Blood Bowl 3 Second Beta Preview - Style Over Substance

thegamer.com:

Loading up Blood Bowl 3 for the first time is a spectacle. There’s a glorious opening animation that sets the stage perfectly for a game about orcs, death, and (occasionally) football. Punches are thrown in packed stadiums, balls are spectacularly caught as teams are spurred on by their fans’ raucous cheers, and of course someone gets run over by a Death Roller. It’s a shame that everything goes downhill from here.

If you’re new to the world of Blood Bowl, it’s a great introduction. Violence comes first, tactics after. Death Rollers are, fittingly, a death sentence. If you’re a newcomer and missed the beta - a Death Roller is a giant lawnmower piloted by a dwarf with a bad case of bloodlust. They’re illegal and will result in a sending off for the offending dwarf, but you’ll almost definitely injure your opponent’s Star Player in the process, so it’s probably a worthwhile trade-off. In terms of understanding the vibe of Blood Bowl, developer Cyanide has done a great job. But in terms of improving on the tried-and-tested formula of the previous two video games and Games Workshop’s original tabletop game, Blood Bowl 3 often feels like a step backwards.

Related: 7 Best Depictions Of Dwarves In Games

The tutorial is new for the game’s second beta - our editor-in-chief Stacey Henley could have done with this when she previewed the first, but I’m coming at it with an experienced head. Still, it seems fun and approachable for newcomers. The Halfling agent Rufus Bottomfoot who talks you through everything is a great character to coax you through the sometimes irrational rules of Old World sports chess. However, it could still do with some more explanations on Dodge rolls and Go For Its that Stacey ironically stumbled on in the