Post by The Chupster on Jun 25, 2009 12:58:59 GMT -5
Okay, so I went into this lil game with a serious amount of trepidation, after finding out a few factlets. So here were the pros and cons I weighed as I went into the tutorial:
Pros:
-I used to play Magic like constantly and miss playing it, but hated having some 5000 cards around the house
-I read that you don't have to build decks, which I always hated, and which would severely kill replayability as some idiots would just always have better cards when playing online
-Co-op!!!
Cons:
-I read that you can't build your own decks and that you're limited to certain decks
-limited set of cards
-no 2-player vs. on the same console
That said, I ran through the tutorial, which does an EXCELLENT job of teaching you how to play the game in less than 10 minutes. And after that, I went ahead and bought the game. After that... well, last night I had Fight Night Round 4, Fallout 3's Point Lookout, and Overlord 2 to play, and I ended up playing Magic from 11pm until 5am. So there you go.
For those that have no idea what I'm talking about, Magic: The Gathering is a collectible card game where you and your 20 life points summon creatures and cast spells in an effort to destroy your opponent.
The game has a ton of variants and can be played by as many players as you want, really. It's great fun and limited only by what cards you have, your skill at building a quick, balanced deck, and your ability to play.
That said, here's a rundown of the game.
The Live Arcade game, full title Magic: The Gathering- Duels of the Planeswalkers, has a bunch of various game modes and multiplayer modes for your card-slinging enjoyment.
Basically, you start off with a basic green deck. You can take one of the game's various modes to unlock extra cards for the deck you're currently using (each deck has 17 unlockable cards to earn, with which you can customize your deck), or you can take on the single-player Campaign mode to progressive through the decks of other Planeswalkers and earn new card decks to play with.
Each deck has a pretty specific theme. The green deck you start out with focuses on getting out lands quickly and summoning huge trampling creatures and stomping your opponent. The red deck you earn first focuses on direct damage and goblins with a goblin king, which make them more powerful. And on and on and on.
There are a lot of modes to play through:
*Campaign- progress through to earn cards and new decks
*Challenge- you have one turn to defeat your opponent with the board set up as is- very like a puzzle game
*Two-Headed Giant- a co-op variant where you fight two decks at once, and naturally you can play this yourself if you have a second controller
*Online- 1-4 Player Ranked & Player Matches (all will gain you new cards if you win) and Two-Headed Giant
I know it doesn't sound like a lot, and sounds very limited compared to the quick-and-dirty world of the card game, where you can do virtually anything with your deck, but that's the beauty- you don't have to sweat the details, just get together with folks online who have similar decks available to them, and play.
The first decks that you unlock are simple single-color decks, but later on you unlock 2- and 3-color decks, and you end up with about 9 or 10 decks, all with 17 cards each to unlock and customize your deck.
The interface, once you get used to how everything works, is splendid. It takes care of all counters, any math, basically the whole damn thing. AND the game is presented in pristine HD, and at any time during a match, you can look at any card in play (or in the graveyards) close-up, zoomed in to a beautiful full-screen (at least, top to bottom), to admire the artwork or just figure out how the damn thing works.
Finally, for a limited time- at least, I think- when you purchase the full game, you'll receive a code that you can enter for an exclusive real-life foil Planeswalker card on the internet. Granted, delivery says 6-8 weeks, but hey... if you play the collectible card game, it's a free card! And it's foil-embossed. Oooooh, shiny. (and if you have trouble locating it, it's under Help & Options--> Code Generation.)
Overall, on paper it doesn't sound like a lot, but once you get into it, it's a helluva lot of content for $10. I got addicted like I'd never been away from the game, but even a new player could have the rules and nuances down in no time, thanks to a great tutorial and a wonderful in-game resource that explains any rules pertinent to the card you're looking at (like first strike, double strike, flying, etc.).
It's a great game and playing against the computer is actually fun, if a little frustrating at the higher levels, but you can always replay easier matches with your new decks to build up their card resources if you get stuck. I've only seen a one glitch so far, and the game did freeze up once, but other than that, it's a solid investment- I can only hope that the DLC, whenever it comes, includes not only new decks and cards, but new Campaign matches in which to play them.
If you dig this kind of stuff, you should definitely get it. If you're curious, the trial version puts you through a pre-arranged tutorial that will get you used to the basics and the interface. And if you hate Magic, well... then this definitely isn't the game for you, LOL, because it's just like playing it with your friends. Seriously good stuff.
