There is nothing at all whimsical about Games Workshop's Warhammer setting. Humor, if it exists, is bitter and fleeting. Blood, thunder, and death are the three great constants which every being lives under every day. Entertainment must be cheap to obtain and easy to consume.
Fortunately, there is one thing that makes all the pain and suffering worth it: watching other people experience it on the playing fields of the Blood Bowl League. For all the senseless violence and constant warfare between Humans and Elves, Orcs and Dwarves, Chaos and Order, it's nice to know that some purpose can be found in two teams lining up to throw around a spiky ball and beating the living hell out of each other for points.
In what can only be called the most lighthearted sort of Warhammer game, Blood Bowl II picks up where the first game left off and gives players more demented fun on the gridiron. The object is pretty simple. You must get the ball into the end zone as often as you can before the end of the match, keeping your team alive and reasonably healthy while trying to prevent the other team from scoring (or leaving the stadium on their own two feet). Of course, the other guy has the same objectives. Forget about traumatic brain injuries; members of a Blood Bowl team risk getting flat out killed if the right defensive lineman gets a good hit.
The folks at Cyanide have done an excellent job of making the character models look like they're from the Warhammer universe, but also look like they're ready to tear up the turf. Teams can be customized, as well as the stadiums that they play in.
And a football game wouldn't be a football game without smart-assed color commentary from guys very far away from the action. The demo we saw was highly detailed and oddly cheery for the normally grim setting, but that's sort of the point.
As manager of a football team, you'll have to make sure you have enough men to put on the field, deal with injuries and fatalities, improve the stadium, and make your way to the championship. In the single player campaign, that means rehabilitating the Reikland Reavers and bringing them back to the glory they once held. For multiplayer, you can play a single game against friends or you can get into the persistent league and match your team against players from around the world. You can even swap team members through the Marketplace and possibly pick up the next great MVP, assuming he survives that long.Despite being more of a turn based strategy game than a real time spoof, Blood Bowl II isn't just for tabletop grognards. It hearkens back to the over-the-top humor that Mutant League Football gave us so many years ago. So put on your spikes, call upon the Dark Gods, and get ready to fight the sort of war that most of us only get to watch on Sundays in the fall.
- Axel Cushing
