What happened here guys? We’re looking to find at least one “saving grace” for Blood Bowl 3, and honestly, we’re having a hard time. What a sad attempt to continue our beloved bowl of blood 2 It’s her; If you remember (don’t remember) the writer’s glowing review from 8 years ago and the genuine enthusiasm that was evident in the text, you might expect something similar for the current game. It is with great regret that we inform you that this is not the case. Cyanide managed to “deliver” a sequel that is inferior to its predecessor in almost all areas.
As a reminder, the Blood Bowl franchise is a port-over from the corresponding board and, at its core, is a turn-based tactical game of American football with a violent Warhammer backdrop. To put it aside, clearly the core of the game, when everything is working properly, is still 90% the same as Blood Bowl 2, and if that were the problem, we’d go with a standard review of the sequel, with the same rating and more or less. less and known formalities.
But what happened this time? Instead of writing about mythical battles between Skaven and humans, are we ready to send the game into the outer fire? It’s simple, instead of having a title that will be at least on par with the previous one, we were faced with a mixture of neglect and greed. Clumsiness in the technical area, as the AI is worse than BB2, with completely nonsensical in-game choices that contradict or ignore the stats and nature of the teams it manages.
Bugs, glitches, series that don’t end and happen all the time make the single player experience almost unbearable. And it’s a shame because in terms of presentation and cinematics, the small single-player campaigns, which include a few matches with the simultaneous introduction of well-known star players from the previous games, had things to offer. User interface straight out of players’ worst nightmares, with menus that are difficult to navigate and have trouble conveying the correct information to the user clearly.
The circle for in-game action options, in an effort to stay true to the source material and make controller holders feel comfortable, forgot how to be easy to use and fun to use, while also spotting a lack of responsiveness general, which naturally causes missed clicks. This leads to bugs, instructions not being executed because they are not followed, clunky method required by the game, and ultimately kills the fun and drains the value to play the game.
It is a game that, by its very nature, is designed to irritate and frustrate you. The quirks of the dice (everything we do depends on the dishonorable hex), are enough to annoy even the most casual player. Therefore, all other problems had to be solved and geared towards the comfort of the player. It is a title that sabotages itself on every level, derailing the player at the same time.
At the same time, Cyanide’s choice to lock all cosmetics behind a microtransaction and payment system, forcing the player to pay for every piece of uniform, to every player on their team, is unconscionable. 6 teams, for 15-16 players each team has, and it is easy to understand what level of greed the title has reached. 90 or more cosmetics you have to buy to customize your team and we are not even talking about how much you have to spend to “dress” all the available equipment.
A tragic decision, bordering on unscrupulousness, since some stylistic improvements had to be unlocked as the user team progresses and rises in quality, and behind the payments some special, separate and special pieces had to be “hidden” . Whoever advised the team to pursue this aggressive profit-taking model deserves many… congratulations.
Even if we had a technically flawless title, this decision (as it happened) would tarnish the title from the start. Public opinion, users and professional reviewers, are especially sensitive to this type of practice and often leave comments on the title and disagree with anything. Really such a tackle not even Trent Williams would be able to do it. The situation has been improved through corrective patches, but we are considering the mindset and bad logic of such a decision.
The creators’ choice to change some rules to be in harmony with the “2020 ruleset” is mostly a positive sign, but it will be judged in the long run by the community, which will melt the game. The main change is the introduction of pass as a separate ability (throwing elves a bit), separate from agility, which adds another tactical level.
Unlimited re-rolls per turn, allowing the player to nullify a doom roll (which persists) goes in the right direction, while the ability to purchase skills to level up (cheaper primary and more expensive secondary) is also a positive feature. , thus giving more freedom to the coaches. Additionally, agility, passing, and armor stats were roll based, while end-of-match gains were proportional to player performance, avoiding the D6 roll that plagued the previous title.
In terms of graphics, we’ve got a less cartoony screen with lower color saturation, good animations (not on touchdowns, though), more detailed models, and pretty impressive fields, but that’s about it. The commentators Bob and Jim are still nice, but we do have a lot of reuse of BB2 voice assets and overall it’s an element that could have been given more attention.
On the online side, there were complaints about disconnections, skills not working correctly, mercenary exploits, and game-breaking items. The best thing is to play for an hour and a disconnection throws the time away… The lack of administration tools for the leagues and a myriad of other problems completely “alienated” the community, despite the efforts of the company to fix the situation with patches, the image of laziness and dishonesty is unjustified.
The release of Blood Bowl 3 was a tragedy of epic proportions and the perfect recipe to destroy a franchise that over so many years had slowly but surely built a good and loyal foundation. If we were to suggest anything, it would be to stick with the previous title (despite the 12 teams in the current one) and stay away from Blood Bowl 3 for a long time.
He bowl of blood 3 available 2/23/23 for PS5, PS4, PC, Switch, Xbox Series, and Xbox One. Our review was based on its PS5 version, with a review code we received from AVE.