BLOOD BOWL

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Cyanide

Publisher : Focus Home Interactive

Engine : Not Revealed

Genre : Sports And Real-Time Strategy

Release Date : June 25 , 2009

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows XP / Windows Vista

CPU : Intel Pentium 4 Processor / AMD Athlon XP 2400+

Memory (RAM) : 1 GB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compatible Video Card with Memory 256 MB

[NVIDIA : GeForce 6600 Series
ATI : Radeon X700 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 3 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

Blood Bowl is the adaptation of the Warhammer-themed board game pits your team against another and encourages players to digitally pound each other into a pulp. It's fun and addictive because the board game is fun and addictive, so expect to spend many an hour glued to your monitor, cheering and cursing. However, an unfriendly interface, problematic AI, and a few other issues tackle Blood Bowl just short of the end zone. If you've never heard of the Blood Bowl board game, the idea of turn-based football within the Warhammer universe may sound a bit bizarre. Nevertheless, the game is surprisingly compelling--maybe because the raucous violence of Warhammer and the testosterone-fueled swagger of the signature American sport make such compatible bedfellows. In any case, you choose a team from a variety of Warhammer races--dwarf, skaven, wood elf, and so on--and go up against the AI or another player to prove your dominance. If you're an American football fan, you will need to make some mental adjustments before you can wrap your head around the terms and rules. What constitutes a turnover in your head isn't a Blood Bowl turnover, there are no downs, field goals, or two-point conversions; and touchdowns are worth a single point. There are a number of ways to play, both online and off, though the classic turn-based rules provide the best experience. The Campaign mode is the most enjoyable of the offline modes: you guide your team through a series of matches and level up your players, which in turn lets you choose special abilities for them. Early play sticks to the essentials. You get limited time to perform your turn, during which you maneuver your players about the field in individual turns of their own. The basic flow is similar to American football and starts with a kickoff, at which point the receiving team attempts to score a touchdown while the defenders try to gain possession, or at least hold the opposition off until the half. Individual players can knock each other down, push each other back on the grid, and cause injuries, all while you try to run and pass the ball down the field. Dice rolls occur almost every time two players interact, making even the smallest acts, like running past a defender or tackling the ball carrier, tense moments. The gong that resonates dramatically when you relinquish your turn during a risky play will start to make your stomach drop, but pulling off a dicey move may cause you to cheer, or at least breathe a sigh of relief.

Going online doesn't ease the annoyance--it only exacerbates it. There is a public league and a large number of private leagues to join, but working your way through the unfriendly interface is a chore. Even then, you can't play a friend online in a simple one-off game unless you are a member of the same league and dig into the challenge menu to find him or her. You'll face competition from all over the world, and many of your competitors have a firm grasp of the rules, and of the strengths and weaknesses of each race. In the single-player game, the AI is all over the place. Your CPU opponent may clump players together and give your ball carrier a chance to run through an opening unscathed. Other times, dice rolls feel clearly stacked in the AI's favor, as if to make up for its deficiencies. If you want to explore the game outside of the classic turn-based play, you can mess around with other customizable rules and options, the most intriguing of which, at least initially, is real-time play. You can set various AI behaviors for your players, but matches feel out of control, and it becomes quickly obvious that attributes that make sense on a turn-by-turn basis don't translate well to a real-time environment. The animations are simple, but some of them are still charming, such as the acrobatics the wood elves pull off when dodging a tackle. You can personalize your team if you want even more authenticity, using various uniform colors and emblems, but the options are limited, and in some cases, they don't look right. Team logos don't fit properly on the orc uniforms, and some races have more creation options than others, which is disappointing considering the important role customization plays in the board game. The sound design also gets the job done, but with a major drawback: the commentary is awful. The actors' voices are annoying and they deliver the same cringe-worthy quips over and over again. There was a huge opportunity here to explore the violent wit that characterizes the Warhammer brand, but it was left unexplored. Each match is a tense, tactical standoff, and the game will keep you up past your bedtime because it's so hard to pull yourself away. However, the aspects that weren't culled from the board game--the interface, the commentary, the bizarre real-time matches--feel messy and improvised. Nevertheless, Blood Bowl is good fun, even if it doesn't deliver on its full potential. This board game translation is a lot of fun, but it could have been so much more.

GAME REVIEW :-

7/10

Blood Bowl Trailer :-