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Magic the Gathering: Battlegrounds Review |
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Magic the Gathering: Battlegrounds
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We've all seen them at least once in our lives, the three guys wearing black trench coats sporting their fully developed backwoods mountain men beards, sitting around talking about or playing Magic the Gathering. That's not to say this is the profile of all Magic players, these are just the more memorable ones that unfortunately have come to be the poster boys of this role playing card game. Although at first I was confused on how it was possible, Magic the Gathering has made its way to the console world with the release of “Magic the Gathering: Battleground”.
The game is kind of similar to the card game as far as my understanding goes, it's a dueling game, one on one, except throughout the process of the game you collect new spells that you can cast during the duels. Most of the battle is fought by creatures that you can summon by first earning that spell, then hitting a series of buttons to raise them up. The duelist on the opposite side of the screen is doing the same thing as well, raising minions and casting spells to attack your minions or to make their own stronger. If an enemy creature makes it past yours then you can swing your staff to defend yourself, or block their attack so that your creatures can come defend you.
The entire game really revolves around knowing the enemy you're about to fight, and picking the proper spells from your stash before the duel starts accordingly. Once the duel itself starts it breaks down to quickness and strategy, raising minions in the right location to properly defend your person, and outfitting them with bonus strength and speed spells to be able to overpower the opposition. As you beat more and more duelists you'll get access to a whole mess of new spells, though when you enter a battle you'll only be able to have access to spells that you've picked out before the duel starts, so it's necessary to pick a well rounded offense and defense. As you progress through the game more wizards and spells will become available for use with spells ranging from five separate divisions that you can create a spell book with.
The graphics are smooth and nothing to gripe about, which isn't saying a whole lot because as far as worlds and environments go there's simply not much there, the playing areas are small dueling rings that don't extend much further than a single screens width. The sound is one of the most galling things I've ever heard, each time a spell is cast by your or the opposing duelist they yell the name of the spell cast, which would be fine if it wasn't necessary to cast the same spells over and over for the entire game. If a duel lasts five minutes expect to hear the words “Goblin Warrior” about two hundred times.
Many times when I play a game like this that I've got no interest in (I've never played Magic the Gathering the card game) there's a good chance I'll like it anyways because of good game development or plot. If you are into the Magic the Gathering role playing world I am more than certain you'll enjoy this game, because you've probably seen most of it before. I can honestly say I didn't find this game entertaining in any way shape or form, and I'd be willing to go out on a limb and say that if you've never played Magic prior to this game; buying, renting, or receiving this game as a gift will be a huge waste of time. I'm so confident that you won't be sucked into the Magic world by this game that I'll say if you went to the video store and rented it, you'd not only be wasting your own time but the time of the worker who will have to put it back on the shelf when you return it an hour later.
Review By: Travis Parrott
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