Full Review: Thank God it's only a videogame.
NFL enthusiasts probably cringe at the mere mention of the NFL Blitz series. Honestly, I can't blame them. From a football standpoint, NFL Blitz is more akin to playing ball with your buddies than it is to the NFL. Does that make it a bad game? Not at all. In fact, NFL Blitz is a great party style football game that is extraordinarily easy to just pick up and play. This accessibility makes the game great for groups of all skill levels and for any length of time.
NFL Blitz 20-02 is definitely heavy on the surface polish. The player models and animations are by far the crown jewel in this package. While not exactly professional in their mannerisms, the players give off a very real feeling through their body language. They are both cocky and relaxed at once and once the play is set in motion, they move fluidly and interact together with uncanny accuracy. Besides, there is nothing better than performing a flying elbow drop on an already downed receiver that just came up with an incredible catch. There is something about it that just feels right. When you throw in the wonderfully self-mocking color commentary you get a game that is flat-out fun, even if you are just a spectator.
Where the game starts to enter tepid waters is in the actual gameplay. Each team is made up of eight players (as opposed to the official 11) and this directly leads to faster gameplay. This speed takes some time to adjust to, especially if you are use to the somewhat more realistic pacing of games like EA's Madden. the biggest drawback to this is that you are likely to take several large losses on plays that the computer controlled quarterback could get out of. The upside is that your players are designed to pull off the large, highlight reel quality receptions and tackles. This helps to balance things out some, but you are still left with quite the learning curve to overcome.
Something else that is kind of difficult is training yourself to kick a field goal. You need to develop impeccable timing to pull of these kicks with any sort of regularity. Fortunately, you don't have to go through these motions for your extra point attempts. Point of view threw in the great option of just taking the single point after. Besides, who actually misses those kicks? Sure, you still have the option of attempting a two-point conversion, but most situations just won't call for it.
What will really keep you coming back to NFL Blitz 20-02 isn't in any of these features though. In order to find that replay magic you really need to invest in a few extra controllers and friends. Getting four-players running on this game at once has great potential and the trash talking can really start flying. This game will continue to be fun for hours at a time when you've got the company and you may even find yourself pulling it out of your library months after having played it last, just because your friends came over.
