NIDZUMI+

Collectible Card Games rarely make a successful jump to the video game space. Whether it’s a lack of features or expensive card purchases, they’ve never truly gotten off the ground. Subtract the collectible element and Uno is probably the only real card game that made a successful jump from print to digital. Despite some early skepticism against the idea, the developers of Magic The Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers have also opted to cut out the collectible element.

For over fifteen years, Magic The Gathering has been one of the most prominent CCG in terms of mass appeal and pure enjoyment. Turn by turn, you try to wear down your opponents health from 20 straight down to 0 by attacking with creatures, playing spells or abilities and generally outwitting your foe in a geeky battle of wits. It sounds like a simple premise but there are hundreds of additional rules and parameters that you have to memorise and then consider on a turn by turn basis.

Duels of the Planeswalkers isn’t trying to fool anyone though, it’s very much a card game. No 3D renders of creatures and barely any animations means that you’ll spend a majority of your time simply staring at the cards only. Initial disappointment will turn into praise because at the end of the day nobody really wants that. This way the game doesn’t get bogged down in polish and gloss, it just lets you sit down and play some cards. Be it On or Offline the games are fast paced affairs due to this streamlined interface and presentation.

A large portion of your time will be spent in the games campaign and although only sixteen stages might sound meagre, the game is anything but. Even the more experienced Magic The Gathering player will be challenged here although that might be down to the unpredictable element that randomized cards naturally bring to the game. You would do incredibly well to clear the whole campaign without losing a match or two along the way due to the excellent AI but it all adds to the longevity of the game.

Elsewhere you have a Co-Op Two-Headed Giant campaign which are 2v2 duels that can only be played locally with two players. It’s a shame they didn’t throw in an online or singleplayer option for this specific campaign but just playing through it with an extra controller will suffice.

All throughout the offline campaigns you’ll be unlocking extra decks and cards. Unfortunately you can’t create your own deck from scratch but then the game would become incredibly unbalanced with everyone more than likely picking the same ‘unbeatable’ deck. Unlocking extra cards for the plethora of decks gives more replay value even if it can be tedious. Once you’ve unlocked a majority of the cards for a deck or two you’re ready to take the game online.

Here you simply play against other players online in either 2,3 or 4 player matches along with 2v2 team matches. The online is stable and, from personal experience, doesn’t suffer from any latency issues whatsoever. The only problem is that with Magic you kind of know when you are going to lose, meaning that you’ll be faced with a lot of disconnects. If your opponents are sporting and let you get the win, the online is worthwhile but something needs to be addressed.

Magic The Gathering might seem a little feature thin on the surface with a lack of fully customisable decks and custom rules but what is here will more than keep you busy. Unlocking the various cards, completing the couple of campaigns along with online  play means that Duels of the Planeswalkers has the best value for money we’ve seen in an Xbox Live Arcade game to date. For only 800 Microsoft Points you really can’t do any better in terms of longevity.