Blood Bowl Review – “Blood in your Bowl”
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Blood Bowl - Review
There will be blood! Cyanide Studios and Games Workshop have teamed up to create a videogame version of the superb board game Blood Bowl, but is it just for fan boys or is it accessible to everyone?
Blood Bowl is a mix of Warhammer the board game and an ultra violent version of American football, which on paper (and on a board) is great. There are 8 races to choose from; Humans, Orcs, Goblins, Dwarfs, Chaos, Wood Elves, Skaven and Lizardmen each with there own strengths, weaknesses, unique tactics and star players, but which of these psychotic breeds has what it takes to be Blood Bowl champion? And is the game worth playing to discover the answer?
Game Modes – 7
There are several game modes to play and even two very distinctive ways to play the game. You can control your team in a turn based style match, very similar to the board game where you have 16 turns (8 per half) to score as many touchdowns as you can, prevent your opponent from scoring and try to kill, maim and injure as many of the opposition as possible OR you can play a real-time game with the ability to pause and direct your players around the field of play. My preference was turn based for the single player modes as the real time felt a little to manic but it was hugely entertaining against other people. All modes can be played as classic which is the original rules and turn based game, or blitz which allows you to play either real time or turn based and tweak the rules to your hearts content.
The game modes are for the most part what you would expect from a sports game, you can play one-off (exhibition) matches, competition mode which includes leagues, cups and grand slams plus you have the option to create your own tournament. The biggest and best game type is Campaign mode where you build and customise you own team and enter them in 15 different tournaments with the hope of reaching the ultimate prize at the end. . . The Blood Bowl! The customisation of your team is what really sets this apart as your team can level up gaining new abilities and equipment as well as injuries and damage. The different races also develop differently, with the more evil Chaos and Skaven races able to mutate and grow tentacles and extra arms and heads to boost there stats.
While there is plenty to play through and find amusing, there isn’t anything new here which is a real shame considering the unique style of the game. The main Blood Bowl campaign seems to just about the only single player mode anyone plays as the others do suffer a bit in comparison by not being as entertaining. There are multiplayer options available and that for the die hard fans will be a major draw.
Dwarfs know how to celebrate a win!
Gameplay – 6
When you first take to the field to play a game be ready for a fight. This game has some of the worst tutorials ever and i would advise just skipping them and practising a few one off matches instead. The rules can seem a little confusing but are fairly simple to pick up in classic mode after a few goes, you’ll be smashing heads into the floor, intercepting passes and bribing ref’s in no time!
Another interesting twist is the way you select our team. Most teams have Linesman (the basic player), throwers and catchers and a big guy ranging from Treemen for the elves to Trolls for the Goblins, but also a few players available to only that team such as Troll Slayers (read as nut cases) for the Dwarfs and Fanatics; a goblin with a huge ball and chain who spins his way through your ranks causing mayhem unless he hurts himself with it. The different classes require consideration and thought on the field to execute the moves you wish as the game is still dice based. Ensuring you have set up correctly and move players in the correct order is vital as a mistake will cause a turnover allowing your opponent to begin their turn.
Once you start playing you notice a couple of unfortunate things very quickly. Firstly the animations are very limited and because this is a complex game that can take a long time to play, you grow tired and bored of repeatedly seeing the same little animations again and again. The commentary also suffers from the same problem; there just not being enough variation, and after a couple of games it will start to get on your nerves a bit. This isn’t to say that both aren’t comical they’re just repetitive.
There are some superb off the field bonuses you can acquire for your team to help you during matches such as hiring mercenaries and star players, hiring mages to cast spells for you, bribing referees, additional training and hiring doctors to ensure your players don’t get overly mangled (they will still get regularly mangled though!). Unfortunately though as mentioned the play is let down by a lack of animations on the characters and motions, you never really feel that your players look as individual as you would like and that’s a shame because half of the board game is making your team look cool.
The Chaos teams are every bit as mean and hard as they look.
Online – 7
For a lot of people this is the area that would make or break Blood Bowl, as it is essentially a game designed to be played against others. Any fan of the original will want to take there team online to compete just as they took their miniatures to a mates house to play, and this is one of the best aspects of the videogame. There are a wealth of game modes to participate in from leagues and cups that are already organised to being able to create your own tournaments to play. The game itself runs well (probably because it’s turn based and requires little loading) and with the headset on is a great way to spend a few hours. A few hours is what you will need though as the games are not short and one is never enough, if you lose you want revenge, if you win you want to rub there greasy little Wood Elf noses in it!
The opportunity for DLC is fairly good to considering that there are about a dozen other races in the Warhammer world not included in the game and a wealth of possibilities for more grounds and venues, Star Players and fresh character models. The PC version has already added Dark Elves to the mix to a fairly good reception so lets hope they continue in the same vain on the consoles!
These are seriously sneaky bastards. And they carry Weil’s disease.
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Details
Category: American Football
Age: 16 Years and above
Publisher: THQ
Touchdown!
- Very true to the board game and stay’s true to it’s roots.
- Plenty of tournaments and competitions to take part in both on and off line with enough customisation to keep it fresh.
- Use of tactics and having to think everything through adds a new dimension to a sports game, making the online play well worth it!
Bad Touch
- Repetitive animations and commentary take away from the action and feel of the game.
- Poor menu’s and and awful tutorials make it inaccessible to gamers unfamiliar with the original board game.
- Real time play is chaotic and hard to follow with slightly dodgy AI meaning you’ll play it only as a novelty never in a proper match or championship.
Overal Then
Written & Reviewed by Paul Riley
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