everyday things in life, so you don’t get in trouble or kicked off the Varsity team for body slamming your quarterback after sacking him because you’re in a bad mood or something. With new sports titles coming out all the time, there’s no possible way to keep up with all of them by buying every single one, so I’d recommend this as either a rental, or if you can find it under 30 bucks, then that would be an awesome purchase, cause’ if you’re like me, you’ll never get bored with this game. Also when you have friends, the multi-player is a beast to handle, so have fun.