If Graham allowed us to swear above the cut, I would one hundred percent have started this post with a string of expletives. Because Warhammer-themed sports game Blood Bowl 2 is utterly maddening. I'm playing in a league at the moment, the bottom of which I am hugging like a flipping anchor, and while the people I'm playing with are great, I dread every fixture as two hours I know I will never get back. The losing, I couldn't care less about. I am not really very competitive about games anyway, and as a newcomer to this one, it's only natural that I'd get repeatedly mauled by a league full of more experienced players. Oh no. The problem, crucially, is the anatomy of a Blood Bowl 2 loss.
]]>Football. Tennis. Conkers. What do these historic, reputable sports have in common, I ask you. That’s correct, they are not extreme enough. Please, quiet now. I am here to do the talking. Yes, there are sports videogames, your FIFAs and your Mario Tennises. But they do not fulfill the desire within all of us for the extreme, the radical, the pushing of it to the max. I will now demonstrate, through force of listicle, the 9 most extreme sports in PC games, from bone-breaking snowboarders to motorcycle Wipeout. And you, in your turn, shall be thankful to this website for providing such diversion. Now, read.
]]>Currently with no title of its own (beyond the series branding), publisher Bigben Interactive announced today that among their "2019 and beyond" lineup is a Vampire: The Masquerade "narrative RPG" developed by Big Bad Wolf, the folks behind the episodic historical murder-mystery The Council. Also coming is Blood Bowl 3, once again developed by Cyanide, with plans to launch a new digital iteration alongside the 2020 tabletop edition, which is updating the game's rules. Typical - you wait fifteen years for a Vampire game, and they go and announce two practically side by side.
]]>French publishers Bigben Interactive are buying French developers Cyanide Studio, the mob behind games including Styx sneak 'em ups, the Blood Bowl adaptation, and the Game Of Thrones RPG. Cyanide's games tend not to quite come together while being interesting or admirable in their ambition, mid-budget games of a sort we don't see much any more - I'm always interested to see what they're up to. Bigben are glad to be getting a development studio of their own, while Cyanide say this will help them expand and make better games.
]]>Another eight teams join the deadly sport of Blood Bowl 2 [official site] today with the launch of its first expansion. Plenty of teams have come to the sporty wargame as DLC since launch but the expansion whacks in a load at once -- including a new circus team who have trained bears to play murderball -- along with several new modes. It'll also offer the ability to play as a team with players from across all factions, though I don't know why you'd make anything other than an all-bear team.
]]>The Steam summer sale is in full blaze. For a while it even blazed so hot that the servers went on fire and all the price stickers peeled off the games. Either that or the store just got swamped with cheapskates looking for the best bargains. Cheapskates like you! Well, don’t worry. We’ve rounded up some recommendations - both general tips and some newly added staff choices.
Here are the things you should consider owning in your endless consumeristic lust for a happiness which always seems beyond reach. You're welcome.
]]>Blood Bowl 2 [official site] - the sequel to the initial digital foray for the American football/Warhammer mashup - is bringing new races, a new stadium and new game modes with the release of its Legendary Edition later in 2017. For me as a non-Warhammerer this involves the press release invocation of terms like "the Kislev Circus and their ferocious Tame Bears" and I sit there scratching my head and trying to work out whether the Hebrew calendar has a bear festival.
]]>Whether you're a fan of American Football or not, the idea of Warhammer's various factions solving their problems on the gridiron is hilarious. Games Workshop's Blood Bowl 2 [official site] lets you do just that, and they've added another team for the side of Chaos, the Nurgle team, in new DLC.
]]>I thoroughly enjoyed Blood Bowl II [official site]. A huge part of that enjoyment comes from the base rules of Blood Bowl itself, which create a tactical game so compact - in both duration and fieldspace - that it's almost claustrophobic. The slightest error can lead to a turnover and a defeat, and the riskiest plays occasionally see the entire run of play overturned in a moment. No matter how solid the foundations are, I'd always like to see more teams. The latest addition, the Norse, were free to everyone who already owned the game (on PC) before their release a couple of days ago. The next three teams will follow the same principle.
]]>There's a Blood Bowl 2 [official site] World Cup for PC players. I'm partly writing about this because it falls under the esports remit but MOSTLY because I wanted to register my suggestion that the trophy be an actual bowl full of blood.
I feel like if I start talking about it publicly now there's a good chance someone will see and act on the idea. A BOWL OF BLOOD, PLEASE.
]]>It's been a while! Over November and December, the RPS community have indulged in tonnes of different games. Read on to find out what we've been up to in Clicker Heroes [official site], Guild Wars 2 [official site], PlanetSide 2 [official site], Terraria [official site] and more.
]]>October is when the nights draw in and evenings are best spent gathered around a fire, playing board games. Or hunched in front of a monitor, playing on Roll20.
On the other hand, what better way to warm up than with big gatherings of the community - either online or off? Read on to find out what we've been up to in Blood Bowl 2 [official site], pen and paper games, PlanetSide 2 [official site], real life and more.
