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Blood Bowl

EMAIL PRINT pc

7.2 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 34 critic reviews
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Based on 36 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Focus Home Interactive

Developer: Cyanide Studios

Genre(s): Sports

Players: Multi

ESRB Rating: RP (Rating Pending)

Release Date: June 26, 2009

Summary

A brutal team sport unfolding in a parallel fantasy world based on Warhammer and American football, Blood Bowl invites gamers to form a team of players from races including: Orcs, Elves, Humans, Dwarfs and many other fantasy creatures, and launch themselves into battle in the bloodiest of arenas. This strategy sports game combines a fine balance of tactics and bone crunching action! The game offers two game modes. The first, which is fully real time, offers spectacular gameplay with intense battles between blocking linemen and daring displays of agility of players leaping and dodging through opponents tackle zones, while powerful spells and dirty trick special plays are unleashed across the field. All this creates a highly charged atmosphere. Of course, since it is sometimes difficult to keep an eye on the entire field at once, the game's interface offers different tactical and strategic setups, while the AI is responsible for managing the players on the field. The second game mode, an actual turn-based game, is a treat for players of the original board game because it is an exact replica of Games Workshop's tabletop masterpiece. The original rules have been faithfully reproduced, and it contains all of the devices, strategies, play and rhythm of the original game. [Focus Home Interactive]

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

PC Format

I'm thoroughly impressed with Blood Bowl. [Oct 2009, p.99]

Pelit (Finland)

The original board game is brilliant but Cyanide seemed to try everything to poison the idea. Luckily they didn’t succeed. Upgrades have fixed a lot of problems and only the online game system should be redone from the scratch. Online match making feels like it is 1999 again. [Aug 2009]

HellBored

By now, countless games have been made of various Games Workshop franchises, with wildly varying levels of success. As a full-priced game, Blood Bowl might not be for casual gamers, but the devotees are going to have a spike-studded ball. Where another developer might have taken the franchise and turned it another action-packed button-masher, Blood Bowl is the most faithful translation of the board game that you’re ever likely to get.

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Vandal Online

Blood Bowl can probably result harsh for many at first, and the real-time option is not so well balanced as the one turn-based, but even though, this is a very recommended and solid experience.

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ImpulseGamer

In conclusion, the version of Blood Bowl we played was rather impressive, however if you despise American Football but love the universe, we do suggest you take a look at the game due to the Warhammer references and items.

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Meristation

Blood Bowl features some interesting ideas, like introducing a real-time component to the universe of the board game. Furthermore, it really achieves the look and feel of the miniature game, providing a experience that resembles the original product without any doubt. Despite the fact that this is a product that fit good the fans liking, it can be interesting for every kind of gamer. Only the real time mode, that quickly become a nonsense melee is a visible drawback for a good planned and constructed game.

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PC PowerPlay

Despite some presentation concerns the rest of what was on offer during this match was truly thrilling. [Sept 2009, p.60]

Eurogamer Spain

This is a really addictive game, attractive for any gamer. It's only flaw is that most of its matches last more than an hour and a half, but you'll also enjoy the chance to create teams and raise their levels like you would do on a MMO.

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PC Gamer UK

If you can penetrate the mysteries of its boardgame-based rules, Blood Bowl can offer true barbaric happiness. [Oct 2009, p.74]

Play.tm

Ultimately, fans of the tabletop game will be delighted with Cyanide's videogame translation.

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Boomtown

This is a good videogame adaptation and none of the flaws prevent it from being immersive and enjoyable to play. You won’t find another game quite like this. American Football and the fantasy world of Elves and Orcs make undeniably strange bedfellows and their unholy offspring may be ugly but it is entertaining.

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GamingXP

Overall, I like this game very much. Sometimes it seems a bit unfair, but what should I say: it is Blood Bowl and you’ll only win, if you play hard and be more unfair than your enemy!

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Gamers.at

Blood Bowl needs a relatively long period of practice to understand the basic game principles, but when you figured out how to rough up your opponents, the game is a lot of fun.

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3DJuegos

The American football looks different thanks to the imagination of Games Workshop mixing it with the board game. The classical mode is recommended for the fans of the franchise and the real time mode better for casual players. Blood Bowl is a faithful adaptation to videogame of the warhammer board game series.

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GameStar

The game can be quite challenging, especially in the round-bases game mode, but after one week you've seen all the game has to offer. Nonetheless it's the perfect game for small tournaments from time to time and to give elves a good thrashing.

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SpazioGames

Blood Bowl is an atypical sports-game with good turn-based mechanics. Here there are football, fantasy, dice and lucky, in an original fairly good mix. Blood Bowl isn't for casual gamers, but if you are fans of the board-game and you can play it online, you certainly can give it a chance.

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2404.org

The game can be fun and the game can be maddening.

