Graphically, this brawler fits its arcade look and feel perfectly. The player models look decent both on and off the field, while in their uniforms or in their best suits. The only complaint about the visuals that I have is that the players tend to be a bit too shiny, especially when playing in wet conditions. However, the amount of dirt buildup on the players' uniforms is proportional to the amount of play time they get and the current weather conditions, which is great for an added realism even in a game that doesn't necessarily strive for it in gameplay.

The animations are a mixed bag in Blitz: The League II. On one hand, some of the cut-scene and pre-thought-out moves sometimes look great, but on the other hand, some of the basic animations look blocky. The biggest visual difference between this and any game comes when injuries take place. During the game, a big hit will result in a broken collarbone, snapped wrist, blown out ankle, or many other overly graphic pre-rendered animations. These cut-scenes show a muscular skeleton on par with medical animations where the injuries may make your gut squirm. These scenes can be seen online with a simple search, and are definitely not intended for young children to witness. It should also be known that this title shows some sexually suggestive cheerleaders.

The audio in the game is also a bit of a mixed bag. Blitz: The League II features the voices of Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor, Jay Mohr, and, believe it or not, Frank Caliendo performs his John Madden impersonation. While it is very evident that LT was a football player and not a voice actor, it really cracked me up upon first hearing the sound-a-like Madden voice rambling on about nonsense to the point of losing focus, only to end up saying something extremely obvious. Unfortunately, these comments do get a bit repetitive after a short time. On the field audio is pretty good, but not great. The hits, grunts, and groans work well, and the bone-breaking crunches are great, but the voices from the players on the turf aren't necessarily all that great. Like the extremely mature visuals of this game, the comments from one player to another are often quite colorful and not for the youngest of ears.

In the wake of EA's Madden football game stealing the NFL license, football games have generally lost out. Midway has set out to change your mind about non-licensed pigskin games with Blitz: The League II. In some ways, this game is entertaining and ridiculous enough to be fun, yet in the same way, the ridiculousness is also what makes this one a bit of a disappointment. Aside from the over-the-top and graphically explicit animations, the gameplay feels a bit broken.

Blitz: The League II is an arcade-style football game, without question. It serves to say that many elements, like tackles, jumping, and many others will be exaggerated, and they absolutely are to good effect. However, this year's game tends to focus a lot, too much in my opinion, on the Clash Meter. This meter fills as you do well on both offense and defense, and the power that lies within is essentially used to increase your chances of breaking tackles, catching a tough pass, or delivering bone-crushing tackles. As such, normal moves don't amount for anything, which is a disappointment because the amount of "football" being played sometimes feels like none. If you don't master the Clash Meter (and I still don't fully get the hang of it), you can count your team out a good portion of the games that you play.

It is through this Clash Meter that you can perform an Unleashed move as well, and it is here where you can dish out some serious damage by pinpointing exactly which body part/area that you would like to attack. On the other side of the fence, when you get injured you will have to play one of two quick mini-games to either shoot the player with a syringe or re-set his bones. These are entertaining ways to prevent being out for the game as your success rate directly affects the number of plays that the injured player will have to sit. To add insult to injury, literally, you can also mash your controller over downed players to inflict more damage and increase your own power-up moves.

Blitz: The League II really doesn't have a whole lot of depth in the way of gameplay modes, unfortunately. You'll be able to play a single game, enter a Tournament, or play through a Campaign in the main Modes of play. There are also some Bonus games for multiplayer games, in which they do add an interesting twist to the standard game. It's unfortunate that these cannot be played against the computer though.

The heart of the game is in the Campaign Mode, where Lawrence Taylor and company develop a story revolving around your character (dubbed "Franchise"). In this Campaign (Season Mode), you'll get to see the shady side of professional football, beginning with the use of both legalized and illegal performance-enhancing drugs. You can use your earnings from on the field to do some extra "Juicing," as they call it, by giving up to three players added attribute abilities with these drugs before the next game. The added bonus varies, but can be anything from reduced damage to increased stamina.

Throughout the Campaign, you'll unlock numerous things, from sponsors to new videos, and you'll be able to add attributes to your player during press conferences by answering questions in different manners, which is a cool and interesting way to spice this common part of most games. Once again, however, the Campaign proves that Blitz: The League II has definitely earned its Mature Rating, with themes like hooking up with the ladies.

Tournaments are pretty straightforward, as you (and other friends, if you choose) can take on other teams in a bid for the title. Here you will be able to choose either stock teams or your team from the Campaign Mode. You can also take Blitz online through Xbox Live, but I actually was unable to find match-ups when I tried to connect. There were teams with stats on the Leaderboards, but I was unable to try this feature most likely due to a lack of players at the time of this review.

Blitz: The League II does allow you to switch up the difficulty if you choose, and you will feel a difference. However, in my experience, learning to use the Clash Meter to its fullest extent will be the only way to victory both on and off the field. With that said, I really struggled with using it while on defense. Offensively, you can slow down time in order to juke defenders coming in for the tackle, give them a stiff arm if you choose, or even hurdle them as they dive for you. You will also be able to throw better passes and make miraculous receptions by using your Clash powers.

However, using the Clash power on defense doesn't seem to work nearly as well, lending a severe disadvantage to your team as you try to prevent scoring drives. Halfbacks will blow right through you, and receivers will out-jump you on every play, unless you happen to take them out before the ball gets near and before the offensive player uses Clash himself. The worst part about this method of gameplay is that using Clash powers will most likely net you more yards and better plays, which in turn will increase your meter further, and if you are on the wrong side of this, it is hard to recover. If you happen to fail a few Clashes in a row, it will be a giant struggle to make a comeback, which is precisely why you need to use it often and use it well in order to gain victory.

Blitz: The League II feels a bit too much like a button-masher than a football game. The Clash Meter plays a huge part in the gameplay, which also takes away from the overall football experience, regardless of this being an arcade-style brawler. The buttons on the controller in part feel confusing and take a lot of getting used to. Even kickoffs and field goals require button-timing as you press the corresponding letters that briefly flash on the television using your controller. All of these factors combine to give me a feeling of unresponsive controls to a large degree.

The learning curve with Blitz: The League II is fairly steep. Once you get over the hump, the game can be fun, but it feels a bit more like a party game than a great single-player experience. Online play will likely increase the fun-factor, and the short games are ideal for pick up and play gameplay. However, I will once again mention that just because Blitz: The League II is a football game that may look innocent for children, it does have a Mature rating for a reason... actually for numerous reasons, including profanity, sexual content, extreme violence, and flat out gore when it comes to some of the injury cut-scenes that are shown. For those gamers of age and willing to give Blitz: The League II a try, expect and entertaining title, but don't expect a deep gameplay experience.