Conclusion
In an attempt to not make the game too complex, you can only play pre-built decks of cards, with a further 15 (powerful) cards for each deck unlocked by defeating various AI Planeswalkers (or by paying extra if you can’t be bothered). This will inevitably be a major turn-off for hardcore MTG fans as deck creation is a key part of the game and can make the difference between a win and a loss. However, for casual players it is probably an advantage as when playing online you are more likely to have a roughly equal chance against your opponent.Graphically, the game is fine; well laid out, nicely presented menus and some reasonable effects and backgrounds, but ultimately it is still a card game and not anything special. Recreation of what the cards depict rather than just the cards themselves might well have been an improvement, but then this would be a trade off with game price (currently on Steam for £6.99) and system specs to run the game (min: 2GHz Pentium 4, 1GB RAM for XP, 2GB RAM for Vista, 256MB GPU with Pixel Shader 2.0c). Sound effects are fine too, but if you are like me you will turn the music off and have Media Player running in the background as it is very limited and not that good. At the time of writing, the game had not been released so it is not possible to see how well online matches work, but this has the potential to be the key component of the game – just so long as you don’t get too many rage-quitters. Here you can play either ranked matches (with leaderboard position to play for) or just for fun.
The MTG core game is solid and this represents a cheap and accessible way to experience it. If you already know how to play or have the patience to learn and are not put off by the lack of deck creation, this game will offer many hours of quality strategy gaming and is well worth the asking price.
