The only experience I’ve ever had with Blood Bowl is reading the novels put out by Black Library (the publishing arm of Games Workshop). However, I’ve heard it’s a pretty entertaining tabletop game. The game is a parody of American Football; populated with the likes of orcs, elves, and dwarfs instead of beefy men on steroids. Like the real game tactics are key, but unlike reality you can use excessive violence to win the game (no, that doesn’t mean you can punch the player across the table). Overall it sounds like it would be right at home as a video game, and developer Cyanide agrees.

The game seems to be trying to please both crowds by offering a tactical turn-based mode (a bit like the board game) and a more fast-paced action orientated mode. The latter looks a lot like an RTS, as in moving your players by clicking around the field. So if you were expecting a Madden style game then you may be disappointed. However, does it really matter when you can pound another player into a bloody mess? Depending on your lust for violence I’ll let you decide, but I’m all for digitised extreme violence!

As shown in the trailer you will also be able to customise and manage your team, leading them through both singleplayer and online seasons.

If you’re after a more vanilla American Football video game then there’s always the Madden series. I’ll pass though, as I’d rather be swinging a dwarf around a field by his beard.

Blood Bowl will be out for Nintendo DS, PC, PSP, and Xbox 360 in the second quarter of this year.

I suppose you could question the decision to put brutal gore in a World War II video game - after all, you can blow half of a nazi’s head off - (note for the squeamish: the trailer above contains a number of ‘gory’ scenes) but, on the other hand, why shy away from the gritty reality of one of the greatest wars the world has ever seen?  Brother’s in Arms: Hell’s Highway is aiming to be a pretty realistic representation of WWII and is throwing in a story that’s hoping to make you care about the characters that are taking part in it. So maybe, just maybe, you’ll think twice about ordering your men into a situation where they’re sure to be spouting gout’s of blood (or you might want to see that, depending on how that mind of yours works). Unreal Engine 3 is employed to make these gory scenes look stunning, but you wouldn’t be playing a war game if you didn’t like gore, right?

Speaking of orders the tried and tested command system from previous Brothers in Arms games is still very much the main part of the game, as it wouldn’t be much of a squad-based shooter without it. However, this time your men can vault or climb over obstacles rather than annoyingly going around them as in previous installments. These obstacles can be hidden behind with the new cover system, and the game will switch to third-person viewpoint as you ‘dig in’. This doesn’t automatically mean you’ll be safe though, as cover is now fully destructible (you can see part of this in the video above). While this makes sure that you always have a tactical head on you and keeps the battle fast-paced you’ll be pleased to know that it works both ways and your enemy is just as prone to being left in the open as yourself.

BiA is still very much catering to the tactical player (although you could say that destructible cover both encourages tactical play and run-and-gun play) so if you’re expecting Call of Duty 4 or Halo 3 then you’ll probably be disappointed. BiA has always given me a sense of what it may have been like to fight in a real war, and the extreme attention to detail in re-creating World War II landmarks only hightens your sense of being there. Of course, this depends on how good the AI is and whether or not they actually bother to flank your position like Gearbox says they will.

Hopefully the story will also be engaging enough to suck you completely into the game, but you’ll find that out for yourself on October 3rd.