Wizards of the Coast have tried to capture the hearts, minds and wallets of Magic the Gathering Xbox fans before, with Magic the Gathering: Battlefields. Whilst it was an interesting game, it didn’t really translate the actual skills, knowledge and indeed obsession that the collectable card game requires.

So knowing that the Magic the Gathering card game is best representation by the actual cards themselves, this time around they’ve used what they’ve learned from MTG: Online, and made it suitable to an xbox audience by offering it as an Arcade download. It’s presented a little like UNO on XBLA, with a playing surface that players lay their cards down onto, with graveyard (where you discard cards) to the side and your hand revealed only to you (and your partner in co-op games).

The game’s presentation is great. The cards are revealed to you as they’re played, and squeezing a trigger brings them up close so you can read them in better detail. Each card is played with an effect, so for example a flying creature hovers over the playing field, a healing artefact sparkles blue, scratch marks appear when a creature hits. A clear and precise representation of which creature is attacking and which creature you’re blocking with makes tracking plays easy. The paintings from the cards are reproduced here, and it’s fantastic to see these in high definition. I still chuckle at the Pacifism spell imagery.

There are various modes available to the player on starting the game. The robust tutorial will help new players or those who are a bit rusty. Once you’ve got through this, there is a Challenge mode which sets up a one turn play in which you have to play the right cards to win. These are really helpful in understanding the game mechanics better, and I strongly recommend this for new players before getting into the longer Campaign mode.

Presenting you with a range of starter decks, Campaign mode sets up a tourney with the selected deck against progressively harder AI. As you defeat each enemy planeswalker, you unlock more cards. As there 16 rounds fighting against 9 enemies, you’ll unlock 16 new cards for your deck, as well as the decks of your enemies. Unlocking all the cards for all the decks will take quite some time, giving the game a long shelf life for obsessive fans. There is also Co-operative Campaign, where two players on a console can go head to head with the AI.

The AI is quite clever, as it knows its deck and the rules very well, using these in a very logical and rehearsed manner, but it can do silly things, like attack a creature instead of a player, or play certain cards too soon when a human player might hold off. As all games there is also a bit of luck in who gets what cards out when, and the AI flounders as much as a player does. However, after unlocking a couple of decks, playing the same AI over and over to unlock more can become a little tedious and predictable.

However, this is all really a prelude to the online games. Online you can play 2, 3 or 4 player all against all, or two versus two. There’s also a special mentoring system, where a player can come online and see your hand, and suggest how to combat enemy players.

You can tailor the starter decks with your unlocked cards for off and online play, but you can’t create your own from scratch. Whilst the more hardcore MTG players may baulk at this, I think it’s a clever decision. It reminds me of the sealed deck tournaments we used to play – you’d always have some idea of what you’d get in a standard pack, but sealed decks even the field between players. In the games I played, although I’m not exactly a noob I am very rusty, I felt I was beaten by a skilful player, and not someone who was lucky or had the right deck.

One of my biggest complaints about the collectible card game is you’ve got to spend so much money on getting your deck to how you want, and with new editions invalidating your favourite cards (essentially forcing you to buy more) it becomes untenable for all but the most dedicated players. The xbox version gets around this by standardising the decks, allowing you some leeway to play a deck you like, with winning really coming down to your skill (and a little bit of luck) and not simply the amount of time and money you have.

Yet even new comers will find they can play against a seasoned pro and the games will feel fairer. This system allows anyone to pick up the game and play on a relatively fair basis. Someone picking the game up in six months time will have the same cards as someone who got the game at launch (assuming downloadable card packs don’t get released in that time), meaning there isn’t a disadvantage in arriving to the party late.

Conclusion
Magic The Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers will scratch the itch many ex-MTG players have. Although completely accessible to absolute new comers, the game seems just as well designed for those of us who used to play but got sick of the constant revisions and releases and unfairness that came with the collectable card game. It might not go far enough to simulate the game with the inability to customise the starter decks limiting some enjoyment of the game, but otherwise it’s a great way to pass the time.

Pros:
Excellent Presentation of the MTG card game
Easy to pick up and learn
Fair amount of replayablity with unlockable cards, co-op and online modes

Cons:
Can’t completely customise your own deck
AI can feel too logical and predictable
Unlocking everything can become tedious.

80/100