Mutant Football League 2 Early Access Impressions

Josh Houtz

Published: Jul 9, 2024 01:35 am

My love for Mutant League Football is no secret. I once talked about how it was one of my favorite games growing up and the one I long hoped to see return. And then, all my dreams were answered. Mutant Football League was released on October 31, 2017 on Steam (and eventually on consoles), and I was happy with what I played. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, but it laid down the foundation for future installments.

What I Like

Gruesome Graphics And Presentation

The heart and soul of the Mutant League series has always been its unique play style. For those unfamiliar, close your eyes and envision your favorite things from the NFL Blitz series growing up. But instead of your favorite players (for licensing reasons, of course), you get a bunch of undead creatures — orcs, skeletons, and humans — that look very similar to your favorite players we idolize on Sundays.

For example, the Miami Dolphins are certainly not in the game, but the Diami Kraken are, and they’re led by quarterback Chewa Ravioli. His receivers? TyFreak Thrill and Whaling Throttle. Defensively, we see players like Jailor Thrillips, Bradley Bugg, and Jevon Maulland, in addition to countless other “fictional” characters.

Some other teams that may look familiar include the Karcass City Creeps, The Sin Francsicko Forty Nightmares, and the Killadelphia Evils, to name a few of the 16 teams available in early access. That said, there will be more teams, including several minor league teams, by the time the game officially releases. What those minor league teams may entail remains a mystery.

Moving on from the genius behind the teams and rosters is the presentation, which has received a “complete visual overhaul” this year. Each stadium is uniquely constructed with different obstacles and challenges players must overcome. Some stadiums may have landmines or giant buzzsaws moving from side to side. Others have inferno pits, landmines, mutant traps, and blood geysers, to name a few. These intricacies set MFL apart from the rest of the market.

Player sound bites, replays, and cutscenes flash throughout the game and can become over the top at times (NSFW). But again, it’s these tiny details that make Mutant Football League what it always has been. And for a diehard, hearing the legendary commentary from NBA Jam/NFL Blitz hall of fame commentator Tim Kitzrow as Grim Blitzrow, alongside his sidekick Brickhead Mulligan, transports me back to my childhood.

The game might look and feel like the game of old, but the next-gen graphics and animations are anything but old-school. That said, MFL 2’s gameplay will keep gamers coming back again and again.

Bone-Crushing Gameplay

Unlike other games, Mutant Football League is every bit about the game played on the field as it is about inflicting as much damage on your opponent as possible. Throughout the game, players are encouraged to take out the opposing team. There’s even a daily bounty placed on a specific player that can earn you extra points and rewards for completing. For a game with so much depth and layers, the controls are welcoming and can be played by anyone.

Here’s a look at the controls using a PlayStation 5 controller.

As you can see, the controls for MFL 2 are very familiar and can be picked up quickly, especially by a more experienced gamer.

Gamers can adjust plenty of options to their liking, including game length, difficulty, and speed — with the latter being what can really push Mutant Football League into high gear. Other important game options include the option to turn on/off resurrections and adjust how bloody and gory things are. But beware, ‘massacre mode’ can be absolutely insane.

Overall, the game plays best (IMO) on fast and really does feel like the closest thing we’ve seen to an NFL Street or Blitz-style game in years. Now, that doesn’t mean you’ll be doing insane back flips and racking up style points, but the overall style of MFL 2 feels very familiar to those games of old — and personally, I love it.

Dirty Tricks

One of the most critical aspects of Mutant Football League is the use of Dirty Tricks. These come in various shapes and sizes and can vary from team to team. Some, for example, will allow players to wield a gun, shooting their undead enemies as they close in on the tackle. Others may see players ignite on fire, burning everything in their way. Kill shots and exploding footballs also make an appearance. However, the one trick that many long-time gamers will resonate with is the ability to bribe a referee. It took me a few plays to realize what was going on before we took out the referee. This results in a penalty, of course, but it will put an end to any foul play – for now.

