PC Gamer awarded it 60%, saying 'Blood Bowl 2 is the flashiest iteration of the game so far, but its dice rolls are frustrating, and its ample ruleset isn't introduced well to newcomers.' 11 IGN awarded it 7.8 out of 10, saying ' Blood Bowl 2 is a smashy, satisfying, goofy tactical melee that leaves just a bit too much up to the six-sided dice.' The Blood Bowl boxed-set is your ticket to the gridiron. With two complete teams and all the additional kit necessary to play (there's even a pitch!), it's hands-down the best way to get started. Below you'll find a great unboxing video with the game's designers and a photo-guide to the contents of the Blood Bowl game, essential resources for any aspiring coach. Sep 29, 2015 Blood Bowl 2’s new graphics engine and high-flying realization faithfully portray the fury and intensity of classic Blood Bowl matches. Lead the famous star team Reikland Reavers back to glory, in a new solo story campaign supported by the hilarious commentators Jim & Bob from Cabalvision.
| Blood Bowl 2 | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Cyanide |
| Publisher(s) | Focus Home Interactive |
| Director(s) | Gauthier Brunet |
| Programmer(s) | Aurélien Caussin |
| Artist(s) | Thomas Veauclin Christophe Live Tha Kine |
| Writer(s) | Andy Hall |
| Series | Warhammer Fantasy |
| Platform(s) | Mac OS X Microsoft Windows PlayStation 4 Xbox One |
| Release | September 22, 2015 |
| Genre(s) | Sports, turn-based strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Blood Bowl 2 is a turn-basedfantasy sportsvideo game developed by Cyanide Studios and published by Focus Home Interactive. It is a sequel to the 2009 video game Blood Bowl, based on the board game by Games Workshop. The game was developed for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, and was released on 22 September 2015.[1][2] A Mac OS X version of the game was launched in May 2016.[3]
The game uses a new engine and removes the real-time mode found in the previous game, being turn-based only.[4] It also introduces the Bretonnian as a new playable race, which was developed out of a fan-developed rulebook.[5] The game features both a solo campaign and a multiplayer mode,[6] with the solo campaign featuring the human team, the Reikland Reavers.[4] Initially eight races are playable, but additional races were available as preorder bonus and downloadable content.[7] A sequel, Blood Bowl 3 is scheduled to release in 2021.
Gameplay[edit]
Several new and improved features have been added since the first Blood Bowl game. These new features include the new Campaign mode, Stadium Customization, Cabalvision, and the Player Marketplace.
- Campaign Mode
In Campaign Mode, the player follows the story of the Reikland Reavers, a team in disgrace. It is the player's job, as the team's coach, to raise them back to their former glory. Beyond the standard game play that can be found in League and Multiplayer modes, Campaign Mode includes a number of scripted, one-time events, such as a goblin crashing a helicopter in the middle of the field. When these events occur, the player has to continue play around them.
- Stadium customization
The base game includes five stadiums for customization. These are stadiums that originate with the Human, Orc, Dwarf, Dark Elf and Skaven. As players grow their teams, they can also grow their stadium. The stadium can be raised through four tiers, with 10 add-ons, for a total of 20 possible unique stadiums.
- Cabalvision
Cabalvision is Blood Bowl 2's version of sports commentary. Play-by-play announcer (and immortal vampire) Jim Johnson injects his witty commentary alongside analyst Bob Bifford's forthright preference to sheer violence, providing the player with a colourful commentary based on the teams, players, and the action happening on the field.
- Player marketplace
Because of the brutal nature of Blood Bowl, teams will often have to find more players to field—due to death, injury, or retirement—or to make some extra money. One way to do this is through the Player Marketplace. The Player Marketplace allows players to be both bought and sold from other coaches (both AI and Human).
Races[edit]
Eight races are included in the Blood Bowl 2 base game. These are the Humans, Orcs, Dwarfs, Skaven, High Elves, Dark Elves, Bretonnians, and Chaos.[8] There are also two races that are obtained as a pre-order bonus. The Wood Elves can be obtained by pre-ordering the game for Xbox One, and the Lizardmen can be obtained by pre-ordering the game for the PlayStation 4. If the game was pre-ordered through Steam, both races are available.
