Bodycheck hits Vita this year, is "a sports game for people who don’t necessarily like sports"

Bodycheck is a sports game which harkens back to the Middle Ages roots of football codes, with pig heads, alchemy, witchcraft and lots of beating each other up.

The Vita exclusive is expected in the third quarter, and will support up to four-way multiplayer.

"Bodycheck is a sports game for people who don’t necessarily like sports. Personally, I’m a fan of sports. I can sports with the best of them. But I find most sports games of recent years lack a certain something-something. Perhaps they’re not visceral enough, or they manage not to capture the chaos of play, or sometimes they’re just a bit ponderous to play," Ludometrics boss David Thomson wrote on the PlayStation Blog

"Bodycheck will (hopefully) contain that certain something-something."

Bodycheck won't have 500 strong team and week-long matches ala Middle Ages football, but will feature "punching, scratching, and general unnecessary roughness", spells including lightning bolds and resurrections, items such as the portable hole, and the ability to bribe officials for extended time.

Some early gameplay footage follows.