First Blood Bowl 2 Gameplay Trailer Kicks Off

We've had a little chat with the makers of Blood Bowl II [official site] - and isn't it nice to chat with people! - and peered at a few screenshots and swish trailers. With spring approaching, and therefore the turn-based tactical bloodsport's release, we're at the point in its marketing campaign where we get to see more of the game itself.

Today brings the first gameplay trailer, starting with a demonstration of those plain old humies.

Yup, that'll be Blood Bowl all right. Prettier than Cyanide's original adaptation of the Games Workshop tabletop game, too. I don't know the first well enough to judge how the sequel is shaping up, so what do you spy, Blood Bowlers? Cyanide say they've improved the AI, but this trailer doesn't show enough to get a sense of that.

My inquisitive ear does pick up on, and disagree with, one part: the crowd sounds like any big human football crowd. Where are the orcy grunts, the elven trill, the dwarven honking, the squealing goblins? Where are the crude songs and the jeers?

Blood Bowl II's due to launch this spring. It'll only come with 8 races - a stark contrast to the most recent expansion-packing version of the original, which has 24. Cyanide told us in our chat that "we wanted to improve a lot the quality of the races – much more detailed characters, and make sure we integrate more fully each skill for the races we have to add at some point." They haven't quite settled how they'll sell additional races.

The game has a new website too with more deets and whatnot, if you want to get stuck in.