On December 17, 2015, Cyanide announced that they would be adding four new races into the game, starting from the Norse (released on May 2016), followed by Undead (released on July 2016), Necromantic (released on September 2016), and Nurgle (released on November 2016). Players who purchased Blood Bowl 2 on Steam before the release of these races received them for free as they were gradually rolled out. In February 2017, two new playable races - Chaos Dwarfs and Khemri - were released as DLC.[9]
Reception[edit]
Blood Bowl 2 has a score of 76% on Metacritic.[10]PC Gamer awarded it 60%, saying 'Blood Bowl 2 is the flashiest iteration of the game so far, but its dice rolls are frustrating, and its ample ruleset isn't introduced well to newcomers.'[11]IGN awarded it 7.8 out of 10, saying 'Blood Bowl 2 is a smashy, satisfying, goofy tactical melee that leaves just a bit too much up to the six-sided dice.'[12]GameSpot awarded it a score of 8 out of 10, saying 'Yet overall, Blood Bowl 2 is a step forward. It's a much friendlier, easier game than its predecessors, with improved looks, a tutorial campaign, controller support, and the UI improvements. New players won't feel blocked off from enjoying it.'[13]
References[edit]
- ^Purchese, Robert (11 June 2015). 'Blood Bowl 2 release pushed back to September'. Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
- ^Savage, Phil (11 June 2015). 'Blood Bowl 2 release date announced with new trailer'. PC Gamer. Future Publishing. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
- ^'Blood Bowl 2 Mac version is now available'. Steam. 17 May 2016.
- ^ abMacgregor, Jody (3 November 2014). 'Blood Bowl 2 Interview: The Interface, Leagues, And DLC'. Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
- ^Peel, Jeremy (13 June 2015). 'It started with a writ: the unlikely origin of Cyanide's Blood Bowl'. PCGamesN. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
- ^'Blood Bowl II'. IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
- ^Sampson, Aaron (5 March 2015). 'Warhammer Sports Return with Blood Bowl 2'. GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
- ^'Blood Bowl 2'. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
- ^Sykes, Tom. 'Blood Bowl 2 is getting four new races, free if you already own the game'. PCGamer.com.
- ^'Blood Bowl 2 for PC reviews'. Metacritic. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
- ^Davenport, James (September 22, 2015). 'Blood Bowl 2 review'. PC Gamer. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
- ^Hafer, TJ (September 22, 2015). 'Blood Bowl 2 review'. IGN. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
- ^Griliopoulos, Dan (September 22, 2015). 'Blood Bowl 2 review'. GameSpot. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
External links[edit]
- Blood Bowl 2 at MobyGames
Blood Bowl 2
Publisher:
Focus Home Interactive
Developer:
Cyanide Studios
Platforms:
PC, PS4, Xbox One
Genre:Turn-based Strategy/Sports
Release Date:June 2015
Blood Bowl 2 is an upcoming fantasy American football-inspired video game that is based on a Games Workshop tabletop IP. It’s currently being developed by the French developer, Cyanide, the same studio behind Styx: Master of Shadows, Of Orcs and Men and the original Blood Bowl which launched in 2009.
The game will be published by Focus Home Interactive, the same group that published the original Blood Bowl and the recently released Cities XXL.
Blood Bowl 2 is slated to release in Spring 2015 where it will be made available on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. A Steam listing has the game set for June. The official site for Blood Bowl also lists a Blood Bowl game for iPad and Android, but this is an unrelated port of the original game.
Development
Like Blood Bowl before it, Blood Bowl 2 is based on a Games Workshop IP that started out as a tabletop fantasy football game.
Unlike the original Blood Bowl, a game that mixed real time gameplay with a turn based mechanic, Blood Bowl 2 will put an emphasis on the turn-based and strategic elements of the game.
Speaking about this, Blood Bowl 2’s Lead Game Designer Gauthier Brunet has said, “Blood Bowl II will not feature a real-time mode. We have made this choice to focus on the turn-based gameplay as much as possible and bring a polished and updated version of it.”
