On April 7, 2003, Midway Sports announced that it was reinventing the NFL Blitz franchise to "appeal to a broader sports gaming audience". Needless to say, we were a bit surprised when the company confirmed it was taking NFL Blitz into a more realistic direction. After all, the series had been made famous by its over-the-top gameplay and its incredibly simple controls.

Today, Midway has gone into a little more detail about the changes it is making with NFL Blitz Pro, which is due out on the PlayStation 2 this fall. One thing we must emphasize about NFL Blitz Pro is that it still will NOT play as realistic as Madden NFL 2003 or NFL 2K3. Midway is still keeping the arcade-style gameplay intact. Instead, they are enhancing the game with more realistic rules and features.

For example, each team will have 11 real NFL players and positions on the field at a time. Previous titles in the series never had the option of full 22 player matches. In addition to more players on the field, the running and passing game will be refined and more balanced. In the past, passing plays were usually much more useful than the running plays. The camera angles are said to be set in a more televised presentation as well.

According to Midway, NFL Blitz Pro will offer new gameplay modes -- including a 10 season franchise mode that lets the player draft, trade, upgrade, release, sign free agents, and watch old veterans. 'Pro Bowl' and 'Practice' are two other new modes. The stat-tracking engine will be enhanced to provide you with a clear view of how well your team is performing.

Computer AI is also on the list of improvements, but the thing that really has us excited is the head-to-head online mode. Midway promises that downloadable content and online player ranking ladders will be available and you'll even be able to access/download real-time weather information. The PlayStation 2 is the only console to have online gameplay in Blitz this year.

As you can tell, the amount of improvements that Midway Sports has lined up for NFL Blitz Pro is simply staggering -- so we definitely expect the game to shape up really well. Official screenshots of Blitz are not yet available, but we will post them as soon as they are released. More info later.