Gamer reviews for Magic 2015

Virtual Magic Cards

Magic 2015 (also known as Magic 2015 – Duels of the Planeswalkers) is a game based on the immensely popular CCG “Magic the Gathering”. It was also released on the Windows, Xbox 360, Xbox One, IOS, and Android. The game covers only the latest installments of the original card game and works on a restrained and limited framework.

Single Player campaign only has free one campaign level available with 4 different bosses. You must purchase the other “Expansion” sets or campaign stages or Planesbased on before you can play them. If you win a duel, you'll get one free booster with random cards inside. You can only get a booster once per won duel and to get more, you'll have to unlock the campaign area (by buying it) and exploring it.

The actual “battlefield” is simple but you need to occasionally tap on the cards laid on the field to zoom them and properly read their effects.

You can pause the game to view the Information Overlay option. This will display more information about the different parts of the battlefield. The game also has very accessible How To's and help menus that players can review anytime, even during the middle of combat.

The game is very user-friendly as it will automatically give players tooltips and prompts whenever a card's effect is triggered.

You have access to the Deck Builder. For first time players, you'll be given a starter deck to mess around with. You're free to modify the deck whenever you get new, more useful cards. You can also create a deck from scratch; however, you can only select the starter deck you selected as a template or use a Custom template.

The game's deck building option includes a very useful Filter function that can segregate the cards based on their type, color, rarity, and converted mana cost. You can also edit your Deck's name, it's appearance, and get an overview about how many creatures and other spells it has, the deck's color distribution, mana curve, its speed, strength, control and synergy.

In the shop, you can buy additional booster packs. Take note that premium booster packs are won through multiplayer matches. There's an option to convert 30 cards into premium foils as well, at a cost of real money.

The game is designed to help newbies to get accustomed to the game as fast and effective as possible. However, with Magic the Gathering's more than 20 years history, there were already tons of mechanics, updates, rules, and other updates that newbies may find overwhelming. Concentrating on the 2015 expansions is already a good idea since players will have access to those cards/decks in real life in case they'll want to learn to play the actual card game.

The game itself is very demanding in terms of the device resources. My Nexus 7 2nd Gen becomes warmer (probably because of the components working harder to keep the game working) while playing the game and the battery seems to drain faster as well, even if the game is the only one running.

The game's graphics is smooth, the visuals stunning, and the illustrations magnificent. The response when transitioning between options is sluggish and laggy but that's a bit understandable especially as mentioned, the game puts a heavy burden on the hardware and available resources when running. The audio is quite fitting and pleasant as well. Nothing special to note about it but it sets the mood in the game just right, along with great sound effects.

The game heavily thrives on microtransactions before you can fully enjoy what the game has to offer. The real card game which the mobile game is based on, already requires real money. (And you'll have to spend A LOT if you want a good, competitive deck) Unless you're located in a rural area or somewhere you don't have other people to play with, then you may consider paying for the game. However, if you really want to learn MTG and enjoy the game with other people, I don't see any point of spending cash on virtual cards when you can get those deck(s) / cards (albeit much expensive) in real life.

Overall, the game might be captivating to some players who are interested in the game, and long-time players of the original CCG might even use the game as a simulator in case they're want to try out the real-life equivalent of the decks presented in the game. However, for a player with totally no knowledge about the game, it might be uninteresting and unimpressive, on top of the high demand on device storage space and resources.