Blood Bowl (2009 video game)
Fantasy football with violence and strategy.
It loosely adapts gridiron football into a violent fantasy setting and was released across multiple platforms including the Nintendo DS.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Cyanide
- Publisher
- Focus Home Interactive
- Director
- Antoine Villepreux
- Designer
- Régis Robin
- Engine
- Gamebryo
- Programmer
- Antoine Villepreux; Arnaud Chapalain
- Artist
- Faouzi Hamida
- Christophe Live Tha Kine
- Thomas Veauclin
- Genre
- Sports
- real-time strategy
- turn-based strategy
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Blood Bowl is a fantasy version of American football played between two teams of up to 16 players, with each team fielding up to 11 at a time. Touchdowns are scored by carrying the ball into the opposition's end zone, and a team can win either by scoring the most touchdowns or by violently eliminating the entire opposing roster. The game offers both real-time and turn-based strategy modes, and players may choose either mode. Special Play cards are not included in the main game. In the career mode, the player starts from scratch and builds a team; this mode can continue indefinitely. As the team rises in tournament rankings, better players become available for signing. If roster players are injured or killed during a match, replacements must be found for subsequent matches until they recover. If the player lacks money to heal an injured player, that player can still be fielded but faces an increased chance of death. Roster players gain experience and level up in tournaments, and the player can assign skill points to buy new abilities that improve dice rolls, grant second chances on bad rolls, or provide other bonuses. Leagues are fully customizable with 25 editable elements including teams, races, players, and championship rules. Players can set up online tournaments with others, which also allow experience gain; tournaments require a minimum of four and a maximum of 24 participants, and no AI-controlled teams are permitted. A solo franchise team can be used online but not in online tournaments or leagues. Players may not switch between real-time and turn-based modes mid-tournament. Custom logos can be created for teams. The Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable versions lack career league play and customization options. Multiplayer on handheld versions is limited to turn-based hotseat gameplay, though the PSP version also includes wireless multiplayer.
Expansions
The title update received approval in North America but was rejected in EMEA territories. The following April, Cyanide announced Blood Bowl: Legendary Edition, which launched in November 2010. This version added eleven new teams—Amazon, Elf, Halfling, High Elf, Khemri, Necromantic, Norse, Nurgle, Ogre, Undead, and Vampire—along with bug fixes and rule adjustments. It used the CRP rule set and included 21 of the 24 official BBRC rosters, missing only Chaos Dwarfs, Chaos Pact, and Slann. In May 2012, Cyanide and Focus announced Blood Bowl: Chaos Edition, which introduced three new teams: Chaos Dwarves and Underworld from the official rules, plus a wholly original Daemons of Khorne team. It also added two new star players and a new stadium, but again left out Chaos Pact and Slann. That same year, Cyanide released a Dungeonbowl adaptation.
Development
The two sides settled out of court, and part of the deal gave Cyanide the rights to make an official Blood Bowl game. Games Workshop let Cyanide include a real-time mode, but only if the developer stuck strictly to the Living Rulebook 5.0 rules. Cyanide's earlier work on Chaos League convinced Games Workshop they could handle adapting the rules to real-time play. The PC version uses SecuROM digital rights management, which appears on both the retail DVD and digital downloads from Steam and Impulse. Players get an activation code, and a special uninstall program can be used to revoke the license for reuse.
Reception
Blood Bowl received mixed or average reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic, with the Windows version faring better than the rest. The DS version garnered the most negative reception. PC Gamer concluded that if players can penetrate the mysteries of its boardgame-based rules, Blood Bowl can offer true barbaric happiness.
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