Blood Bowl

Elves!  Dwarves!  Orcs!  Lizardmen and Humans have gathered today on the field of battle for... football!?  Okay well not quite football but close enough.  Welcome to Blood Bowl.  Blood Bowl is a 95% true conversion from the 1987 table top game Blood Bowl from Games Workshop.  That probably sounds familiar to most of you since you've seen or played the Dawn of War series or Warhammer: Age of Reckoning.  Same people whom came up with the original concepts, not released the games.

A little history lesson first.  The makers of Blood Bowl are Cyanide Studios.  Cyanide released a game back in 2004 called “Chaos League” which, per Wikipedia, was “similar” to Blood Bowl.  Well apparently it was “similar” enough to have Games Workshop slap them with a Cease and Desist Order, also because of the fact that they used a bunch of Blood Bowl items, such as the Orc Sun design, etc.  Well Cyanide obtained the rights and passed on Chaos League to Games Workshop, and now here we are today.

The game basically takes the place with both real time and turn based modes from the original table top Blood Bowl game.  Now this presents a problem to many new comers- to know the rules for this game, you have to know the rules for Blood Bowl, which means reading about 30+ pages in a PDF file that is freely available.  That can be a turn off to most players.  The game has a variety of modes including campaign modes and a rather well implemented multiplayer team statistic mode, complete with earning your team winnings, hiring new players, purchasing equipment, cheerleaders, and increasing your fan base.

As of now, the game features a total of 8 races with 2 more to be implemented at a future date. (Undead and Dark Elves for those wondering whom the future ones are.)  The game involves getting your characters to the touch down zone without getting massacred by the other team.  There are no downs, there are no extra points or punts except for the initial kick off, and the only way your player gets a break is if he is seriously injured or if he is dead.  It is brutal but more tactical than anything.

For those expecting a Madden style game, this game will sorely disappoint- true to the tabletop game, this is more like a game of chess with dice and a fantasy medieval football theme. 

The graphics are well done, and runs very well on a semi mid end computer with full details, smooth as butter with no slow downs.  The announcers are downright repetitive within 30 minutes and the game has a few bugs here and there but nothing game breaking… except for a few crashes that are being patched out as we speak.  Further more, I know it's a random number generator, but apparently the dice hate me and several thousand users as well.

If you're a fan of the original Blood Bowl game, this is for you without a shadow of a doubt.  But for those expecting a Madden type game or something you can drink beer and play without any real skill (Anti-Jock/Frat Boy speaking) then you're fucked.  I think $50 is a bit steep to ask for this but unless they plan on releasing the entire races in due time (and they do) wait a bit for this to maybe hit $40 unless you're a truly die-hard fan.

A side note, approach this game with a sense of humor, you will lose some of your most invested players all too easily.  Remember the rule of thumb, you roll dice enough, you will roll a 1, and it's just a 1 at the wrong time that'll turn your All-Star Blitzer into the next Goblin BBQ.