E3 2015 Hands On — Blood Bowl 2

Blood Bowl 2

While At E3 I Was Able To See Blood Bowl 2 In A More Intimate Setting Than Just The Trailer. Here’s My Take On It

E3 isn’t always about the biggest and best AAA titles but also little gems like Blood Bowl 2. This would be the fantasy, strategy title from Cyanide Studios and Focus Home all set around an epic football game where there are little to no rules that need to be abided by. At least when it comes to the safety of the players on the field. Fans of the franchise should already be well aware of all of that for Blood Bowl 2 but none the less I was able to get my hands on it at the show well before the September release date for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC versions of the game. Here’s how Blood Bowl 2 handled for me.

It is worth noting that when I was placed on this demo I was left to my own devices with Blood Bowl 2 as well as had no tutorial on how to play the game. I say it is worth noting this because there seems to be a huge learning curve right out of the gate that I didn’t get to understand until near the end of my play session. None the less it is a point and click style game where almost everything has a variable associated to it including moving from one unguarded point to another. All of these risks can be seen before you make the final selection for the characters to move but even so, why is there a random chance to slip in Blood Bowl 2 that will lead to your character being knocked out for a turn?

Yes, this happens when just maneuvering your characters from one spot to another. I get Blood Bowl 2 is supposed to be a visceral game but only when you move up to other characters and deserve to be hit with an attack of opportunity should this ever happen. This led to a lot of frustration while playing as my turns would result in my one character slipping and then the round turned over to a much superior AI controlled team. In fact it wasn’t about half way into my session with Blood Bowl 2 that I saw that this was what was causing the issues for me and I was able to try and rectify it. It was at that point that I ran into the other major issue that made Blood Bowl 2 drag on.

This could be because I am not a huge fan or follower of the Games Workshop titles but the UI in Blood Bowl 2 was a bit confusing when it came to striking other players on the field and if I should use one of my re-roll tokens. I could have sworn that a “POW” log on a dice meant that I just beat someone down and that a skull meant that I was hurt. In Blood Bowl 2 it is apparently the opposite and I was quickly getting hammered on the field because of this misconception. Granted this could have been fixed with some form of tutorial or aid while playing Blood Bowl 2 for the first time but for a novice player as I was it was confusing and frustrating and a horrible way to end the match.

If you couldn’t tell from the above that is where I left my demo of Blood Bowl 2 and was left a bit lost and let down. I love the look and idea of the game as well as have faith in Cyanide Studios‘ abilities to make great games but this showing was a bit flat. I am fully willing to give Blood Bowl 2 another chance but as of right now it looks too be something that may be left in the waiting pile. We’ll see as more information and videos come out for Blood Bowl 2 so be sure to keep looking here for all of that. Maybe my heart will be won again.