Blood Bowl III

Blood Bowl 2 is a smashy, satisfying, goofy tactical melee that leaves just a bit too much up to the six-sided dice.

[O]verall, 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.

It has numerous issues and lacks content, but Blood Bowl 2 offers a solid foundation for the future of the celebrated turn-based sport.

Blood Bowl 2 is the flashiest iteration of the game so far, but its dice rolls are frustrating, and its amble ruleset isn't introduced well to newcomers.

For all its limiting devotion to the board game that inspired it, Blood Bowl 2 is far more of a touchdown than a fumble.

I wish there were more, particularly relating to team management and the persistency of the world, but this will do. It's not as clean and clever as fellow fictional ball-handler Frozen Cortex, but the messiness and violence really do add something. There's nothing quite like recognising that you're not going to score in the last turn of a half and concentrating all of your efforts toward obliterating the opponent team instead. Especially when they're High Elves.

With its action taking place on a playing field, the scope and structure of Blood Bowl 2 initially feels smaller in scale than you tend to expect from most turn-based strategy games. After a few hours though – with its board game roots exposed – you'll find that there's actually plenty of depth to be explored. While the abundance of random dice rolls will put some people off, if you're the sort of person who relishes the unexpected, then there's a good chance – 70 per cent according to the God of Dice – that its bizarre setting and chaotic action will make it worth a punt.

Whilst Blood Bowl 2's strict adherence to the franchise's rules may dissuade some from even trying this out, those that do take the plunge and stick with it will find that despite its faults, it can be a deeply rewarding and enriching experience. The AI isn't really up to snuff though, so expect to ride a long learning curve to be able to become competitive online - if you can find a game.

A great mash-up of sports and turn-based strategy in a fresh and exciting way. If you like anything fantasy and enjoy a good turn-based game, then you're likely to love this, regardless of whether you like sports or not.

I think that the most shocking aspect of Blood Bowl is that it has been around since the mid-80's, with the first tabletop release being in 1986. I guess that goes to show how much I paid attention to it when walking into a GamesWorkshop retail store (when they still existed in abundance here in the States), though I was admittedly staring at the gorgeously painted models, so I had eyes for little else.