I’ve no idea were It stems from but I can’t stand the Games Workshop, maybe it’s because my friends always used to make me stand outside the shop for hours while they went in to buy their paints and figures (I refused to set foot in the place).

 

Anyway given my dislike for all things Game Workshop when I received Blood Bowl for review I wasn’t convinced I would enjoy it in the slightest given my sheer dislike of anything related to this particular franchise, however I was willing to give it a chance.

 

 

 

Blood Bowl is probably best described as the Fantasy version of American Football, except here the only rules are to literally crush your opponents using any means necessary. Given that this is based on the Warhammer game, you will find yourself taking control of Orcs, Dwarves, Elves and all other manner of races, trying to build their stats and trying to get luck on your side with the throw of the dice.

 

As you would expect each race has its own strength and weakness, therefore the Elves who are a bit faster and lighter on their feet use their speed to their advantage, throwing long passes and trying to win the day that way, whereas Orcs prefer overpowering their opponents by taking advantage of their superior build.

Playing the game sees each player take control of a team of 11 footballers, each half lasts for 16 turns before the playfield is reset. You will earn points not only by doing what you would normally do in a standard football game such as passing etc, but also by hurting your opponents, these points are then used to level up your characters, however you can only win the game by scoring touchdowns.

 

Since all of your turns can be ended by a bad dice roll, it really is a game of chance, so whether you take a risk in order to make a play really does depend how brave you are feeling because if you fail the game will then turn to your opponent.

 

Picking the right team is really what this game boils down to, each race has their own strengths and weaknesses as mentioned earlier, and therefore you should really pick the team which suits your style of play, be this by taking the agile route or one based more on strength.

 

The game does come with two modes of play, the original turn based and a real time mode. To be honest although the latter mode sounds like it could be a lot more fun, it really isn’t. Players are harder to control and therefore the action suffers badly, it really does feel like it was added in at the last minute just to appeal to players like me who don’t really understand the rules of the game.

 

Another problem relates to what I just mentioned, in that the game just seems to assume that you know the rules. Now living in the UK I have a hard enough time understanding American Football and not being a fan of Games Workshop products I was never going to understand this title, therefore it would have been nice if the game was made a bit more flexible in this respect.

 

 

Presentation wise the game is a bit of a mixed bag, the menus seem very well thought out and the artwork here is of high quality, however the action itself is fraught with glitches and over lengthy loading times which only helps to put you off even more.

 

The game does include an online multiplayer mode, although I would imagine that this would only really appeal to the hardcore fans rather than someone who has just picked this game up because they liked the look of it.

 

Blood Bowl to me is a disappointing game, if it was pulled off properly then I could probably have seen the appeal however to me it’s just a mediocre title from a mediocre franchise.