Dungeonbowl Review -or- "Reasons NOT to buy Dungeonbowl"
(Guest poster, ChrisA)
I'm a long time Bloodbowl fan, and the fan created Dungeonbowl rules were quite fun, and eventually considered a standard in the Bloodbowl. So when Cyanide came out with a digital version of Bloodbowl, I was all over it. And despite its many flaws, I do really like ... mostly because it lets me play Bloodbowl without trying to gather the 3 people in my area (MAYBE 3) that still actually like to play.
If you're not sure what Bloodbowl is, it's a mix between American football and rugby, played by the races of the Warhammer universe (Humans, elves, chaos, dwarves, undead, etc). The best part is, killing the opposing players is perfectly legal ... and the major way of getting star player points (experience) besides scoring touchdowns. Dungeonbowl is essentially a tournament within the game. Just like football has its "bowl games" like the Superbowl, Rose Bowl, ProBowl, etc., Bloodbowl has bowl games as well. The namesake Bloodbowl, the Chaos Cup, and Dungonebowl (among others). The Dungeonbowl, however, takes place in *shocking gasp* a Dungeon, and has a few special rules.
(The Dungeonbowl was not included in Cyanide's origal Bloodbowl game)
So now Cyanide came out with the stand alone Dungeonbowl game and I was quite excited. However, this excitement did not last long. After installing the game, I got to explore the menus for about 2 minutes before the game locked up while trying to go from one menu to another (which continued to happen at random times throughout my experience with this game). Once I was finally able to get through the menus I was extremely disappointed to NOT find any single player mode ... at all. No campaign mode, no competition mode, nothing. This might not be a big deal for everyone, but for me it's huge. I enjoy PvP from time to time, but most of the time I can't dedicate a set amount of time to play a full PvP match. I need to be able to pause the game for a time when my family needs my attention, sometimes for hours before I can come back to the game. Which is why I like the single player mode in Bloodbowl. If I need to, I can pause the game for hours if I need to, and come back later.
After I got over the disappointment of no single player mode, I decided to give PvP a shot and went online (after a few more lock ups during menu changing). Again, I was assaulted with disappointment. When I got online I found a total of 3 other people ... yes 3 ... only 3. 2 of which were already in a game together, and the 3rd was unresponsive. So even if I wanted to play, I couldn't because there was no one to play with. I complained in the general chat (to myself, since no one else was there to hear me) for a few minutes, then I tried desperately to find a single player mode that I may have missed, but did not find one (because it's not there). And then finally at long last, someone offered me a game. Not sure if those other 2 people had finished their other game or if someone new came on, didn't make not of names, but in any case, I was able to play.
The game played just like old Bloodbowl/Dungeonbowl, which it should, because that's what it's designed to be. But, it was still a disappointing experience because the controls are horrible. For some reason, whenever I clicked on anything other than my players my camera view shot completely off the game map. They don't give you a menu, or options, or anything during your opponents turn, you are forced to sit there and watch your opponent think until he makes his moves, which can take several minutes. The only option is to Alt-Tab, but then you can potentially miss the start of your turn, costing you time from your turn ... or at worst, miss your turn entirely.
All-in-all, the game is pretty horrible. I love tabletop Bloodbowl/Dungeonbowl, and I still hate this game. If you don't know how play the tabletop versions, then you will NEVER like digital version. Bloodbowl isn't too complex, but it has a distinct set of rules which take a little bit to understand. But there is no tutorial or anything, there is just a link to the rulebook.
I'd recommend that no one buys this game ... ever. If you like Bloodbowl or have never heard of it, it doesn't matter. DON'T BUY DIGITAL DUNGEONBOWL! And really, on that note, I'd suggest that only devoted fans of Bloodbowl buy the digital Bloodbowl game. If you love Bloodbowl and just want to play more Bloodbowl, then go for it, but if not, then you'll have a hard time getting past the game's many bugs and flaws.
I'm a long time Bloodbowl fan, and the fan created Dungeonbowl rules were quite fun, and eventually considered a standard in the Bloodbowl. So when Cyanide came out with a digital version of Bloodbowl, I was all over it. And despite its many flaws, I do really like ... mostly because it lets me play Bloodbowl without trying to gather the 3 people in my area (MAYBE 3) that still actually like to play.
If you're not sure what Bloodbowl is, it's a mix between American football and rugby, played by the races of the Warhammer universe (Humans, elves, chaos, dwarves, undead, etc). The best part is, killing the opposing players is perfectly legal ... and the major way of getting star player points (experience) besides scoring touchdowns. Dungeonbowl is essentially a tournament within the game. Just like football has its "bowl games" like the Superbowl, Rose Bowl, ProBowl, etc., Bloodbowl has bowl games as well. The namesake Bloodbowl, the Chaos Cup, and Dungonebowl (among others). The Dungeonbowl, however, takes place in *shocking gasp* a Dungeon, and has a few special rules.
(The Dungeonbowl was not included in Cyanide's origal Bloodbowl game)
So now Cyanide came out with the stand alone Dungeonbowl game and I was quite excited. However, this excitement did not last long. After installing the game, I got to explore the menus for about 2 minutes before the game locked up while trying to go from one menu to another (which continued to happen at random times throughout my experience with this game). Once I was finally able to get through the menus I was extremely disappointed to NOT find any single player mode ... at all. No campaign mode, no competition mode, nothing. This might not be a big deal for everyone, but for me it's huge. I enjoy PvP from time to time, but most of the time I can't dedicate a set amount of time to play a full PvP match. I need to be able to pause the game for a time when my family needs my attention, sometimes for hours before I can come back to the game. Which is why I like the single player mode in Bloodbowl. If I need to, I can pause the game for hours if I need to, and come back later.
After I got over the disappointment of no single player mode, I decided to give PvP a shot and went online (after a few more lock ups during menu changing). Again, I was assaulted with disappointment. When I got online I found a total of 3 other people ... yes 3 ... only 3. 2 of which were already in a game together, and the 3rd was unresponsive. So even if I wanted to play, I couldn't because there was no one to play with. I complained in the general chat (to myself, since no one else was there to hear me) for a few minutes, then I tried desperately to find a single player mode that I may have missed, but did not find one (because it's not there). And then finally at long last, someone offered me a game. Not sure if those other 2 people had finished their other game or if someone new came on, didn't make not of names, but in any case, I was able to play.
The game played just like old Bloodbowl/Dungeonbowl, which it should, because that's what it's designed to be. But, it was still a disappointing experience because the controls are horrible. For some reason, whenever I clicked on anything other than my players my camera view shot completely off the game map. They don't give you a menu, or options, or anything during your opponents turn, you are forced to sit there and watch your opponent think until he makes his moves, which can take several minutes. The only option is to Alt-Tab, but then you can potentially miss the start of your turn, costing you time from your turn ... or at worst, miss your turn entirely.
All-in-all, the game is pretty horrible. I love tabletop Bloodbowl/Dungeonbowl, and I still hate this game. If you don't know how play the tabletop versions, then you will NEVER like digital version. Bloodbowl isn't too complex, but it has a distinct set of rules which take a little bit to understand. But there is no tutorial or anything, there is just a link to the rulebook.
I'd recommend that no one buys this game ... ever. If you like Bloodbowl or have never heard of it, it doesn't matter. DON'T BUY DIGITAL DUNGEONBOWL! And really, on that note, I'd suggest that only devoted fans of Bloodbowl buy the digital Bloodbowl game. If you love Bloodbowl and just want to play more Bloodbowl, then go for it, but if not, then you'll have a hard time getting past the game's many bugs and flaws.
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