MTG: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012: A Review
Posted: 6/30/2011 12:00:00 AM
By: analogfight

        Back from the grave it rises, like it had a regeneration token placed on it and it blocked a force of nature, ok now that I have lost you I am talking about Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012. This may be one of the longest and most unimaginative game names I have come across in a long time.

        Not much has changed in the new M:TG, they added co-op for the campaign (finally) as well as update the artwork and add new cards, they cleaned up the interface and gave it that nice web 2.0 streamline polish. Ok so they changed a good bit of stuff, but you know what they didn’t change. The targeting system, you still have to use the right thumbstick and highlight every card on the playing surface to get to what you want, and heaven forbid that an action is taking place because then you have to scroll back to what you wanted to look at. Oh man I am pissed just thinking about it.

        The Campaign is completely different and it has 3 parts to it now, the main campaign, archenemy, and revenge. Archenemy is you and 2 other mages, either NPC or human and the human can connect either locally or over the internet. Challenges are integrated into the campaign and the difficulty increases as you progress in the game. The story line is the same, there is a new face or two but that isn’t what we are here for we are here for nice artwork and badass decks

        Deck construction is much more customizable, or at least I feel like I have more control over it. The construction layout is much nicer and more user friendly. The decks are much more thought out this time around and are much more powerful. Still easy enough to use for the new mages that are just finding the game, and complex enough to allow an experienced mage to take some poor guy out in just a few turns.

        Overall I liked how the game flowed more than the original and it seems as though they put more thought into the overall visual experience of the game as well as game flow. I see this as a great way for Magic to expand to new markets. Now the problems with the game will bug an old magic user like me who cherished his moxes and chaos orbs, but they are annoyances that I can live with. This game is available now on the PSN  and Xbox Live arcade for right around 10 bucks.