Blood Bowl 3 had a rocky start to its release and there are plenty of things the developers need to work on. Blood Bowl 3 had eight years of development to get everything perfect, yet a lot went wrong and the developers are now working on fixing these errors. The franchise itself has a cult following and hits a strange niche in the gaming world, mixing sport with fantasy. This is especially effective because the fleshed-out universe of Warhammer adds a rich history to the game.
Despite the overwhelming support for the franchise, the feedback from fans has been brutal, even though the developers are working hard to change this. The good news is that there is a lot of stuff already planned in the game's near future. However, the downside is, there are still glaring problems that need addressing before the game adds any planned content. Below are some of the things that need to be changed, or improved.
8 Less Emphasis On Micro Transactions
Many players are dismayed to find a heavy emphasis on microtransactions throughout video games and sadly the trend continues with Blood Bowl 3. The game is built around different cosmetics which is very fun in a game that lets you create a team. However, having these cosmetics only available through hard cash, the player base feels let down with few no free-to-play options when it comes to grinding out cosmetics as of yet.
If Blood Bowl 3 was free to play instead of being a purchasable game, it might make more sense to over-kill cosmetics. However, players who buy a game rarely want to also spend more money on unlocking cosmetics or new content. The game is expected to have a battle pass with a chance to win free items by completing quests and gaining achievements. The developers have given the first battle pass to everyone as a way of sweetening the sour start the game unfortunately had.
7 Single-Use Cosmetics
As cosmetics are a big part of the game, which is a positive to some people, players are exceptionally annoyed at the introduction of single-use cosmetics. Single-use means what it says, players have to purchase one skin for one character, rather than a full team. This is a change from Blood Bowl 2 because a player could get a jersey from the store and that would be available for a full team, rather than just one player.
This was a big point of contention for players and has unsurprisingly received backlash reflected in the reviews of the game. The developers have spoken out about the negativity surrounding cosmetics, and have now changed this. The Common, Rare and Epic skins are now available to use across the team, but legendary skins are still single-use. Some people are happy that the legendary skins are single-use though, as this adds to their value by only having a legendary skin on one special player.
6 Lack Of Color
Many fans are dismayed to find a lackluster color palette in the new game. Fans of the previous entries to the franchise have been brighter, more dynamic, and more whimsical. This new iteration of Blood Bowl seems much more stern and drab. The colors seem faded and the overall style of the game is then altered.
Despite the color being subdued, the graphics are definitely better than the predecessor. With better graphics, there is always potential to improve the look of the game but it seems that the tone of the game is toned down in terms of color.
5 Repetitive Dialogue
There is little worse than repeated dialogue in games, especially sports simulation games. Hearing the same dialogue over and over will drive many players to despair. Blood Bowl 3 seems to lack variety in dialogue and even the dialogue that is in the game can often not match what is happening on the field, or even repeat the same lines. If a character makes a great play, there should be multiple lines of dialogue that can portray this event rather than the same one or two being reused.
To keep things fresh, more dialogue needs to be added with some dynamic changes that help reflect the game better so that players feel immersed.
4 Poor UI
One aspect of the game that feels like it has gone backward in ease of use to some players is the UI. In a game like Blood Bowl 3, players need to feel comfortable with fast, smooth menus and easy-to-navigate options. This is the opposite of what Blood Bowl 3 is at the moment. The menus feel overly clunky and take time to navigate through the myriad of options. This makes things like selecting moves or planning out a strategy somewhat irritating.
The game contains a lot of strategies, so the menus can be a little convoluted as is. A more simplified or easier-to-navigate system is required to ensure that the gameplay doesn't become tedious.
3 Recycling From Blood Bowl 2
When people buy a new game in a franchise, they usually want some continuity but also a decent amount of change. In some games, this may not be possible, like FIFA will only change so much due to its yearly release. Blood Bowl 3 has been in development for eight years and was even delayed, but it still has an alarming amount of similarity with its predecessor. There are a lot of the same teams and even the new characters in some teams are very similar to other classes.
Reusing animations, assets, and music from Blood Bowl 2 make Blood Bowl 3 seem like Blood Bowl 2 and a half. To make buying Blood Bowl 3 worth it, players will expect a lot more new content to freshen the game up.
2 Bugs and Glitches
Despite being in development for eight years, including delayed releases, Blood Bowl 3 feels far from polished to many players. The game has done some things well and definitely, has a good base to build on but right now there are a few bugs that just take away from the game’s potential.
At launch experience was not being calculated at the end of games, meaning players could waste the best part of an hour playing for no gain at the end. End-of-match scores would often show incorrectly, giving the player mixed signals. For such a well-recognized game, the overall finish feels marred.
1 Basic AI
The worst and most heinous crime in video game development is bad AI. Especially in a strategy game where players will often come against computer-controlled teams. Blood Bowl 3 is suffering from this as some AI choices really make little to no sense and the AI is far too easy to play against in some cases.
In the same way that players want to feel challenged but not outmatched, they equally don't want to stomp every game. Veteran players that know all the tips and tricks will easily outclass the AI and this shouldn't be the case. This can really make winning feel like a hollow victory as the challenge is taken away due to the AI’s decision-making.
Blood Bowl 3 is available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Windows, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.