For all the uproar over exclusivity licenses between sports leagues and gaming companies, which many feel eliminates choice and encourages creative laxness from the licensee, at least it prompts competitors to try new things. After all, if you can't have the franchises, the players, the stadiums, or the announcers, then you have to start from square one and think of other ideas. While Midway's hard-hitting Blitz series already had one foot in the arcade, its new Blitz: The League gives the raspberries to the NFL by accentuating all of its image problems, from juiced-up players to gratuitous touchdown celebrations to former New York Giants bad-boy Lawrence Taylor, who lends his voice to the game. In relation to EA's Madden standard, everything that's down is up, and vice versa: Teams field eight players instead of 11, it takes 30 yards instead of 10 for a first down, cursing, taunting, and brawling are openly encouraged, and those irritating ticky-tack penalties go uncalled. Injuries are not some sad consequence of the game, but a goal in themselves, with slo-mo X-ray shots of bones snapping like twigs.
Though nowhere near as deep as Madden, Blitz: The League has a pick-up-and-play quality that's appealing for those who don't care to sweat over realistic playbooks or grind out every yard. The thin Campaign mode puts you in charge of a losing franchise that has to scrape its way back from the cellar in order to get the city to pay for a new stadium. (The wheels are greased in a cutscene with the mayor-elect, who will look favorably upon the deal if she gets a little scratch for her re-election campaign.) Compared to similar modes in other sports games, there isn't a great deal of flexibility for the franchise to evolve through trades or development, but the gradual uptick in opponent toughness makes the learning curve easy. On a screen cluttered with icons, the game's big feature is the "Clash Meter," which when filled allows you to slow down time to evade defenders or cause nasty, season-ending injuries to opposing players.
Beyond the game: Though refreshingly transgressive, Blitz doesn't infuse its irreverent take on professional football with much wit, which is a big problem for a game that inserts a cutscene between every down. You do get to control your scantily clad cheerleader squad, however, so this game could be an adolescent boy's ticket to manhood.
Worth playing for: Causing a bone-shattering injury to a Team Captain while forcing a turnover makes for a sweet (and surprisingly common) trifecta, but the best thing about Blitz is that it doesn't take long to play. If you don't have an hour to spend on Madden or NCAA Football, how about 10 minutes of all-highlight-reel material?
Frustration sets in when: While clash mode can be an essential way to evade defenders, it's often more trouble than it's worth, particularly on defense, when all that intricate stick-and-button work can result in disastrous misplay. Sometimes, controls are better off going back to basics, especially in a quick-play game like this one.
Final judgment: Until WWE honcho Vince McMahon revives the XFL, Blitz: The League remains the only option outside Terrell Owens for embarrassing the pro-football establishment.