Bloodline Champions

 PC
  • Publisher: Funcom
  • Release Date: Jan 13, 2011
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 96 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 60 out of 96
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 96
  3. Negative: 16 out of 96

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  1. KillerGermel
    Sep 11, 2012
    3
    The game itself has a very steep learning curve. The game is more like a shooter than an rpg, because there are almost no rpg elements in this game, therefore the game relies almost solely on skill, and for new players like myself it was very hard to cope with the other players. The auto balance is pure garbage, a lot of the times it puts me up vs players with like 2000 games when I haveThe game itself has a very steep learning curve. The game is more like a shooter than an rpg, because there are almost no rpg elements in this game, therefore the game relies almost solely on skill, and for new players like myself it was very hard to cope with the other players. The auto balance is pure garbage, a lot of the times it puts me up vs players with like 2000 games when I have about 40 games, actually it happens MOST of the times, so I end up losing bitterly. The community in this game is atrocious! I as a noob kept getting bashed by people better than me, and rather than just having fun I ended up getting angry at the other players for getting so bashful and at the so called "auto balance" system which put me up against (and with) people that are so much better than me. In conclusion, I didn't enjoy this game very much because of its steep learning curve and community haters everywhere.… Expand
  2. combonio
    May 28, 2011
    3
    TL;DR Avoid this game if you aren't from US/Europe. To be competitive in a game that compels you to be so, yet at the same being crippled, as if in each game you are Russell Crowe at the end of Gladiator in his battle with Joaquin Phoenix, so that each loss feels cheap - and the losses are basically guaranteed. The premise of this game is simple, yet groundbreaking at the same time: PvPTL;DR Avoid this game if you aren't from US/Europe. To be competitive in a game that compels you to be so, yet at the same being crippled, as if in each game you are Russell Crowe at the end of Gladiator in his battle with Joaquin Phoenix, so that each loss feels cheap - and the losses are basically guaranteed. The premise of this game is simple, yet groundbreaking at the same time: PvP arena without the gear-grind, and completely balanced and skill-based. The game itself is instantly accessible. It's a free, small download and upon entering the game, you are met with an excellent tutorial, as well as bot adversaries to hone your skills and become familiar with the bloodlines. Each bloodline, the character you select before each battle, has a unique array of abilities that fit into the WoW player versus player mold of crowd control, avoidance gap closing skills, burst damage or healing spells, amongst others, each offering unique utility to the bloodline. The first impression against these bots is a twitch-based game with a lot of character. It comes as a revelation after the mindless grinds of WoW, or even Call of Duty. It made me want to keep playing, to get better, so that I'd be ready and competitive against some human opponents.


    Yet, from my perspective, as soon as I forayed into the human versus human matches, Bloodline Champions' meat-and-potatoes, the game fell apart. I have played this game on and off, giving it second and third chances, but the fact remains: there will be very few games that provide fair challenge. Some matches will be against beginners who have just picked up the game (and are an easy win against), or more than likely you will be playing against people with a much lower latency that results in them stomping you no matter what. This is a real shame, because there doesn't really exist any way to to win against someone other than a beginner if you lag. The game, being twitch based, where all spells are aimed manually, and killing someone is based on cumulative damage, rather than 1-shot bursts, can not accommodate anyone with a >100ms latency. The player base won't either - my experience had me, more often than not, banned as soon as I entered, with my 300ms ping, or verbally assaulted in game because of my systemically slow reaction times. Why do I lag? Because I'm not from US or Europe where the servers are held. I'm from Oceania, and my complaint is just as true for those in Asia. To be competitive in a game that compels you to be so, yet at the same being crippled, as if in each game you are Russell Crowe at the end of Gladiator in his battle with Joaquin Phoenix, so that each loss feels cheap - and the losses are basically guaranteed.    … Expand
  3. Leminpenguin
    Jun 15, 2012
    0
    Seriously underrated game. There is no reason not to give it a try, it's free to play, very polished, and extremely fun if you're into competitive multiplayer games. If you got to this page chances are you're interested in this kind of game and you owe it to yourself to check it out.
  4. TheGrindeR
    Jul 5, 2012
    2
    This game looks like than the LoL and the DOTA 2. In this game you need to reach lvl 5 to play with another players. You need to play with AI lvl1-5. I played only with AI and when the server disconnected, im finding in the main menu myself. Then i uninstalled this game.
  5. DeadBones
    Oct 28, 2011
    4
    Bloodline Champions used to be a fun, different and very interesting team-based arena game that did a lot of things right...