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PC Zone UK

If you're a fan of the board game, you'll like this adaptation - but if you're not, it's not going to sit well with any logical imagining that you've ever had for a Blood Bowl game. [Nov 2009, p.68]

Cynamite

A neat mixture between sports, tactics and the famous Warhammer franchise, but overall too hard for beginners.

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DarkZero

It’s clear this game is aimed at the Games Workshop crowd, and those who understand what Blood Bowl is are the ones that will gain the most pleasure from the game. Others will have to fight through the game’s resistance to stop newbies from playing.

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AceGamez

I love the whole idea of American football in a fantasy world as it takes completely separate game genres and moulds the together into one hulking brute. Unfortunately, this Sports come Role Playing Game come Strategy just doesn't do the striking concept justice.

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games(TM)

Think of Blood Bowl as a cross between Hero Quest and Speedball, and if neither of these games ignite a fond memory, then this is probably not for you. [Nov 2009, p.122]

Multiplayer.it

Players of the board game will be pleased to see how close the videogame is to the original, with its well made multiplayer. All the others have to face the not so good visual quality and the broken AI.

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GameSpot

This board game translation is a lot of fun, but it could have been so much more.

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Games Radar (in-house)

Blood Bowl’s soul lies in its tactics. It’s built for its existing fan-base, though anyone with a passing interest in strategy games can pick it up and get a lot of enjoyment from it.

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Total PC Gaming

It's not just for fans of the analogue edition either. [Issue#23, p.52]

GameShark

Blood Bowl is an A+ boardgame trapped inside a C level computer game design.

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Gameplanet

Blood Bowl seems to be the result of a fiendish coupling between extremely inflexible Warhammer lore and a studio hamstrung by licensing requirements. It's not exactly intuitive, and requires significant investment and patience to see rewards.

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IGN

Blood Bowl is a respectable attempt at bringing the ideals of a board game to a videogame. It has decent elements of personality, but the abundance of text and rule memorization can be a downer when all you want to do is get into a game.

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Strategy Informer

The harsh void of an instructive and friendly tutorial is enough to send away newcomers within the first minutes of firing up the game.

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Eurogamer

What Blood Bowl offers is a way for enthusiasts to enjoy their chosen tabletop sport without much of the hassle, remotely and conveniently - and for those with friends who'll also indulge, it's probably a no-brainer purchase.

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Teletext GameCentral

An accurate adaptation of the table-top classic, but it fumbles the ball when trying to expand its appeal.

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Gamer.nl

Blood Bowl as a board game is great, but this video game adaption is not. The bad interface and slow campaign make the game tough to get into and the steep learning curve doesn't help either.

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LEVEL (Czech Republic)

A perfect board game does not mean a perfect video game. Controls and game system are pretty bad, no-brain AI makes things even worse. Only hope to improve playability are future updates and patches. [Aug 2009]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 7.2 (out of 10) based on 36 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Luke B gave it a4:
I think this game really appeals more to players of the board game rather than new comers. The tutorial is next to useless, the AI is lacking any intelligence what so ever and the real-time mode is messy. I think really this game is best played with friends and can be fun at times, and, if you have none you'll smash the AI and then yourself for wasting your money.

Bryan Z gave it a9:
The only people who won't find this game a blast are those with no patience. So if you text somebody sitting 2 feet away from you steer clear! If you like to blow a few hours crushing the souls of the opposition then I'll see you in the finals!

Phil B gave it a9:
As a fan of the board game I love it! I know that it's not easy for beginners to get in to, it but neither is the board game and it is supposed to be a faithful recreation after all. You wouldn't expect to learn chess in 30 minutes. If you want a game with an impressive depth of tactics and endless playability then buy the game, sit down and learn to play it!

Chris W gave it a9:
This is game is an amazing recreation of the tabletop rules. Forget complaints about graphics and A.I., if your not playing this game online or with friends you really are still in 1999 and should give up; consider the RealTime playing and Cpu battles bonus flavor for training, not the real game.

Matt C gave it a5:
Although the PC version is a faithful depiction of the board game, Blood Bowl was not a fair and balanced game from the start. Some races are pathetic (read goblins) and the AI seems to only have two tactics: cage the ball carrier or throw a long pass. Even on hardest difficulty, it is easy to play an entire season without conceding a single touchdown. The graphics belong to a game from 2001, the sound is truly awful, the interface is ugly and clunky, the RTS mode is completely flawed and the matchmaking is completely hopeless. If you love the warhammer world and enjoyed playing tabletop bloodbowl, this game is for you. If not, steer clear of this ugly, repetitive game.

Tyrone B gave it a1:
this game makes me sick

Gianmarco v gave it an8:
Good conversion of the boardgame, but only for the Blood Blow fans. Nice online mode.

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