Have the rules and design remained faithful?

by lame360gamer:

©2009 Warren Marshall

Now this review is not going to go into the history of Magic: The Gathering.

Most people have heard of this card game in the last ten or so years and I am certainly not going to be talking about the various rule changes, card changes and general mechanics of the game as Magic: The Gathering – Duels Of The Planeswalkers has been released for people that either previously played the game, are currently playing the game or those that are interested in starting.

It is simple to pick up and play and can be used as a welcome addition for the card game player, however it certainly isn’t an alternative to the original game itself. Having played the card game in the past I was not going to miss an opportunity to see what Wizards of the Coast had in-store for its players a month before the new M10 set.

Reduced to the bare bones

The idea behind Magic has been reduced to the bare bones here in Duels Of The Planeswalkers.

Gone is the option of deck building. Instead you are given the option of simply picking a deck colour to take on your opponent.

The rules and designs have remained faithful however, with the XBLA game itself telling you what can be played, where and it keeps track of various bonuses and spells that you have played.

It eliminates the need to remember every rule and for those that are new to Magic it means you can confidently play cards and abilities without the worry of game error.

• Magic The Gathering Tournament

Visually, Duels Of The Planeswalkers compliments the whole feel of the card game. Zooming in on cards gives you a close up look at some fantastic artwork and card text taken straight from the real game. The tabletop itself is designed well and manages to host all cards played with the option to use the left and right trigger to zoom in on either players cards on the table.

The only problem with the whole feel is the music to the game. Once again a game featuring generic, basic music samples, constructed simply for background noise. To be honest after the first game I ended up turning the sound off. The sound effects themselves are repetitive and simple.

Some great tutorials help out.

The game features a tutorial for those new players too and for people like myself (a few years now away from the Magic scene) before you are facing various AI opponents, each with a different colour theme deck.

Win the game and you move to the next and also unlock a new card that is added to your deck which can be used for both offline and online games.

The gameplay itself is designed very well for a new player or even a veteran Magic player with the game itself carrying out actions. Rather than having to move cards to their locations manually, or having to filter through your deck looking for a particular card the player simply has to select the card to use the ability and watch as the AI does the rest.

I am sure a lot of players will complain about this as it does take part of what makes Magic a great card game away, however it does increase the pace of the game which is great for a game designed for a console (if only we had mouse support!).

Battles are simply a matter of selecting the card, hitting a button and watching as the various bonuses, abilities and numbers are all crunched with a correct outcome provided. There really is no need for players to spend most of the game disputing card plays or fiddle around with rules with Duels Of The Planeswalkers.

Just focus on having fun!

Wizards of the Coast have managed to work everything out for you so you only have to focus on having fun!

One element of fun which has been removed from the game however is the deck construction. Part of what makes a card game fun is the option to build your own deck, tailored to your own style of play.

I can remember  spending hours building various decks to play against my friends and after losing/winning the game going back and tinkering around with your deck again.

Unfortunately with this game the only cards at your disposal are those that have been won during the campaign setting. While a newcomer may not want to be bombarded with thousands of cards, a player that begins to grasp the concept better or wants to improve on their game will be wanting new cards.

Wizards have another online Magic game (Magic Online III) which is a paid service and I guess that is where they want players to move to when they have a taste for more.

Unless Wizards provides the players with optional downloadable blocks (certain sets of cards) I can’t see a very long life in this game and it would probably soon be deleted from players consoles.

For the small amount of points this game will cost you (800), if you are new to the game or not, you will still get some enjoyment and it is refreshing to see some more games based off other licenses.

©2009 Warren Marshell

“7.5 / 10

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