"A game that truly should have never been made."

Magic: The Gathering - Battlemage. ''Bringing the popular card game to life!'' This game has to be the biggest mess that I ever spent my money on, and I've purchased a lot of stinkers in my day. It seemed like a good idea at the time. The card game was popular, I played it all the time, so I figured ''Hey! Now I can play on the computer whenever I want instead of looking for an opponent'' Then I bought it and played it. Nowadays I tell myself that I only bought this game because it came with a free pack of 4th Edition cards.

Graphically, it wasn't all that bad. It was rather nice to see the creatures we've grown so accustomed to brought to life on the screen, and seeing our favorite damage spells happening as we use them. It was kind of easy to see what creature was what based on their image, so long as you are familiar with the cards. In fact, the graphics are the ONLY reason I rated this game 2 instead of 1.

The story line is what you might expect from M:TG...You play cards. Actually, you choose from a number of rulers to control, and your starting choice of cards is determined by the nature of the ruler. With a ruler under your control, the game takes a unique turn. You have to try and unify the continent under your 1 ruler. Each territory you attack (or that attacks you) results in a real-time card game Magic-style, and the winner either conquers the territory, or successfully defends it. Yay. Sounds decent to someone who hasn't played it, but I know better.

The gameplay is where, in my opinion, this game REALLY suffers. As I mentioned before, the card games are in real-time. All that turn-based play we were used to goes out the window. The classic stages are all there: Untap, Upkeep, Draw, etc etc. However, since it's all real-time, it becomes rather difficult to manage. When you are being attacked, you have to send your own creatures on a path to try and intercept the creature. When attacking though, the creatures tend to follow some sort of path, and you need to scroll around the battlefield to try and find it before setting up any kind of defense. It's fairly likely that you won't see the attacking creature until it's in your face, and by that point, you've taken damage. Once you get the hang of it, the game becomes somewhat easier, though still quite irritating.

The sounds of the game were...tolerable, at best. Every time you summon a creature, or cast a spell, you are treated to a voice telling you what you cast/summoned. When ever a damage spell is cast, such as a Lightning Bolt, you hear the crackling of thunder and lightning as it's striking. At first, it was a neat addition, since it beat the pants off of the cheesy sound effects my past opponents used. Ultimately, turning off the volume becomes a favorable option in an attempt to retain your sanity.

In terms of replayability, someone might want to try and conquer the continent with each of the rulers, I know I did, but you might be better off just pretending that you did. In the long run, it saves you lots of time, and minimizes the amount of time spent doing the same things over and over.

To sum up, this is a game that should be avoided like the plague. If you're a die hard fan of the card game, and you honestly believe you can tolerate what little this game has to offer, then it may be worth paying the $10 or $15 for it, depending on what the local Bargain-Bin prices are. Otherwise, you're better off sticking with the card game.

Reviewer's Score: 2/10, Originally Posted: 03/16/02, Updated 03/16/02