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NFL Blitz 2000
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Score: 70%
ESRB: Everyone
Publisher: Midway
Developer: Midway
Media: CD/1
Players: 1
Genre: Sports
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Graphics & Sound:
NFL Blitz 2000 starts off with an opening movie that promises more that it actually delivers. Graphically, the game is nothing special. Granted, it delivers highly detailed backgrounds, different weather scenes such as rain and snow, different type fields, but when it comes to the gameplay, the graphics budget got cut. With the players, it looks like they used the same model for all the players, only changing skin color and uniform. The football itself has no depth or shading, nothing to make it look 3D. It looks a little better when it flies across the field during a pass, but not much. A strong selling point like many 3D games today is that you can change the resolution to best suit your computer speed and monitor size. The sound track was very well done with realistic crowd noises, grunts, trash talk, and humorous chatter from the commentators. One thing that would have been nice is to hear a marching band playing from the stands or the crowd chanting 'We Will Rock You!'
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Gameplay:
In the mood for a quick game, or do you want to take your favorite NFL team to the Superbowl? Each team you choose has different passing, blocking, and running ratings, so you might want to consider that when choosing which team you want to play. There are three modes of playing Blitz 2000: Arcade, Season, and Tournament. Arcade mode is for the quick game, kind of like a pre-season exhibition game. No stats are kept, just football fun for a football fan. Season mode is 17 game stretch with your chosen team on its way to the Superbowl. If you are any good, that is. Tournament mode is a good way to get your friends and family involved. Up to 8 people can compete for the Blitz champion title. For the football expert, you also have a play editor. Create and practice your own plays and add them to your play book. This is a good idea because the opponent team learns the plays after you have used them a couple of times. One strange thing is that in Blitz, the opponent team has the ability to see what play you are going to call. A way around that is to turn off your curser so that the other team can't see which one you pick, but neither can you. An interesting aspect to the game is that the better you begin to play, the more skilled your players get. If you have an offensive player gain significant yardage for two straight plays in a row, or a defensive team causes the offensive team to lose yards for two straight plays, that player or team will switch to 'On Fire Mode'. During this mode, your players hit harder, run faster, and are harder to tackle. I even carried three defensive players over the goal line for a touchdown.
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Difficulty:
Once you get used to the mechanics of playing the game, which buttons to push, playing the game is not that hard. Playing the game well is harder and takes practice, just like anything else in real life. I must confess, I played the game in easy mode most of the time. On medium difficulty, I was sacked so many time my butt became one with the field. It's depressing to be on the 2nd down, and have 76 yards to go for a first down. I was merciful to myself and didn't turn on hard mode.
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Game Mechanics:
For the seasoned pro of sports games, the game play is pretty easy. For people like me, an unseasoned amateur, I kept wondering why my butt was getting sacked all the time. It is highly recommended to have a gamepad for this game or at least an eight button joystick. I played the game with a Microsoft Freestyle Pro which has motion sensor technology. I really didn't have to worry about pushing the arrow button to get somewhere, I just kind of aimed that way. Throwing the ball to the desired player is as easy as left, middle, and right. Spinning, jumping or tackling is as simple as A, B, C. With the right combination of these six buttons, you can take your team all the way to the Superbowl. Unless your playing the Saints, ain't never gonna happen.
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-Wickserv, GameVortex Communications AKA Eric Wickwire |
Minimum System Requirements:
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Test System:
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