Mutant League Football 2: Game Preview – Rip me in half with a buzzsaw and call me Larry…

Mutant League Football 2 is the sequel to the monster mayhem football game Mutant League Football. Mutant League Football is my preferred kind of football game, you can kill players, electrocute players, and overall, it’s a great time. Football rules are blurred in the best ways to create an experience that is not super serious. Currently, Mutant League Football is in-game preview on Xbox, so quite a few features are missing, and some bugs to iron out. Regardless, I am having a fantastic time playing this game. 

Loading up the game for the first time, I was greeted with the option to open a card pack. I haven’t figured out how to get more or even if there is an option to. If you’re wondering if I understand this mechanic, the answer is no, and for the record, I’m not bothered. See, because Mutant League Football 2 is a Game Preview, I am not upset about the mechanics. Especially because what I actually care about is the gameplay.

One thing that I noticed right away was how muddy the players looked. They also have weird designs; something here doesn’t feel right. The first game had a distinct design and although many of the races in the game were weird-looking, I totally vibed with how things looked. 

It seems like the players, except for the robots because they’re the best, were all slapped through a random character generator. You’ll find that they often have the same facial hair and attitudes. It’s sort of funny, but that extends to the skeletons too. They have facial hair and afros.

Jumping into the gameplay is where things start to make sense for a time. The same Mutant League Football vibe from the first game is here too; even the voice lines sound nearly identical, if not exactly the same. 

For starters, it feels as though the kicking meter is messed up and completely unresponsive. I am playing on Xbox, so perhaps it is more responsive on PC. That said, a kick feels so satisfying when it is successful. The stylizing on the meter is beautiful 

While I don’t enjoy the player models, I do enjoy the stadiums. They’re gorgeous, and watching blood and body parts fly across the field is extremely satisfying. The traps are responsive and easy to see, and when you explode or get shot into the air it’s extremely funny to watch. 

The gameplay itself is exactly what I’ve come to expect from an arcade football game. It feels fluid, and responsive, and has AI that makes it so you don’t have to play the game! Wait, okay, so about that last part, something feels off with the AI in multiplayer mode. I played this game with a friend, and we could put the controllers down on defense and let the AI handle everything. 

Tossing and running the ball feels great. The throwing hitbox is a little weird, making it easy to intercept the ball. Especially if you use dirty tricks, my favorite element of the game. Using dirty tricks allows you to throw a bomb attached to the ball to blow your opponents up, bribe the referee, and so much more. The bribery is awesome too! Before we caught onto the fact that you have to kill a bribed referee, my friend ended up missing out on at least 5 touchdowns. It was hilarious. 

Potential On Lock 

Currently, Mutant League Football 2 has 40 teams to choose from. Each team is made up of a few different species, but the robots are the best, and no, I am not biased. You can also customize your own team, play in the Mayhem Bowl, and participate in a season. 

There are a ton of game modes and options greyed out, and that’s okay. Playing in a quick match is enough for me, but the season game mode is a lot of fun. While playing in the season, I ran into zero bugs, but in multiplayer I crashed once.

I can’t wait to see what Mutant League Football 2 looks like in the future. This game is so much fun with multiplayer and hits a very specific spot that hasn’t been filled in the arcade football space in a long time for me. There is a lot of promise here. Expansions to the fields, dirty moves, and monster types would be cool too.