Last year, Midway games brought the Blitz series to next generation consoles with less than next generation results. Many wondered that if the shoddy effort and basic port of the PS2 version to the 360 and PS3 would spell the end of the franchise. Well back in May, Midway surprised many gamers by providing a resounding "NO", as they had every intention of not only continuing the series, but making it better in almost every way. The proof would be in the pudding, or in the style of Blitz: he League, "the f@$king pudding"!

I'll admit, when the game showed up on my desk I admittedly groaned as it is no secret that I was very disappointed in last year's so called effort. To my surprise, Blitz: The League II not only is a huge improvement upon previous efforts, but plays a damn fun game of football to boot!

The story has you playing the role of "The Franchise" of the league. Done with some slick presentation, a cool CG opening movie, and some entertaining dialog, you and your agent set out to make a name for yourself. Immediately you butt heads with the league's commissioner who off the bat wants to put a leash on the big dog and control his bite. Thankfully your character won't go down that easily and wants to make a name for himself in his hometown.

This is where the very cool and innovative character creation comes into play. You set up a press conference and depending on the answers you give to questions from the press will determine your attributes and ability to build your players presence in the game. It is also here where you will name your player, create your team by location, logo, color, and uniform scheme. Once you have everything in order it is time to hit the field of play.

You'll begin by training your character to increase your attribute even further or get that extra boost from the "juice bar" if you will. It is here where you will learn the basic of the game, and even where to pick up on how to heal from injuries faster and even provide that dirty hit on the opposition. You'll want to train on every opportunity not only to better improve your player, but to keep injuries to yourself low and momentum into each game high. You can even set up a lifestyle for yourself by setting up sponsors, winning awards, and even the girlfriends you have to enhance your profile.

Once you hit the field you will see where Blitz II really makes its mark. The visuals have been greatly enhanced and finally look like they are suited for next generation platforms. Granted, you shouldn't expect the amount of detail and realism as the Madden franchise, but the look of Blitz II is just as insane and over the top as its game play mechanics. You will play in torrential down pours that not only will muddy up your uniforms, but you will see field deterioration and even puddles of water and mud on the field come the 3rd quarter.

The player models are detailed and well animated, providing some classic hits, special moves, and celebrations. The player HUD will let you know everything that is going on in the game from how full your meters are to perform that critical dirty hit to cause a fumble, or to clash icons that allow you to do that something special when you filled your unleashed meter to its fullest. Whether you want to cause injury to a player, or take advantage of the weather conditions by doing a special weather juke to make the score, you will have more than a dozen routines you can perform in clash mode that will help you take the advantage over your opponent.

The rest of the game plays like classic Blitz with your 1st and 30 situations, over the top hits, and the frantic quick scoring pace that makes for true arcade excitement, and tons of lude and crude language from players and crowd chants that easily make this bad boy "M" for Mature. The player injuries have gotten a new, slick (or should I say sick) look to them that will go into the flesh of the player, deep into the muscles, rip past them to get to the bone to watch it break if the case may be. Of course depending on how bad the injury will determine how deep past the wall of muscle you go. The effect is very cool and never gets old. If the player injury is so critical, you will be treated to a cut scene of concerned doctors and coaches asking to help the player off the field. If the injury, on the other hand, isn't so critical you will make an impactful return with a cut scene showing your player pumped to get back into the action. If you want to get them in quicker, give them a shot on the sidelines to provide that quicker recovery. What's more even the shot itself has a little mini game; depending on how accurate you give the shot to the injured spot will determine how quickly your player comes back. There are a ton of specific nuances like this that really help to separate it from the pack and bring the game into its own.

For those wondering what's offered past the campaign mode can rest assured that there is plenty of dessert to follow the main course. You'll be treated to modes like Tournament, Butterfingaz (total chaos to create fumbles), Make it, Take it (Score and you keep the ball), Lucky 7's ( each play will take away from the 7 points scored on a touchdown, score quickly to earn more points), Pain (not only earning points per usual, but on how many dirty hits and injuries you cause), Bone Crushers (no helmets, tons of injuries), and Prison Ball (no kickoffs, first downs, and a shorten field for a faster, more brutal game of football).

Of course online play is here as well, but it is fairly basic, yet fun to play a quick game and deliver the pain to a friend half way across the country. You do have leader boards for bragging rights, but unfortunately there are no tournaments or online leagues.

All I can say is that I am pleasantly surprised by the efforts brought on by this year's incarnation of the Blitz series. I really wrote this franchise off, so I'm happy to say that Midway proved me wrong in this case. The game of course is no substitute for Madden, especially if you want actual NFL teams and realism. On the other hand, if you want a game that is fast, gritty, and fun as hell to play with commentary by Madden himself (actually it's the hilarious Frank Caliendo doing his Madden impersonation) then Blitz may be that "shot in the arm" you are looking for.