]]>I love Blood Bowl. By that, I don't necessarily mean Cyanide's digital adaptations of Blood Bowl – I mean Games Workshop's violent fantasy-sport and the finely poised ruleset that drives it. But we're here to talk about the latest digital adaptation so, with consideration for the boardgame and its rules, here's wot I think of Blood Bowl 2 [official site].
]]>Blood Bowl 2 [official site] is due to launch tomorrow, barring unexpected problems, and I believe our Adam will be telling us Wot He Thinks about Cyanide Studios' follow-up to their adaptation of Games Workshop's fighty sports tabletop game. Until then, well, you can read his impressions of a pre-release version. You can also watch videos and whatnot, as the launch trailer has arrived a little early and it's got a few new gameplay-ish vids too. Sports, go!
]]>I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed Blood Bowl [official site] until I got my hands on a preview build of the sequel to Cyanide's digital version. The concept is immediately appealing to me - a violent sport in the Warhammer Fantasy universe - and each match is a condensed tactical battle, short enough to burn through in a short lunchbreak but capable of plugging into a long-term season or tournament format. But does this sequel make the most of the robust ruleset and does it improve on the flaws of the previous attempt? Yes. Sort of. Mostly.
]]>It is a truth universally acknowledged that Skaven are the greatest of the Warhammer Fantasy races. Just this morning, I took some time out to write a series of furious letters to the BBC regarding their refusal to fund my all-Skaven series of Dickens adaptations. Our Mutual Pestilens is a surefire hit and Tiny Verminkin would help our new Christmas Carol to dethrone the Muppets.
At least Blood Bowl 2 [official site] will treat Skaven with the respect they deserve. Out later this month, it's a game sure to take up more time than I can reasonably spare and a new video shows dwarves vs skaven. Surely the vermintide will secure victory?
]]>The official reason for delaying Blood Bowl II [official site] is "to ensure that players would enjoy the most polished foundations possible for the next generation Blood Bowl experience". I think it's probably also sensible to not launch a game around the media blitz of E3. So rather than in June, it's now due to launch on September 22nd.
This news comes alongside a trailer showing off the story campaign, which is apparently a thing Blood Bowl II has. Here's hoping for a Law & Order-style 'ripped from the headlines' FIFA send-up with weasel-eyed goblins (yes I know it's a different ball game ugh jeez).
]]>We've had a little chat with the makers of Blood Bowl II [official site] - and isn't it nice to chat with people! - and peered at a few screenshots and swish trailers. With spring approaching, and therefore the turn-based tactical bloodsport's release, we're at the point in its marketing campaign where we get to see more of the game itself.
Today brings the first gameplay trailer, starting with a demonstration of those plain old humies.
]]>I recently spoke to Sylvain Sechi, project manager of Cyanide Studio’s forthcoming Blood Bowl 2, about their new adaptation of Games Workshop’s game of fantasy football. I had an ulterior motive, though. I didn’t just want to ask him about when the game is coming out and what the new team will be like. I wanted to selfishly hassle him about not including some of my favourite teams and also present my pet theory about the appeal of Blood Bowl: that what makes it fun is that it’s the most unbalanced strategy game ever made.
]]>I blame Tolkien. He wrote Orcs like football hooligans and so Games Workshop's idea of them actually playing football – albeit a version of American football where mutilations are encouraged – makes some sort of sense. The judgemental timer of Steam says I’ve played Blood Bowl more than a lot of other games in my library, more than plenty of games I play without having to complain about the interface, or the AI, or the fact you can’t turn the commentators off and turning their volume down banishes them only until you score a touchdown and then suddenly they’re back in your headphones and GRRR GORBAG SO CRANKY.
Blood Bowl is a game I love in spite of its flaws but find hard to recommend. Will Blood Bowl 2 remedy that? I spoke to Sylvain Sechi, project manager on Cyanide Studio’s Blood Bowl 2, to try to find out.
]]>As far as I'm concerned, the important tasks for any new Blood Bowl 2 trailer to accomplish are as follows:
1) Show me which races will be available so that I don't expect to be writing about an Ultimate Skaven Edition in three years time. 2) Attempt to convince me that the camera movement and turn-flow will be as smooth as a freshly shampooed dwarf beard. 3) Go some way toward showing that turn-based tactical trouncing is a bigger draw than 'comic' commentary.
The video below does not accomplish these things.
]]>Its crowds and players and logo-adorned ball too, but mostly grass. Thick, lustrous, individually-bladed grass, with shadows and everything. It's like kicking a ball - and some heads - in a Crysis game. Whether these are screenshots or bullshots remains to be seen, but they've done the intended job of making me goo "ooh! That looks lovely, in a spiky-shouldered, maiming-heavy sort of way!"
]]>It's a good year to be a Blood Bowl fan. Well, unless you're one of those folks who can't abide developer Cyanide. (I think they try to do a lot of interesting, ambitious things, but often end up fluffing them). Not only is a sequel to the relatively faithful and quietly successful 2009 PC adaptation inbound, but there's now also going to be Blood Bowl: Star Coach, which is to the Warhammer-themed sport of crunching heads what Football Manager is to the sport of foot-to-ball.
Cyanide are at the helm of that one too, and it's going to be free to play.
]]>Nuffle be praised!
See that picture above? That's quite literally all there is to tell you about Blood Bowl II right now.
]]>
