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Blood Bowl: Reviews

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Game Score: 4/10

Hello, Sports Fans! I'm going to start off by saying this: Blood Bowl is not my favorite Games Workshop game. I am American, but have trouble making sense of football, though Blood Bowl makes it easier. This game is based on the board game, but it's also a remake.

For those of you that did not know, Blood Bowl was first released as a computer game in 1995. It was updated and re-released in 2009 for PC, PSP, and, of course, the Nintendo DS.

So, how does the game stack up against its 1995 counterpart? Not well, actually, and for a variety of reasons.

Let's start with the harshest criticism I can level against it: Graphics. I know, some of you are thinking, "Again, he goes after the new game with the old graphics." But I will, and it's because of one thing - details. The old game had character and showed it, giving you a default zoom that at once took up the screen, gave you most of the field, and showed your players with enough pixels to blink at. The DS fails in that respect; at least, in my opinion.

As far as sound is concerned, it seems appropriate to the game, I don't have that much to say beyond that fact. They didn't go out of their way to wow anyone with the soundtrack and noises; that's not the point of this game. It's Blood Bowl, not Elite Beat Agents. And thank Nuffle for that!

The controls are a little odd to most people, but the game includes tutorials. It knows it's awkward, so it sets out to help. I can give it most of a pass, since it seems like every time I poke with my stylus, I get what I want.

Mechanically, the game is very sound. Everything is done based on the Living Rulebook - if you can get it, do so. It might help to explain certain "strangeness" in the game; if you move to pick up a ball and the turn ends? Your player missed his pickup. A guy moves, keels over, and dies? He's moved beyond his range, fell over, and rolled (particularly) badly on the To Wound table.

All in all, here are my feelings. First, I wish it had been released stateside. Second, Blood Bowl is a Specialist Game - and it means it. If you don't get Warhammer OR you don't get football, the learning curve is that much longer on either side; with Warhammer being the shorter side to learn. Between this and Warhammer 40,000: Squad Command, Games Workshop has put out two middle-of-the-road, just below average games for the DS. The way I see it? Really, they're just advertisements for the tabletop. If you have a friend who wants to look into Warhammer, show them this game for a little while. If they like it, who knows, they might get hooked. If not... try something else.

All in all, download this game. If you live in the EU region, consider buying a copy to tell GW that we want this quirky little game kept alive and well.

May Nuffle smile on you when chance comes into your life.