Pros:
-I used to play Magic like constantly and miss playing it, but hated having some 5000 cards around the house
-I read that you don't have to build decks, which I always hated, and which would severely kill replayability as some idiots would just always have better cards when playing online
-Co-op!!!
Cons:
-I read that you can't build your own decks and that you're limited to certain decks
-limited set of cards
-no 2-player vs. on the same console
That said, I ran through the tutorial, which does an EXCELLENT job of teaching you how to play the game in less than 10 minutes. And after that, I went ahead and bought the game. After that... well, last night I had Fight Night Round 4, Fallout 3's Point Lookout, and Overlord 2 to play, and I ended up playing Magic from 11pm until 5am. So there you go.
For those that have no idea what I'm talking about, Magic: The Gathering is a collectible card game where you and your 20 life points summon creatures and cast spells in an effort to destroy your opponent.
The game has a ton of variants and can be played by as many players as you want, really. It's great fun and limited only by what cards you have, your skill at building a quick, balanced deck, and your ability to play.
That said, here's a rundown of the game.
The Live Arcade game, full title Magic: The Gathering- Duels of the Planeswalkers, has a bunch of various game modes and multiplayer modes for your card-slinging enjoyment.
Basically, you start off with a basic green deck. You can take one of the game's various modes to unlock extra cards for the deck you're currently using (each deck has 17 unlockable cards to earn, with which you can customize your deck), or you can take on the single-player Campaign mode to progressive through the decks of other Planeswalkers and earn new card decks to play with.
Each deck has a pretty specific theme. The green deck you start out with focuses on getting out lands quickly and summoning huge trampling creatures and stomping your opponent. The red deck you earn first focuses on direct damage and goblins with a goblin king, which make them more powerful. And on and on and on.
There are a lot of modes to play through:
*Campaign- progress through to earn cards and new decks
*Challenge- you have one turn to defeat your opponent with the board set up as is- very like a puzzle game
*Two-Headed Giant- a co-op variant where you fight two decks at once, and naturally you can play this yourself if you have a second controller
*Online- 1-4 Player Ranked & Player Matches (all will gain you new cards if you win) and Two-Headed Giant
I know it doesn't sound like a lot, and sounds very limited compared to the quick-and-dirty world of the card game, where you can do virtually anything with your deck, but that's the beauty- you don't have to sweat the details, just get together with folks online who have similar decks available to them, and play.
The first decks that you unlock are simple single-color decks, but later on you unlock 2- and 3-color decks, and you end up with about 9 or 10 decks, all with 17 cards each to unlock and customize your deck.
The interface, once you get used to how everything works, is splendid. It takes care of all counters, any math, basically the whole damn thing. AND the game is presented in pristine HD, and at any time during a match, you can look at any card in play (or in the graveyards) close-up, zoomed in to a beautiful full-screen (at least, top to bottom), to admire the artwork or just figure out how the damn thing works.
Finally, for a limited time- at least, I think- when you purchase the full game, you'll receive a code that you can enter for an exclusive real-life foil Planeswalker card on the internet. Granted, delivery says 6-8 weeks, but hey... if you play the collectible card game, it's a free card! And it's foil-embossed. Oooooh, shiny. (and if you have trouble locating it, it's under Help & Options--> Code Generation.)
Overall, on paper it doesn't sound like a lot, but once you get into it, it's a helluva lot of content for $10. I got addicted like I'd never been away from the game, but even a new player could have the rules and nuances down in no time, thanks to a great tutorial and a wonderful in-game resource that explains any rules pertinent to the card you're looking at (like first strike, double strike, flying, etc.).
It's a great game and playing against the computer is actually fun, if a little frustrating at the higher levels, but you can always replay easier matches with your new decks to build up their card resources if you get stuck. I've only seen a one glitch so far, and the game did freeze up once, but other than that, it's a solid investment- I can only hope that the DLC, whenever it comes, includes not only new decks and cards, but new Campaign matches in which to play them.
If you dig this kind of stuff, you should definitely get it. If you're curious, the trial version puts you through a pre-arranged tutorial that will get you used to the basics and the interface. And if you hate Magic, well... then this definitely isn't the game for you, LOL, because it's just like playing it with your friends. Seriously good stuff.
