When Midway sought to revive its long dormant Blitz franchise a few years back, some people were skeptical. When they decided to make a sequel for the current generation of consoles, it didn't get a lot of buzz, especially since Blitz: The League was a middle-of-the-road game. However, anyone thinking that Blitz: the League II is more of the same is only partially right. Perhaps it's a bit coincidental to describe it this way, but Blitz II is the first Blitz game, except on steroids.

The beef of the game is its Franchise mode, which contains the game's story. The story starts off with a big opening cutscene featuring a game between the New York Nightmare and Los Angeles Riot and centers around the first game's antagonist, Nightmare linebacker Quentin Sands. However, that ends briefly as we are quickly introduced to the second game's character, a young college football star who is about to make his mark as the league's first two-way player in quite some time. According to the Blitz series timeline, this practice was banned during the 1960s by owners who were concerned about the health of their players from the brutality of the game. Considering the number of players who have dropped dead on the field during the series' entire timeline, I can't say I blame them for it.

However, there's a ton of politicking going on behind the scenes. The Commissioner, who owns a huge stake in the upstart Riot franchise, has maneuvered his way into position to draft the young sensation. However, he completely rebuffs the idea of playing for the Riot, instead choosing to play for his hometown team.

Following this, we're treated to a press conference, where you determine your character's name, his position, and what attributes he'll start out with bonuses in by answering questions from the press. It's an interesting way to customize a player's starting attributes, and if you're not happy or change your mind, you can restart the whole process. After the press conference, you get to design your team by picking from a number of pre-selected cities/locations, logos and uniform styles. Though it's perhaps not as in-depth as what you might be used to with Madden, there are far, far more options to creating a team that's as unique as you want it to be.

From there, it's on to the field as the league's newest star and his squad try to rise up through the ranks, from Division 3 up to Division 1, The League. Along the way, you'll be able to train your team to improve their stats, upgrade the training facilities and equipment, and turn your team from chumps to champs. Your character also picks up sponsorships, which give bonuses for the whole team, and girlfriends, who can bring certain bonuses to the team as well. On top of all that, there's juicing, which returns from the first Blitz, but this time around, is a bit more complex. While juicing can benefit your players, it costs money and your players can get caught, which is of course, not a good thing. There are a number of ways to play through the game and customize your team to your desire.