If you can’t play by the rules, then just play without them.

So goes the apparent logic of “Blitz: The League,” a dark takeoff on the NFL where cheap shots, cheap drugs and cheap women not only are a way of life, they’re crucial to winning the game.

The first version showed up in 2005, and now word is out that the bloody, bone-crunching soap opera where on-field play is only part of the story will make a comeback this fall as “Blitz: The League II.” Maker Midway Games was mum on details, but the marketing pitch, “Win at any cost,” suggests that not even a good, strong helmet will afford much protection.

For the uninitiated, “Blitz” is American football on steroids — literally. It’s hyperviolent gridiron action with a “Clash” meter charging up during plays to help deliver dirty hits that weaken the opposition. Success brings money, and money brings, among other things, legal and illegal drugs players consume for added power.

There’s even a minor plot point where players can use their ill-gotten gains to purchase prostitutes for the opposing team before a big game, effectively weakening the opponent’s “resolve.”

The only way new “Blitz” could top that is by including on-field gunplay.

“Blitz” debuted for the first Xbox and for PlayStation 2. Updated editions appeared in 2006 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation Portable. A rehashed version for Wii was promised, too, but Midway later backed away from that.

Of course, the NFL wants nothing to do with “Blitz” because it portrays pro football as something other than good, clean fun, and so the league “Blitz” depicts is a fastastical coalition of rogues ill-suited for even a minimum-security prison. Consequently, anyone who says they like “Blitz” for the gameplay probably also says they read Penthouse just for the articles.

Midway says “Blitz: The League II” is coming on all three major consoles, and only heaven knows what the game will ask players to do with the Wii remote.