Despite having only detailed 2 of the playable races coming to Blood Bowl 2 (see the Teams portion of this Wiki for more) the game will feature eight races that the player can control. This will be expanded on post release, presumably by way of an expansion or DLC. This has been done before with Blood Bowl, with the all content eventually being collected into the Blood Bowl: Chaos Edition.
Speaking about playable races and the intent of expanding the roster post launch, Gauthier Brunet has said, “Blood Bowl 2 will feature eight different races at release: Human, Orc, Skaven, Dwarf, High Elf, Dark Elf, Chaos and Bretonnian. The Bretonnian roster is entirely exclusive to Blood Bowl II. Of course, more races will join the initial eight after release.”
He later added, “We have much more content to add to the game and we are really thinking about those 15 other teams. We still don’t know how they’re going to get that into the game, whether it’s DLC, expansions or an in-game store… we’ll speak more about this when the decision has been made.”
Expanding on the possibility of races as post-launch content, project manager Sylvain Sechi, has said, “I personally don’t like to milk players, I’m not keen on the extension package retail model, so we are discussing a lot about trying to sell players races individually, which will eventually I think cost much less for players because you don’t play with all races. Each of us we have two, three, four favourite races, some of which will already be in the Blood Bowl 2 original content. We’re still discussing it at this point, I hope we manage to do this one-purchase-per-race stuff.”
The game will be running on a brand new, internally developed engine that currently doesn’t have a name. This engine will have hardware specifications that are “higher than the original Blood Bowl”, but the developer has said that it is taking steps to make the game playable on low-end PCs too.
Blood Bowl 2 will retain its distinct visual style, with the new engine adding to the quality of the graphics, and it will also retain the camera angles that were inspired by actual American football camera placement. This is to make the game look as though it is actually being broadcast by the fictional broadcaster, Cabalvision. Commentary will once again be in place with Jim and Bob back where they belong to bring dry humour and puns to the pitch.
This latest iteration of the Blood Bowl IP will feature a new user interface to bring players “improved visual feedback” that makes them game look more “modern” and “fresher”. Before, players wouldn’t know the outcome of planned moves or the probability of actions until a move was made. Now, these percentages are displayed directly on the field.
A number of other smaller improvements have been made, including improved character animations.
Story
The game won’t feature a traditional story but there will be a match-based campaign that will have a plot which players can play through.
The campaign will act as a tutorial of sorts for players in the early stages, introducing players to the basics of the gameplay mechanics, but it will also follow the rise of the once mighty team, the Reikland Reavers which is comprised of humans.
Gameplay
As you would expect, not much has been changed in this iteration of the classic Games Workshop IP brought to life by Cyanide.
The game is now an entirely turn-based affair, with any notion of real-time gameplay having been removed to help bring a focus on the game’s tactical and strategic angles.
The AI has also been given an overhaul. Where it was already punishing, it’s expected to now put up the same amount of resistance as an experienced player. Speaking about this by way of an info panel, Cyanide said, “Each of the eight races has had its own AI engineered to match their personalities, creating a much more dynamic challenge.”
As mentioned above, Blood Bowl 2 will now display the feedback from your moves before you commit to them, helping you to make better informed decisions on the field, or to convince you to try your luck with risky moves. “3D dice-rolls pop much more in Blood Bowl 2, with intuitive player control enabling coaches to make decisions more confidently. Enjoy clearly visible percentages displayed to indicate the success of an action, and useful tooltips,” according to Cyanide
The game will also feature a market place for in-game purchases as well as player customisation for both team jerseys and the stadiums with each of the five base stadiums given room to grow.
Factions
At this time, we know of eight confirmed races with more expected to release further down the line post launch. One of these new teams are the Bretonnian Knights. Despite their name they are in fact not all Knights, with a part of the team being made up of lowly peasants as well.
Blood Bowl 2 Guide
The current team factions are:
Blood Bowl 2 Campaign Walkthrough 2017
- Human.
- Orc
- Skaven.
- Dwarf
- High Elf
- Dark Elf
- Chaos
- Bretonnian
Blood Bowl 2 Race Guide
Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.
Comments are closed.