The story of the "Campaign" mode was partially written by former writers of Playmakers, a controversial show on the ESPN network that was canceled due to the NFL's objections to its portrayal of professional football players.
As the game progresses, the player learns that the veteran captain has returned to the game as a result of financial troubles, while the rookie is portrayed as a naive yet talented individual whom Sands has targeted as the next player whose career he'll end on the field. The game begins at the end of the previous season, when Quentin Sands of the New York Nightmare lands a devastating, career-ending hit on the player's team's star quarterback, similar to Taylor's sack of Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann during the 1985 NFL season, which broke Theismann's leg and ended his career, as the team is demoted to Division 3. In "Campaign" mode, the player is also periodically shown cutscenes illustrating a variety of subplots involving the team. With this money, the player may purchase superior equipment, training facilities, and drugs (some legal, some not) that can be used to augment performance. Money is earned for each game based on performance, "dirty hits" performed, etc., and can also earn additional money for "gambling" on the results of a game. The player needs to decide on a training program for each team member, which gradually increases the member's skills. The player must win seven of ten regular-season games in each division, followed by a division championship. The player begins by creating a new team, designing its uniforms and choosing a team name, then picks one of three defensive veterans and one of three offensive rookies as team captains. In the single-player campaign mode, the player is challenged to win championships in all three divisions of the fictitious American football championship known simply as "The League". Some other injuries, such as kneecap fracture, torn ACL, wrist fracture, and ruptured Achilles, are more serious and cannot be juiced. "Juicing" causes an injury to be ignored, but increases the risk of more severe injuries. When an injury occurs, the player may choose to "treat" the injury normally, or "juice" the injury (inject an athlete with steroids). After successfully performing a number of "Clash" moves (or forcing turnovers and scoring touchdowns), players can perform "Unleash" moves which are nearly unstoppable. Performing a "dirty" hit or stiff-arm causes opposing players to lose stamina (in essence, reducing their effectiveness) and occasionally become injured (an image of an x-ray would zoom into a specific bone and show it snap, show a ligament tearing, or depict a different brutal injury). When the "Clash" meter is charged up, players may perform "dirty" stiff-arms, dodges, rush avoidance (for quarterbacks) or, most importantly, "dirty hits" on defense.
On gaining yards, making tackles for a loss, scoring, or forcing turnovers, players are rewarded with an increased "Clash" meter. Like previous games in the series, first downs are awarded at 30 yards, not 10 there are eight men to a side (similar to arena football, not 11 as in American football) penalties and referees do not exist (although players are somehow prohibited from going offsides) and overly vicious tackles and blocking are the norm. In the next iteration released in 2006, former NFL linebacker Bill Romanowski voices Bruno Battaglia, the captain of the Baltimore Bearcats.īlitz: The League is very similar to previous installments in the Blitz series, as it depicts an aggressive and violent version of gridiron football. Former NFL linebacker Lawrence Taylor voices Quentin Sands, captain of the New York Nightmare. The game also brings back the hard-hitting and violent gameplay of earlier Blitz games. Since Midway Games no longer had an NFL license, Blitz: The League focuses on a fictional league consisting of 18 teams known simply as "The League", whose history is written as a tongue-in-cheek parallel of the NFL's, with the league consisting of three divisions, using a system of promotion and relegation. ( April 2022) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources.