Chaos League
Encyclopedia
Chaos League is a fantasy
-based sports management game
developed by Cyanide
and published by Digital Jesters
in 2004. The game is a fantasy satire of American Football, loosely based on Games Workshop
's Blood Bowl
franchise. The game spawned an expansion entitled Chaos League: Sudden Death in 2005.
. Players are given a choice of 10 different fantasy based races (13 in Sudden Death) to play as their team, each with their own style of play, skill and tactics. The player then has to handle the teams finances in order to hire different players like Linemen, Quarterbacks etc after of which can name them individually to their liking. When gameplay starts, players are given 1 minute to set up their formation, after game starts in real time. The player can click on individual team mates and give them an order like attack opponent and pick up and/or throw. Each game lasts 10 minutes, after players can be upgraded to gain extra speed or strength or to add new skills or magic abilities, all from gaining experience during the last game they played like scoring or crippling an opposing team mate.
Other aspects that differ from normal sports games include causing player knock outs, injuries or even deaths. Chaos League also includes rather crude options like stamping on downed players, intervening hooligans, drugging players before games and bribing or assaulting the referee when the rules are broken. The main basis of the game's comical style is from the commentary, done by a pair of dysfunctional Chaos League enthusiasts that would insult both each other, the fans and the players in the current game. The Sudden Death add on expanded the features to include team clans to help during gameplay, fighting the ref, and aging players over time, requiring new players every few seasons.
and Dungeons and Dragons. Teams have specific restrictions on the positions they are allowed to choose from as well as the potential to use Bigfoot players.
The following races are included in the Sudden Death expansion pack.
, Cyanide originally pitched the game idea to Games Workshop
in hopes of developing a licensed Blood Bowl
video game. When they were rejected, they developed Chaos League independently. Besides the obvious connections to the style of the game itself, both being violent fantasy sports, minor similarities were also noticeable to Blood Bowl fans. Most notable were the recurring skills in both like "Mighty Blow", "Bulldoze" and "Projectile". Even during a loading menu in after games, a well known red sun with an Orc face, usually found on Games Workshop inks can be seen in the background.
Games Workshop has announced that Cyanide Studios now have a license to create computer games based on Blood Bowl and that "Any differences between Games Workshop and Cyanide have been amicably settled for an undisclosed sum, and as part of the settlement the Chaos League title has been assigned to Games Workshop". The game Blood Bowl was released in Q3 2009 for the PC
, PlayStation Portable
, PlayStation 3
, Nintendo DS
and Xbox 360
.
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
-based sports management game
Sports game
A sports game is a computer or video game that simulates the practice of traditional sports. Most sports have been recreated with a game, including team sports, athletics and extreme sports. Some games emphasize actually playing the sport , whilst others emphasize strategy and organization...
developed by Cyanide
Cyanide (studio)
Cyanide is a game development studio, based in the western suburbs of Paris, France, with offices in Montreal, Canada and Chengdu, China. The studio was created in 2000 by 8 ex-UbiSoft employees and in 2007 has a headcount of 70...
and published by Digital Jesters
Digital Jesters
Digital Jesters was a British video game publisher, based in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. The company was founded in 2003 by veterans from CDV UK , and their first UK-releases were TrackMania and Virtual Skipper 3, both by Nadeo.In the beginning, they concentrated on the UK market only, but...
in 2004. The game is a fantasy satire of American Football, loosely based on Games Workshop
Games Workshop
Games Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...
's Blood Bowl
Blood Bowl
Blood Bowl is a Fantasy Football game created by Jervis Johnson for the British games company Games Workshop as a parody of American Football. The game was first released in 1987 and has been re-released in new editions since...
franchise. The game spawned an expansion entitled Chaos League: Sudden Death in 2005.
Gameplay
Chaos League falls into a multiple genre category, both real time strategy and sports games as the game involves war based tactics like unit positions and fighting strategies but the main goal of the game to score points by getting a pig skin ball to the opposite end zone, very much like the same rules found in American FootballAmerican football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
. Players are given a choice of 10 different fantasy based races (13 in Sudden Death) to play as their team, each with their own style of play, skill and tactics. The player then has to handle the teams finances in order to hire different players like Linemen, Quarterbacks etc after of which can name them individually to their liking. When gameplay starts, players are given 1 minute to set up their formation, after game starts in real time. The player can click on individual team mates and give them an order like attack opponent and pick up and/or throw. Each game lasts 10 minutes, after players can be upgraded to gain extra speed or strength or to add new skills or magic abilities, all from gaining experience during the last game they played like scoring or crippling an opposing team mate.
Other aspects that differ from normal sports games include causing player knock outs, injuries or even deaths. Chaos League also includes rather crude options like stamping on downed players, intervening hooligans, drugging players before games and bribing or assaulting the referee when the rules are broken. The main basis of the game's comical style is from the commentary, done by a pair of dysfunctional Chaos League enthusiasts that would insult both each other, the fans and the players in the current game. The Sudden Death add on expanded the features to include team clans to help during gameplay, fighting the ref, and aging players over time, requiring new players every few seasons.
Player positions
A team can hire up to 15 players (9 per team on the pitch during the match) with a choice of player positions, each one with their own skills, looks and game style. However not all positions are available for all teams.- Lineman - Physical players, injures Quarterback more easily.
- Receiver - Fast runners and good at catching the ball, can make a feint against a Runningback more easily.
- Linebacker - Offence force, injures a Bigfoot more easily.
