GamesRelay

Name: Blood Bowl

Blood Bowl is the kind of sport we should have in real life, why I hear you ask? Well, if you mixed American Football with teams of players that like to punch and foul one another just as much as they like to grab the ball and score a touch-down, Blood Bowl is what you would have. Blood Bowl isn't new to the marketplace either, it was originally released by Games Workshop in the guise of a table-top game, there have been a few video game adaptations of it since, most notably would be Cyanide's past game 'Chaos League' which used very similar rules to Blood Bowl and as such Games Workshop wasn't happy and asked the developers to make an official Blood Bowl conversion.

The game, being originally a table-top affair is turn-based in its nature, a game has sixteen turns between two players which are each taken in turn, each turn entitles you to move your players, knock opponents down, grab the ball, throw it and defend, it sounds quite simple on the outset but there's a lot more to it than meets the eye. The Blood Bowl rulebook (Living Rulebook 5) is fairly hefty considering the same rules have been adapted for the video game, for anyone that knows the table-top rules then you should feel right at home once you get into your first match, but for those that don't - it can seem a little daunting.

There are various game modes which can be played in Blood Bowl both online and off, you don't just have the traditional turn-based game, Cyanide, the developers behind the game have created a real time mode which lets you skip the turns entirely but pause the game in-between moves, while it's great in its conception, it simply doesn't beat the turn-based gameplay Blood Bowl players will be familiar with. You also have one off matches, a campaign and competitions which are all offline each of which can be played between two players. Online you have the one off matches which can be played as either private or ranked. Unfortunately the tournaments and leagues which are so highly praised in the PC version have been absently missed and trying to find a game online is a mission upon itself, we have yet to find anyone online, whether it's because the game has just been released is probable but more than likely most don't know what the game is and what it's about.

Any of the game modes you play start off in a similar fashion, you set your team up on your half of the pitch, bringing your defenders forward while your throwers and catchers stay near the back ready to make there move. Each game starts with the kick off which is decided by a coin toss and then each turn thereafter is governed by a four-minute time limit (unless otherwise set in a custom game), in that time you can perform any actions you might wish like moving and tackling or even fouling and killing one of the opposition if you fancy your chances of not getting a red card from the referee. The objective is simply to get the ball to the other end of the pitch and score a touchdown with one of your players, it may sound simple but once you're in game the opposition will make it as difficult as possible, even if it means attacking your team. While each players gets there four minute turn there are some deciding factors which will end it early such as a failed ball pick up or being knocked down from one of the opposition, everything is decided by various dice rolls which are automatically done on screen and take into account the stats of each individual player and any surrounding players or opponents before performing an action. After a game has campaign or competition match is finished your players gain SPP (Star Player Points - basically a form of experience), these allow your players to level up and be given extra abilities such as extra strength or skills which allow you to dodge attacks more easily or throw the ball with better accuracy.

Of course with this being a fantasy game, it wouldn't be complete without various races to battle it out amongst, and you certainly get a good choice to choose from. For your team you can select from various races such as Humans, Wood Elves, Chaos, Dwarves and Skaven to name but a few, but you don't just pick your team, you have to build it as well. You are given money to start your team off which you'll use to purchase various players such as the basic Lineman which forms the base of your team, then the more specialised players such as the defenders, or Blitzer's as they are known, then your throwers and catchers and maybe even some star players if you can afford it which are highly recognised players with high stats and skills. On top of this you can use your money to purchase bribes to give you extra re-rolls should you fail one while playing, cheerleaders to swing the crowd in your favour and Apothecary's which are used to heal your players, that's if they don't get killed during a match, while death doesn't happen often, it can be annoying because you lose that player forever and have to purchase another.