Magic the Gathering – Tactics : Catastrophic spells, unknown creatures… all for free!
The newest free-to-play game on Steam is Magic the Gathering: Tactics, an offering by Sony Entertainment Online. This is not to say that the game is new. In fact the game is already a year old, having been released in January 2011 and it's been expanded by an expansion named “Secrets of Terisiare.”
Of course, I can already hear everyone in the background freaking out about the fact that we really don't need another Duels of the Planeswalker game. Why does Magic the Gathering need yet another title on the video game market? Well, let's quell those thoughts right now... this is not a remake of Duels of the Planeswalkers. In fact, this game is only loosely based on Magic the Gathering at all. So now that we have that out of the way, let's figure out what's going on here... right after the jump!
First thing you'll notice bringing the game up is the fact that it's a Sony Station game. If you don't know what that means, then be glad that you haven't been corrupted by their games already! That said, it's not too bad, you'll just have to log in with your station pass (which I've had for a long time for checking out games like this) and then you're into the game quite quickly. From my first look, it seems as if the Station client handles the patching of the game, but I'm not entirely sure yet as there wasn't much in the way of patching at this point.
Once you're into the game for the first time, you'll be able to set up the avatar with which you'll be fighting all your battles. You get about three options with which to go with, and then choose from five different color themes for their outfit. That is the only customization that you're going to get... so don't expect to spend a bunch of time working your Planeswalker's look. Then, you get to make a choice about what type of summoning you want to do. There are five different starter decks that are given to you. Each is based on different playstyles so I ended up with Nature which focused on boosting power and health. Other options included a Backstabber which focused on movement and flanking, as well as a Fire based which focused on direct damage.
The tutorial is good, but small enough that you can get through it in just a few minutes. Coming out of the tutorial, I was pretty clear on how to play the game without feeling that I wasted large amounts of time that I could have been playing. Voice-overs that explain everything even make it so you don't have to read much of anything.
Now, the actual gameplay is something that is quite different than other Magic the Gathering games up to this point. While you're still playing as a Planeswalker and you're gathering mana and casting spells, while summoning creatures from across the Multiverse, this is not a card game. If you were to compare this type of gameplay to another game, it'd be closer to the Heroes of Might and Magic or King's Bounty games. Summoning creatures onto a grid with simple enviroments is only the beginning as you then move them around on the grid much like chess, to smash your enemies into little pieces.
One of the many, many different creatures you will be summoning...
Since this is an online game by Sony, it's got a full levelling system as well, allowing you to level up your Planeswalker and unlocking more ability points, which upgrade skills/spells and unlock further abilities for your summoner. Each mission in the campaign gives you experience and you're going to keep unlocking new abilities and cards. There's also a multiplayer side to this game (both tournament style and pick up games with friends), but I didn't see many people playing there (the Steam release will augment their online community for a while).
While I've been playing this type of game for a long time, it tends to be a bit slow for the people who are used to today's action-based games. That said, for a Magic the Gathering fan, it may be exactly the correct pacing, as everything is turn based and you have time to consider your next moves. It also feels somewhat like a board game, which should also be somewhat familiar to those of you who still have stacks of cards hidden in that closet in your parent's basement.
Like all the other free-to-play games out there, Magic the Gathering-Tactics has a full blown in game store where you can spend real money to buy more Planeswalker avatars, more decks, individual cards, and many other convenience items. From what I could tell, you could probably get most of the cards by just playing the game... but it's going to take a long time grinding if you're not willing to shell out some cash to play this one.
Final thoughts? The game plays well, it's a smooth experience (not that we expected something different Sony's game wing). That said, it's an overdone experience and you're going to enjoy a playthrough of Heroes of Might and Magic 3 more, because honeslty the latter is a better game. However, for the Magic the Gathering fans, this game allows you to use the same idea as the card game in a different genre of gameplay which should shake things up quite a bit.
Final Grade: C
(Bugless gameplay, but boring and better done by other games)