- Quarterback - Ball passers, inflicts feinting penalty on a receiver.
- Runningback - All round player, stronger with ball with armour bonus against Linebacker.
- Bigfoot - Special brutal fighters, protection penalty on a Lineman (one per team, except Goblins who have a wider choice).
- Champion - Unique players in many ways, mostly on their race's special skill.
Races
Chaos League featured 9 races, all the traditional fantasy style classes similar to that of WarhammerWarhammer Fantasy Roleplay
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay is a role-playing game set in the Warhammer Fantasy setting. Over the years, it has been through a number of phases and different publishers, most of which were related in some way to Games Workshop...
and Dungeons and Dragons. Teams have specific restrictions on the positions they are allowed to choose from as well as the potential to use Bigfoot players.
- Humans - All round players with the skill to adapt their personal play against other teams.
- Bigfoot: OgreOgreAn ogre is a large, cruel, monstrous, and hideous humanoid monster, featured in mythology, folklore, and fiction. Ogres are often depicted in fairy tales and folklore as feeding on human beings, and have appeared in many classic works of literature...
- Restrictions: No Linebackers
- Bigfoot: Ogre
- Dark Elves - Skilled in the arts of magic and can handle the ball very well, yet are weak in fighting.
- Bigfoot: Dark EntEntEnts are a race of beings in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy world Middle-earth who closely resemble trees. They are similar to the talking trees in folklore around the world. Their name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word for giant....
- Restrictions: No Linebackers
- Bigfoot: Dark Ent
- Wood Elves - Better at handling the ball than Dark Elves but not as skilled with magic, they are also weak in fighting.
- Bigfoot: EntEntEnts are a race of beings in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy world Middle-earth who closely resemble trees. They are similar to the talking trees in folklore around the world. Their name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word for giant....
- Restrictions: No Linebackers
- Bigfoot: Ent
- Orcs - Aggressive players backed up with some magic but they are much slower and handle the ball less well.
- Bigfoot: TrollTrollA troll is a supernatural being in Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore. In origin, the term troll was a generally negative synonym for a jötunn , a being in Norse mythology...
- Restrictions: No Receivers
- Bigfoot: Troll
- Dwarves - Very slow, poor at magic and terrible at handling the ball, however they are the strongest and best fighters in the game.
- Bigfoot: Ogre (Sudden Death: Elder Dwarf)
- Restrictions: No Receivers
- Goblins - Very small and weak but they are slippery characters, plus they can hire multiple bigfoot monster players.
- Bigfoot: MinotaurMinotaurIn Greek mythology, the Minotaur , as the Greeks imagined him, was a creature with the head of a bull on the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, "part man and part bull"...
, Crazy Balgor, Mad Troll (Sudden Death: Goblin Rider x2, Minotaur) - Restrictions: No Linebackers, Running backs or Quarterbacks
- Bigfoot: Minotaur
- Barbarians - Like humans but better at fighting, more vulnerable defense.
- Bigfoot: Minotaur (Sudden Death: Hunter)
- Restrictions: No Running backs
- Undead - Wider player options to vary speed and strength depending on position choices.
- Bigfoot: None, stronger linebackers
- Restrictions: No Quarterbacks
- Praetorians - A race of humanoid wolves. The best at long distance running and fair at handling the ball but incredibly weak.
- Bigfoot: Balgor
- Restrictions: No Linebackers
- Mercenaries - A round up of weak linemen from all of the above races, varying play.
- Bigfoot: None
- Restrictions: None
The following races are included in the Sudden Death expansion pack.
- Gnomes - Slow and stumpy yet use heavy steam powered machine walkers for their advantage.
- Bigfoot: Machine
- Restrictions: No Linebackers or Running backs
- Damned - Demons. Use black magic for fighting situations rather than playing passing games.
- Bigfoot: Demon
- Restrictions: No Receivers or Running backs
- Cicturas - Lizardmen. Weak yet slippery players who use projectile poisons and bites to wear down foes.
- Bigfoot: Cicturi
- Restrictions: No Receivers or Quarterbacks
Modding
Another aspect of the game comes from the chance to mod many aspects of the games like custom team logos or pitch design. However, the more popular modding aspect came from player skins and costumes which was a simple matter of rendering character palettes in the game's software files. Changing character models was accomplished by only a very few and even then it was mostly swapping of player templates.Blood Bowl
According to EurogamerEurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
, Cyanide originally pitched the game idea to Games Workshop
Games Workshop
Games Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...
in hopes of developing a licensed Blood Bowl
Blood Bowl
Blood Bowl is a Fantasy Football game created by Jervis Johnson for the British games company Games Workshop as a parody of American Football. The game was first released in 1987 and has been re-released in new editions since...
video game. When they were rejected, they developed Chaos League independently. Besides the obvious connections to the style of the game itself, both being violent fantasy sports, minor similarities were also noticeable to Blood Bowl fans. Most notable were the recurring skills in both like "Mighty Blow", "Bulldoze" and "Projectile". Even during a loading menu in after games, a well known red sun with an Orc face, usually found on Games Workshop inks can be seen in the background.
Games Workshop has announced that Cyanide Studios now have a license to create computer games based on Blood Bowl and that "Any differences between Games Workshop and Cyanide have been amicably settled for an undisclosed sum, and as part of the settlement the Chaos League title has been assigned to Games Workshop". The game Blood Bowl was released in Q3 2009 for the PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
, PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
, PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
, Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
and Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
.