Chaos League

Last updated
Chaos League
Chaosleague.jpg
PAL boxart of Chaos League
Developer(s) Cyanide
Publisher(s)
Platform(s) Windows
Release
Genre(s) Sports, management, real-time strategy
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Chaos League is a 2004 fantasy-based sports management game developed by Cyanide Studios and published by Digital Jesters. The game is a spin on American football, the violence of the Medieval football with no rules and rugby-style of sports yet set in a fantasy world with teams being made up of fantasy races such as dwarves, elves, orcs and undead, along with the use of magic and other fictional elements during a "match". The tone of the game is satirical with comedic color commentary and adverts for fictional in-game universe products. An official expansion was later released in 2005 bundled with the original, titled Chaos League: Sudden Death that added new features and gameplay tweaks.

Contents

While not a direct video game adaption, Chaos League bears resemblance to Games Workshop's Blood Bowl tabletop board game, which is also about fantasy sports. Cyanide Studios would later develop the video game version of Blood Bowl in 2009, which itself utilizes certain features from Chaos League.

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 however 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 Football and Medieval football. 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 team's 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 teammates 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 teammate. [5]

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. [6] 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. [7]

Blood Bowl

According to Eurogamer, 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. [8] 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". [9] The game Blood Bowl was released in Q3 2009 for the PC, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS and Xbox 360. [10]

Related Research Articles

<i>Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos</i> 2002 video game

Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos is a high fantasy real-time strategy computer video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment released in July 2002. It is the second sequel to Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, after Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, the third game set in the Warcraft fictional universe, and the first to be rendered in three dimensions. An expansion pack, The Frozen Throne, was released in July 2003. Warcraft III is set several years after the events of Warcraft II, and tells the story of the Burning Legion's attempt to conquer the fictional world of Azeroth with the help of an army of the Undead known as the Scourge, led by fallen paladin Arthas Menethil. It chronicles the combined efforts of the Human Alliance, Orcish Horde, and Night Elves to stop them before they can corrupt the World Tree.

<i>Warcraft: Orcs & Humans</i> 1994 video game

Warcraft: Orcs & Humans is a real-time strategy game (RTS) developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment, and published by Interplay Productions in Europe. It was released for MS-DOS in North America on 15 November 1994, and for Mac OS in early 1996. The MS-DOS version was re-released by Sold-Out Software in 2002.

<i>Warhammer 40,000</i> Miniature wargame

Warhammer 40,000 is a miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop. It is the most popular miniature wargame in the world, and is particularly popular in the United Kingdom. The first edition of the rulebook was published in September 1987, and the tenth and current edition was released in June 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Games Workshop</span> British maker of miniature wargames

Games Workshop Group is a British manufacturer of miniature wargames, based in Nottingham, England. Its best-known products are Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000.

<i>Blood Bowl</i> Board Game

Blood Bowl is a miniatures board game created by Jervis Johnson for the British games company Games Workshop as a parody of American football. The game was first released in 1986 and has been re-released in new editions since. Blood Bowl is set in an alternate version of the Warhammer Fantasy setting, populated by traditional fantasy elements such as human warriors, goblins, dwarves, elves, orcs, and trolls, as well as elements unique to the setting such as the rat-like Skaven.

<i>Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne</i> 2003 video game expansion

Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne is the expansion pack for Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, a real-time strategy video game by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released worldwide on July 1, 2003, for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. The Frozen Throne builds upon the story of Reign of Chaos and depicts the events after the main game's conclusion. The single-player unfolds from the perspective of two new protagonists—the Night Elf warden Maiev Shadowsong and the Blood Elf prince Kael'Thas—as well as returning protagonist Arthas Menethil. Additionally, the expansion contains Act I of a separate Horde campaign that is independent from the main storyline with Blizzard releasing Acts II and III via patch in December 2003, taking in player feedback of Act I when developing these chapters.

Warcraft is a franchise of video games, novels, and other media created by Blizzard Entertainment. The series is made up of six core games: Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, and Warcraft Rumble. The first three of these core games are in the real-time strategy genre, where opposing players command virtual armies in battle against each other or a computer-controlled enemy. The fourth and best-selling title of the franchise is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), where players control their character and interact with each other in a virtual world.

<i>Warhammer</i> (game) Miniature wargame

Warhammer is a tabletop miniature wargame with a medieval fantasy theme. The game was created by Bryan Ansell, Richard Halliwell, and Rick Priestley, and first published by the Games Workshop company in 1983.

<i>Warhammer Quest</i> Board game

Warhammer Quest is a fantasy dungeon, role-playing adventure board game released by Games Workshop in 1995 as the successor to HeroQuest and Advanced HeroQuest, set in its fictional Warhammer Fantasy world. The game focuses upon a group of warriors who join to earn their fame and fortune in the darkest depths of the Old World.

