Overall, TNA Impact! lays the groundwork for some future TNA titles, but it's clear they have work to go. If Midway is serious about this series, they need to shift it out of their LA studios and probably let a third-party develop it. The mechanics and graphics are fine... it's just the little things missing that really, really hurt TNA Impact!.
Blitz: The League II (Release date: Oct. 13, 2008)
The first thing I heard about Blitz: The League II was that you could smash someone's testicles; among other gruesome animations you'd get to see when you injured an opponent. So when I stepped up to play the game at PAX, I expected to see something that was totally brutal in every way possible. I did get brutal, but I also found an extremely fun game underneath that reminds me of the way the Blitz series used to be: completely over-the-top and not giving a damn.
The "rubber-banding A.I." appears to no longer be in the game, but what has been added is tremendous. In addition to new teams, Blitz II has several new features, including the ability to create your own player and touchdown celebrations that you can select from by pressing the right combination of buttons. The biggest addition, though, has to be the inclusion of late hits. When you hit an opponent late, you can press a button to activate a "mini-game" where you can put a beat down on a downed opponent. Doing so will increase the damage done to an opponent's body. In addition to that, on especially vicious hits, you can now target the point of impact on the opponent's body. Hitting the right spot with the right amount of force can cause a debilitating and gruesome injury. During the play through, I saw players knocked out cold, get their ribs broken, or in one case, watched as a running back's arm was snapped backwards. Add in the fact that all these injuries come with animated sequences actually showing the damage done inside the body, and Blitz II becomes a football game that's not for the squeamish.
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