Chaos League: Sudden Death demo for Windows

Last year's Chaos League demo earned our top rating because the game was both good and unique: a real-time strategy sports game. This year's sequel adds new races, spells, heroes, clans, and turn-based gameplay options that are interesting, but not revolutionary. There's a great game in Chaos League: Sudden Death if you can get past the complexities of the interface and the gameplay, but the demo slightly disappoints.

As with conventional real-time strategy games, you control the players and camera using the mouse or keyboard shortcuts. Nine players make up a team, and the demo includes the Human and Damned races. Each position has different basic abilities that can be improved by gaining experience via touchdowns, knockouts, or passes. We particularly liked the ability to instigate spectator attacks by stringing together action combinations.

The sequel's graphics are better than the original, but Chaos League still isn't nearly as attractive as other sports games, which becomes painfully evident during touchdown replays. Numerous tutorials cover gameplay basics, but they're not as comprehensive as they should be. Those minor complaints, plus a few interface glitches and a lack of multiplayer support, result in a downgraded rating for this real-time sequel.