Magic: the Gathering Duels of the Planeswalkers Co-Op Review
Review System(s): Xbox Live Arcade
Katrina "Shadokat Regn" Pawlowski Thursday 09th of July 2009 11:36 PM
(Since the co-op in Duels of the Planeswalkers is based on an old variant called Two Headed Giant, Kat and Marc decided to team up for this review.)
-Kat-
To many of the geeky persuasion, Magic: The Gathering is a favorite past time. Many afternoons were spent burning, trampling, and pacifying one another in the lunch room cafeteria. Many lunch monies were spent on booster packs, and many friends were made in the process. Years later, Magic: The Gathering has a digital format true to the original card game. Duels of The Planeswalkers is that game, bringing Magic to our Xbox LIVE arcade! Play against opponents around the world, or settle down for some local co-op that brings Planeswalkers together. Does Duels of the Planeswalkers work the Co-op angle well, or should you stick to comic book stores for your social-Magic fix?
Magic: The Gathering is a fantasy card game, with different color coded decks that each have their own strengths. For instance, green (forest) decks will have massive creatures at your command. Blue (water) decks will have a lot of magic spells and counter spells at your disposal. Red (mountain) decks will use a lot of direct aggressive attacks on your opponent. Black (swamp) decks will whittle away at your opponents life with gruesome sneaky spells. Finally, White (plains) decks utilize a lot of life regeneration and paralyzing pacifism against your opponent. Each of these decks requires it's own color "mana," or land cards of that color to buy spells or creatures. The rules are a lot more in-depth than that, but that's a general run down of what's going on here.
Magic: Duels of the Planeswalkers has several gameplay modes. Campaign, where you're pitted against AI "bosses" with different color decks and strategies. In this mode, you'll unlock new colored decks by winning against opponents. Each win also earns you new cards to add to your existing decks. Challenge mode, which gives you a scenario that you have to win in one turn against the odds. This mode gives the puzzle arcade people something very unique to play to the beat of a Magic drum. Online versus modes, up to 4 players in a battle royale to see who comes out on top. Finally, Co-op, which puts two players against two AI bosses for an interesting twist on the Magic we're used to. Co-op can be in either campaign mode, or "custom match" where you decide what color decks your opponents use.
Co-op in Duels of the Planeswalkers has many great aspects, while missing the boat in a few places. There are those of us with a significant other, friend, or offspring that asks "what is Magic?" Now, we can effectively and inexpensively share our love of the game via co-op! Play a round of Magic without having to buy packs of cards to make decks, or worry about making one another angry with a win-lose scenario. Sharing the love while kicking butt and taking names. Sign me up! This brand of co-op is straight forward, and simple.
Unfortunately, Magic: The Gathering likes to throw a challenge at us, and Arttemis and I were quickly stumped in one very specific way. We both played green Forest decks, hoping we'd be able to swap mana. Unfortunately, when I had the big expensive creatures, he had all the mana with no opportunity to share that mana - which basically means, we were stuck between a tree and a Craw Wurm. If one player in co-op has a massive creature that could potentially do a lot of damage to the opponents, the other co-op player should be able to "loan" mana out.
Magic: The Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers is incredibly well done as a seamless format switch. Original style cards, same rule sets, and wonderfully addictive nature brings back memories for an old Magic junkie. Beautifully balanced decks with potential DLC in the future should make any fan very happy with this type of adaptation. In order to incorporate the co-op players better, a few co-op specific aspects needed to be present. Co-op if you can, but single player is okay, too.
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Reader Comments 
Personally,I probably would have rated it one point higher. I can tell you that I had more fun playing this co-op than I did playing the last Call of Duty game.
My apologies for Kat and I missing this, as well as how some decks unlock 17 cards. That one was a simple oversight, but I really think the unlocks should get announced in game any time you get them.
I adjusted the score upwards a half point to reflect this, as I consider it a major change.
Total Comments: 7
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