By: Drew Beausoleil

Aww yes the good ol' game of American football...well sort of. Blood Bowl ll is Madden meets NFL Blitz meets table top turn based gaming.

Blood Bowl ll is an interesting spin on your typical game of football. Battling your way down to the end zone punishing as you literally crush your opponent into the ground with a roll of the dice. Each slow-mo crushing blow to your opponent is thrilling and exciting but can become quickly repetitive with the same animations  with each hard hitting blow.

Cyanide had a huge opportunity to create something very special and unqiue with each of the cut-scene take downs. You crush each opponent and sometimes even kill your opponent when hitting them but it's always nearly done in the same manner leaving you looking for a new style of hit on your opponent. How you take out your opponent could have been much more varied and satisfying, something almost in the vane of Mortal Kombat could have elevated these satisfying cut-scenes to outstanding.

Learning the basics of the game comes from the campaign mode told by our ghoulish host's Jim Johnson and Bob Billford. The witty combatant between our host's are funny as we learn more about the Blood Bowl revivals but is spoiled by the bad lip sinking that does not come close to matching with their lips as they talk. It's all in the art direction! I love the art style taken with each of the characters and their teams. Definitely a stand out within the game for me is how the whole game is presented. Each team has their own unique style of characters, from the Orger's to Assassin's to even the human team themselves. Not to be out done, each team's stadium is beautifully  created and so different then other stadiums. Playing in League Mode allows gamers to pick there own team and stadium. But customizing our teams appearance is limited to just changing each characters head appearance, that's it! Why can't we change the appearance of each characters gear? Its the lack of creative freedom we're given as gamers to fully customize our team's appearance is where I feel Blood Bowl ll once again falls short.

Learning Blood Bowl ll is unique and will take some time to truly understand its full game mechanics. Smart player movement and proper position is key when facing each competitor. The gameplay is elevated with each hard hitting take down as you watch as your player flattens your opponent. Like most table top games, there is a bit of luck when rolling the dice as to how hard you hit the other team. Knock one of the other teams player's out of bounds will get the fans involved as well...but have the other team knock you out of bounds will also have the fans coming for you.

Blood Bowl ll's slower paced gameplay mixes in a few unexpected genre's that creates something quite unique and thrilling. Hard hitting, gut busting take down's with a wonderfully created art style combined with a table top experience is something that is definitely a game that most have not experience and I recommend you do. With only a few short comings mostly in the character customizing area, there is tons of fun and lots to do in Blood Bowl ll. I look forward to seeing what Cyanide has up their sleeves for Blood Bowl 3.