The real challenge is deciding when to use these quirky game-altering plays. For example, bribing the referee on second down will not only result in a negative play for the opposition but will likely be followed by a kill ref on third down. Another example would be late in a game or when trailing from behind. Using the hot potato dirty trick – which is exactly how it sounds – or slingshot, where the ball is literally stuck to the quarterback’s hand, alter the game. There are plenty of ways for the offense to counter as well, with an array of tricks of their own.

Dirty Tricks is also where players should look for additional plays such as all-out blitzes, hooks and ladders, four verts, and other potential game-altering plays. However, these will not alter the game in quite the same way as Mutant Football League’s wide array of dirty tricks.

Season Mode

To my surprise, Mutant Football League had an extensive 13-game season mode with the ability for players to make trades and free agent signings throughout the week. Players can also earn power-ups (skill roids) and rating boosts, making it more than just a gauntlet of play now games packaged as a season mode.

Additionally, deaths will carry over from one game to the next, making it much more challenging for teams to compete, especially as the season progresses. As a result, I’ve found myself doing a lot less fighting after the whistle, almost protecting my star players in the process.

Once revealed, Dynasty Supreme will be the way to go, but for now, a limited season is more than enough to hold gamers over. In fact, trying to build the Kraken into a Mutant Bowl-winning team has helped immensely with the wait for EA Sports College Football and Madden.

What I Don’t Like

Lack Of Game Modes Early On

I don’t think I can gripe about a smaller studio having a game in early access with very few game modes out of the gate. But I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time with the game, so I’ll say it: I would love to get a feel for the finished product. Seeing those greyed-out areas of the game made me feel like I was being punished for something I didn’t do, especially the dynasty supreme mode.

But I get it, that’s part of the territory of easy access. And yet, here I am, complaining because I can’t play more. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested in seeing some of the other creative team names and players the developers came up with, as well. Nevertheless, here are all the game modes in the game—with a * indicating those that are playable in early access.

Quick Play*
Season Mode (Limited) *
Practice*
Dynasty Supreme
Training Camp
Tournaments

More game modes will be released as Mutant Football League 2 nears a release on console later this year.

Online Play

MFL 2 is in early access, but the number of times I was able to play a game online was zero, nada, zilch! Not once could I find an opponent or fellow gamer online looking for a game. Sure, that could have something to do with early access and gamers still getting a feel for the gameplay. However, I wanted to give the online servers a walkthrough and test the response time to see if Mutant Football League 2 could separate itself from the previous version. And for now, I’m still left without an answer.

Quirky Animations & Occasional Hiccups

For a game that leans so far out of the ordinary, it doesn’t necessarily feel right to knock it for some of the basic animations, but it was something I felt needed to be pointed out. Whether it was the running style that looked as though players were gliding along the surface or characters overlapping one another on piles, there are some imperfections in MFL 2. However, my least favorite thing from my experience was the interceptions I’d inexcusably throw.

Way too often, one of the extremely large orcs on the defensive line or linebacking corps would come down with an interception that, for lack of a better word, was thrown directly at his chest. Now, I know these are large creatures, but I’m still not sure if there’s any real trajectory in the passing game. This could also be by design, but it was frustrating — especially when it barely looked as though they were going for the interception.

Overall, there was very little to complain about.

Bottom Line

In a day when developers are looking for a way to stand out, Digital Dreams has hit its stride with Mutant Football League 2. The first game brought the old-time Sega classic to the 21st century and laid down the foundation for what you see today, which is one of the more creative “next-gen” football games on the market.

The gameplay is action-packed and completely over-the-top, with dirty tricks and an arcade style of play. I can’t get over how perfectly they nailed each team and their star players. Additionally, the game is far more in-depth than you’d expect for an arcade-style game. That said, the controls are welcoming and accessible for anyone to get into. With familiarly unfamiliar teams and rosters, gamers should be happy with the finished product.

Mutant League Football 2 is the perfect homage to a game that once was. With its bone-crushing gameplay and impressive current-gen graphics and animations, there’s more than enough to make long-time fans of the series happy while being welcoming to the new era of MFL gamers.