Magic: The Gathering - Battlegrounds

"An actual fast game for smart people"

For those of you who don’t know, Magic the Gathering, or MTG, is a turn based trading card game made by Wizards of the Coast. It is based on the book series, also published by Wizards of the Coast, and is always taking on new cards and card types. Now, on to the game.

Graphics-10
Whether you’re watching an Avatar of Might rising from the ground, a mana sphere drip twinkles of light, or the wrath of god killing everything in sight, the graphics are a treat to behold. With a smooth frame rate, great creatures, and awesome spell effects, graphics get a well deserved 10/10.

Sound-9
Great voice acting, great creature and spell sounds, and above average taunts, sound is above all good. Now, if only we could put in a bit more music...

Gameplay-10
A place to shine in any game, the game play brings a depth to this game like few others. The basic controls are complicated to explain, but very easy to learn and you will soon be a master. Moving around the screen collecting mana, summoning a creature, watching both mana bars, and worrying about specials (example, watching your enemy for a counter spell opportunities) adds an interesting learning curve, especially for those who play the card game. I would give it a 9 for my bias against the controller S, which the control scheme is built for, but it deserves a 10.

And now for the killer.
Special-5
Special is my category where I put in all the stuff that should be said about the game. For MTGBG, this category is for the people who enjoy the card game. The card game is a whole different ball park, being much slower and much more complicated. I am relatively new to the card games, having only played it for about 4 years, but even I can see the difficulty of bringing the card game to an action format.
So unfortunately, the special category gets a resounding 5/10.

Live-10
A great game over the live system, Magic Live brings a nice strategy to the game. Can your own custom character take on the best in the world? Or perhaps an even more important question for some of you, can you take on your friends Live, with your stats tracked? With additions such as new levels, and most important, new cards/spells, MTGBG Live is a brand new experience all together.

Overall-9/10
A great game for relatively smart people who want a little action, or even for you button mashers right now if you play your cards right (no pun intended). If you play the card game though, rent it first.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/04/04