14 DAY TRIAL // The idea that has been repeated all through the E3 2014 demo for Blood Bowl 2 is that accessibility will be at the heart of the new title that mixes the traditional mechanics of American football with the violence and the races of the fantasy Warhammer universe.
The development team at Cyanide acknowledges that the first title in the series was a little bit too complex for its own good and made it hard for players to learn the core features and to join their friends in a league.
For Blood Bowl 2, the company has rebuilt the experience from the ground up and is delivering two different but complementary game modes, all using a new engine and enhanced presentation options.
A solo campaign is designed to put the player in charge of the Reikland Reavers, one of the most famous teams in the game's world, and will allow them to recruit players, tweak their tactics and then try to win against superior adversaries.
As the game progresses, players will be able to develop the stadium to accommodate more fans, fire backroom staff, deal with injuries and retirements and create the most successful team in Blood Bowl 2.
The developers are also aiming to deliver a full tutorial during the first few matches of the single-player campaign.
Cyanide is also introducing major changes to the multiplayer leagues, giving gamers more options when it comes to the rules and a new marketplace for actual players.
Blood Bowl 2 has a cleaner interface, easy to understand cards for players and the action was both smooth and violent, which is exactly what fans are looking for.
The game does look impressive, with plenty of details for the players of the various races and care taken when it comes to the design of the stadiums themselves, which are bigger than ever and rival those on which American football is played in the real world.
The game no longer has a real-time option for matches, but a new dynamic camera system will zoom on the players who are taking an action, which brings players closer to the game and shows both the brutality and the beauty of the Warhammer universe.
Blood Bowl 2 should be out on the PC and the PlayStation 4 from Sony before the end of the year and the team is also investigating the possibility of launching the title on the Xbox One from Microsoft.