Magic: The Gathering - Duels of The Planeswalkers

One of the things I have Connoisseur Tom to thank for is an interest in Magic: The Gathering. Well, at least playing with the cards that he owns, I’ve never made a retail purchase for myself. For those who don’t know it is a fantasy themed strategy card game, mostly about resource management with a heavy dose of luck. Seeing how I’m not about to start up a collection I get thrilled every time this game is available in electronic form. The most recent release is “Magic: Duels of the Planeswalkers”, originally an X-Box live title that has come to Steam as a budget PC game.

What is surprising is that despite the low price tag the production values are quite impressive, with a gorgeous interface, cool special effects, and competent AI. Unfortunately (perhaps due to its console roots) the game has been severely restricted, instead of building any deck you want from a vast array of cards you are pretty much forced to choose from one of ten (more with expansions) pre-constructed decks. These decks are well built and do a good job of representing the strengths of each color in the game (such as White incorporating a lot of healing and Red a lot of direct damage) but you don’t see any of the crazy theme decks or gimmick decks that make the game so fun.

The single player experience is pretty rewarding, but of course when you have a streak of bad luck it is too easy to blame the computer for dealing you bad cards. Still the AI plays in a conservative way and it combines different mechanics well. Sure, it can be predictable, but that is mostly an artifact of the lack of variety. Also the game sports a rock solid online component, for which the decks have been finely tuned. Since they can’t be altered it is like a game of Street Fighter, each deck representing a carefully balanced warrior who stands a chance against any other deck once mastered. The puzzles are cool too, kind of like an advanced tutorial that respects your intelligence.

Overall the game is worth the $10 but I would rather pay full price ($50) for a game that allows full customization and more variety. Still I’m not done playing yet and at the end of the day it is still cheaper than stockpiling cards, just not as interactive.  

- Connoisseur Javier