<i>Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War</i> 2004 video game

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed by Relic Entertainment and based on Games Workshop's tabletop wargame Warhammer 40,000. It was released by THQ on September 20, 2004 in North America and on September 24 in Europe. Three expansion packs have been released: Winter Assault in 2005, Dark Crusade in 2006, and Soulstorm in 2008. Its first sequel, Dawn of War II was released in February 2009. Another sequel, Dawn of War III, was released in April 2017.

<i>Warhammer: Mark of Chaos</i> 2006 video game

Warhammer: Mark of Chaos is a real-time tactics game set in the Warhammer universe. It was developed by Black Hole Entertainment and co-published by Namco Bandai Games in North America and Deep Silver in PAL territories in November 2006.

Marc Gascoigne is a British author and editor. He is the editor, author or co-author of more than fifty books and gaming related titles, including Fighting Fantasy books, Shadowrun novels and adventures, Earthdawn novels and adventures, the original Games Workshop Judge Dredd roleplaying game, and material for Paranoia, Call of Cthulhu and many others listed below.

<i>Blood Bowl</i> (2009 video game) 2009 video game

Blood Bowl is a 2009 fantasy sports video game developed by Cyanide, loosely based on gridiron football, and adapted from the board game of the same name, which is produced by Games Workshop, using the CRP ruleset. It was released for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, iOS, and Android.

The half-elf is a humanoid race in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, one of the primary races available for player characters, and play a central role in the narratives of many setting worlds of the game. As the offspring of humans and elves they are known as "half-elves" among humans and in sourcebooks, and as "half-humans" among elves.

<i>Mario Sports Mix</i> 2010 video game

Mario Sports Mix is a 2010 sports video game developed by Square Enix and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It features volleyball, ice hockey, dodgeball, and basketball. The game features mostly characters and locations from the Mario series with a few guest appearances by characters from Square Enix's Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest series of games. Players can also opt to play as one of their Mii characters.

<i>Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II – Retribution</i> 2011 video game

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II – Retribution is the stand-alone second expansion to Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II, part of the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War series of real-time strategy video games. Set in Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 fictional universe, the single player campaign is playable with multiple races.

<i>Total War: Warhammer</i> 2016 video game

Total War: Warhammer is a 2016 turn-based strategy and real-time tactics video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega for Windows via the Steam gaming platform. The game was brought to macOS and Linux by Feral Interactive. The game features the gameplay of the Total War series with factions of Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy series; it is the first Total War game not to portray a historical setting. It is the tenth title in the Total War series and the first title to be released in the Total War: Warhammer trilogy.

<i>Blood Bowl 2</i> 2015 video game

Blood Bowl 2 is a turn-based fantasy sports video game developed by Cyanide Studios and published by Focus Home Interactive. It is a sequel to the 2009 video game Blood Bowl, based on the board game by Games Workshop. The game was developed for Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, and was released on 22 September 2015. A OS X version of the game was launched in May 2016.

<i>Blood Bowl 3</i> 2023 video game

Blood Bowl 3 is a turn-based fantasy sports video game developed by Cyanide Studios and published by Nacon. It is a sequel to the 2015 video game Blood Bowl 2, based on the Blood Bowl board game by Games Workshop and is the third Blood Bowl game created by Cyanide. The game was released on 23 February 2023 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, with a Nintendo Switch port planned to be released at a later date.

<i>Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2</i> 2024 video game

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is a 2024 third-person shooter hack and slash video game developed by Saber Saint Petersburg and published by Focus Entertainment. The sequel to Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine (2011), it was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X /S on 9 September 2024. The game received generally positive reviews from critics.

References

  1. ↑ "Chaos League nous fait quelques jonglages" [Chaos League gives us some juggling]. Jeuxvideo.com (in French). 10 June 2004. Archived from the original on 15 June 2024. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  2. ↑ Bramwell, Tom (6 August 2004). "What's New?". Eurogamer . Archived from the original on 21 May 2024. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  3. ↑ "Chaos-League available for download !". Cyanide . 12 November 2004. Archived from the original on 23 November 2004. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  4. ↑ ""Chaos League" available via on-line distribution". GameZone. 17 November 2004. Archived from the original on 10 November 2007. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  5. ↑ Digitel Jesters, ed. (2005). Chaos League: Sudden Death Manual. Digitel Jesters. pp. 40–41.
  6. ↑ Chaos League: Sudden Death Manual. Digitel Jesters. 2005. p. 32.
  7. ↑ Chaos League: Sudden Death Manual. Digitel Jesters. 2005. pp. 32–33.
  8. ↑ "Cyanide doing Blood Bowl games". Eurogamer . 27 June 2006. Archived from the original on 25 December 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
  9. ↑ "Cyanide now plays in Blood Bowl". GameSpot. 2006-06-27. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2008-03-30.
  10. ↑ "Release date, new site". Cyanide. Archived from the original on 2009-02-03. Retrieved 2008-12-18.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.