Something funny happened on the journey of the new NFL Blitz game. The NFL dropped out, opting to sign a deal with the Madden series instead, making it the exclusive NFL experience for game consoles. I'm sure this set back Midway somewhat, although they've never really had an easy agreement with the NFL. A few years back, when Midway initially released Blitz into arcades and on home consoles, the National Football League took objection to the game's cartoony violence, where players could perform leg drops and other WWE-like moves on players to stop the drive. They felt it wasn't really built on realism. And it wasn't. I mean, 30-yard drives and cartoonish tackles didn't quite spell "real", but rather "arcade", which was what Midway was aiming for. Midway tried to clean it up a little bit with the release of NFL Blitz Pro a couple of years later, but the damage had been done. NFL went bye-bye and Midway had to scramble for a new option.

And, boy, what an option they found. Instead of succumbing and trying to find some international league that EA didn't already own the rights to, Midway just went for the gusto and formed their own, signing on former NFL great Lawrence "L.T." Taylor to offer advisements, as well as his image and voice. They also signed on a scriptwriter from the cancelled ESPN series PlayMakers, which focused on the controversies surrounding football. It must've made an impact- pressure from the NFL forced ESPN to can the series just when it was getting good. So, a former NFL player and a series that told you all about what the NFL didn't want you to hear, incorporated with the power of arcade football. I smelled a contender.

And what a contender it is. Blitz: The League holds nothing back and brings you the raw side of football, with all sorts of scenarios coming into play that would make an NFL exec quiver in his licensed shoes. And that's the way Midway wanted it, producing an unflinching look at the sport that is seldom seem, where rough bone-crunching hits and controversies are the order of the day. Maybe this is just the kick in the pants the genre needed to wake it up a little bit.

You could just hop right into a quick game and relive the glorious gameplay of Blitz if you just want a game of football to blaze through while you're waiting on a boring NFL match-up, but the best way to begin your experience with the game is through its Campaign Mode. Here, you'll begin work on your own "golden franchise", trying to produce a team of championship caliber any way you can. After building your own team, selecting team uniforms and a logo and choosing a couple of specific players, the Mode kicks in, with your team getting taken out by the New York Nightmare (think the Oakland Raiders, but more unlikable- is that possible?) and its star player, Quentin Sands (voiced by Taylor). It's then that the owner takes action, and immediately rebuilds the team and makes a humongous bet saying that it'll be a champion once more with the coming year.

As the Campaign proceeds, it focuses on two players in general, the ones you've chosen. These players will see a number of trials and tribulations, from the flirting with a cheerleader that leads to something more physical to the question of whether or not to use a certain drug to enhance your performance. Where Blitz: The League sets the standard is in its own morality. You can either take the strong route to becoming a legend by performing in drills and increasing your strength, or you can step off the road and take part in using illegal drugs to enhance yourself and become possibly subject to a number of drug tests. Every action has a reaction, and it could be swift and justified or it could just downright send you into chaos, all while you're actually taking part in the games themselves.

Some of these scenarios reek of cheese, to be sure, like when the owner is in the middle of a quarrel questioning the actions of a player when he should be focusing on the team in general. But the presentation itself is awesome, and really provides a deeper experience than you would expect from something labeled with the Blitz tag. It really is something to experience a few times throughout, if only to experience all the good times, the bad times, the fights, and, of course, those cheerleaders.

It's also noteworthy how Midway manages to stick it to the NFL with little nods here and there, like the talk about drug use or the inclusion of certain player numbers and personas, hidden under false identities. For instance, a Michael Vick-like character is easy to distinguish on one team, while a Randy Moss-type has mooning action going on in another. I found it hilarious, and I'm still looking for players.