    First of all, despite using a skill system similar to an MMORPG, there were no dice rolls involved - you had to aim your sword strikes and fireballs and even barriers, tank for your allies by weakening your foes or just getting in between them and the enemy, and    Bloodline Champions used to be a fun, different and very interesting team-based arena game that did a lot of things right...

    First of all, despite using a skill system similar to an MMORPG, there were no dice rolls involved - you had to aim your sword strikes and fireballs and even barriers, tank for your allies by weakening your foes or just getting in between them and the enemy, and keep an eye on the arena and where everyone's at. Player skill determined which team would win, despite some balance problems that they would try to patch over time, and though there was a cash shop the only substantial thing to buy there was more classes. Even then, those classes could also be unlocked for free just by playing the game. Everything else was purely cosmetic fun stuff like costumes, weapon skins, titles and portraits.

    However, recently they released the big patch 2.0 which changed a lot of game mechanics around, including ones that already worked well, and kind of ruined the balance of the game proper.

    There are two especially egregious additions, in fact, and both of them were just lazily added on top of the existing game without any regard for how they would affect it, instead of being cleverly interwoven with what was already there.

    The first one is a fairly boring but oddly convoluted World of Warcraft-style talent tree that mainly gives a huge amount of tiny stat boosts like increased damage or a bigger health bar. The second one is that the cash shop now sells powerful medallions that give you extra abilities and gems that also increase your stats, and you have to pay again every single time you want to change them around. Even if they were properly balanced they would still take way too long to set up, and it just adds another pointless barrier to entry for new players.

    Imagine something like Quake or Counter-Strike receiving an MMO-style levelling system that favours people who play more or pay real money with no way to turn it off. At least Stunlock and Funcom did us the small favour of making it a bit less grindy than it could have been, but the best favour of all would have been to reconsider it and drop it entirely.

    Before 2.0 I wholeheartedly recommended this game to my friends, but now it really is just a shadow of its former self. All it really needed was a bigger player base and maybe a price drop, not an ill considered level grind with all the power creep that came with it.    … Expand
  6. LostInRealms
    Jan 4, 2013
    4
    4/10

    There updates left the game in so many problems. Not enough characters compared to the player base. Its like facing the same characters over and over again. The game buttons are so confuzing for the game that you have to play for a long time to even master which buttons do what.

Awards & Rankings

54
#54 Best PC Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 13 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 13
  3. Negative: 0 out of 13
  1. MMORPG.com
    Mar 31, 2012
    75
    While this isn't my personal choice for a MOBA, I think it is a great take on the arena-styled MMO. You may find like me that the matches should be longer, but it will give you hours of enjoyment and if this is your game you could find a niche in a clan too. If you enjoy leveling up and progressing your character this is the wrong game for you. However, if you like to immediately jump into the thick of the action and climb a mountain of corpses to reach your victory, then Bloodline Champions has plenty to love.
    Read full review
  2. SpazioGames
    May 5, 2011
    80
    Bloodline Champions is a deep and addictive online game. It's competitive PvP at its best and, if you're part of that group of players who constantly complains about balancing in games, you should definitely download it.
    Read full review
  3. PC PowerPlay
    Mar 31, 2011
    80
    It's fast, frenzied and brutal, and despite its simple concept never manages to get old. [Apr 2011, p.66]
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