Magic The Gathering: Duel of the PlanesWalkers 2013 *UPDATED FOR DLC*

CCG’s are a big thing (Collectible Card Games for those not in the know) and while many speak of Pokémon and Yu Gi Oh, the granddaddy of them all is Magic the Gathering. Even I was a victim of the game known to some as cardboard crack! In my teens I spent hours shifting through piles of cards in the back of my local RPG shop trying to find a rare card or just the perfect creature card to finish off my deck. But then I left school and I found plenty of other vices to entertain my time with.

So it was with trepidation that I booted up Magic The Gathering: Duel of the Planeswalkers 2013. Would it still be the same over a decade later would I still enjoy it like I used to do and would I even recognise the game in its current form? Well it’s a little from the Yes column and a little from the no column.

For those new to the series, Magic the Gathering is all about destroying your opponent’s life force before he/she does the same to you. You do this by casting various spells or summoning creatures to attach your opponent with. The spells come in various types ranging from healing and damage dealing to giving bonuses to your creatures. The creatures themselves range from weak little creatures to huge hulking behemoths that are virtually unstoppable. All these cards are activated using Mana which is produced from Land cards with the more powerful the Magic card the more Mana required. Sounds simple enough but like most games the rules are simple to pick up but take ages to fully master.




First up this is game is not going to appeal to people who don’t like CCG’s. Essentially it’s a card game for your Xbox and if you’re after an RPG or a FPS this isn’t going to satisfy you. Although the images of the cards are as stunning as ever and used in the loading screens expect to spend a lot of time looking at a table full of cards. Don’t let this put you off as if you like strategy then Magic has everything you would need.

First up there is quite an extensive tutorial section which not only explains all the basics but will introduce all the new effects of various spells and creatures as you come across them. So if you’re new to the game or like me been away for a while you’ll soon be well on your way. Your actually best off starting with the campaign mode of the game to get your head round the mechanics of it all as this will introduce you to some basic opponents as well as a series of battles where the opponent will repeat exactly the same moves every time allowing you to find your mistakes and learn from them quickly and easily.

Once you’ve got the hang of the basics you may want to try out some of the other modes on offer such as the Challenges mode which will put you in a tricky situation and give you a small number of moves to turn it around and win the game (much like the old Chess puzzles in the newspapers!). There is also a Revenge mode which pits you against tougher versions of your opponents from the main campaign.




There are also opportunities to take on more than one opponent in the brand new Planeschase mode where you will take on three CPU opponents at once in a free-for-all. The uniqueness of this mode comes from the Planes cards. These give a random effect across all players – some positive some negative. Every turn players can roll a six-sided dice to either activate a bonus effect of the Plane card in play or change it for a new one. However be warned this is a very tough mode and slightly unbalanced against you. For instance the CPU would often ignore a player whose life points were rocketing into the 100’s and attack my little 1/1 goblin instead!

Also included to play are normal free-for-all matches as well as doubles games called Two Headed Giant games where you and an ally share a combined life point total against another two players. Obviously all these modes are also available to play online but make sure you’ve got a good grasp of the mechanics before jumping online as some players are real pros at this game but are usually friendly about the beating they will give you!!

Handily though there is a full Deck management option so you can adjust your initial deck of cards to your play style as you unlock new cards from winning games. Again though I would highly recommend making sure you have a good grasp of the game before playing around with your beginning deck otherwise you may well remove some vital cards!!




As I said earlier being essentially a simulation of a card game the graphics and sound although far from bad are nothing spectacular but are certainly functional. The online connections are pretty good as well which I have heard were an issue in the past for the series so it’s good to see this has been fixed as the longevity of this game is definitely in its online service.

Achievements are unsurprisingly tough but with a little luck and effort this is still a manageable max though it will take a bit of time depending on your skill level. Thankfully there is only one Live achievement which requires you to win one online duel so it’s not impossibly difficult!

Overall this is a nicely polished game which certainly reminded me of why I loved the game in my youth. Although it won’t appeal to everyone I’d certainly recommend fans of strategy check it out as you’ll be surprised at how quickly you can get dragged into the game! Fans of CCG’s and Magic itself though probably will already have this but if they haven’t they really should pick this up as it’s a fantastic version of the game

Overall Score - 8/10


As with every Duels of the Planeswalkers game, much like the actual TCG, expansions are inevitable and often bring slight improvements to the mechanics of the game as well as new decks and new strategies. The latest DLC expansion pack is no exception but allows players to prepare for the new Return to Ravinca expansion due for the TCG soon.

Content-wise the DLC is quite packed with a new campaign which allows you to unlock five new multi-coloured decks (my preferred type of deck being Black/Green but in a 2nd Edition player) as well as more challenge puzzles and a revenge campaign to tie in with the new campaign.

The single player campaign revolves around five new planeswalkers called Azorius, Golgari, Izzet, Rakdos and Selesnya who represent the five guilds of Ravinca and also the five multi-coloured decks (Blue/White, Black/Green, Blue/Red, Red/Black and Green/White respectively). Although I’ve been away from the TCG for a number of years it’s good to see the general approaches to the multi-decks still remaining the same for instance red/black is all about damage while blue/white is all about spell casting and single powerful flying creatures.

Although the five new Challenges are much like the old chess puzzles from the newspapers, they are a nice added bonus but much like the in the core game once mastered you are unlikely to ever return to them. Again the Revenge campaign (being a mode to re-challenge all the decks you beat in campaign but with added difficulty) is a nice touch but not one for much replay.

However Magic has always been about its Multiplayer aspect and the additional cards and abilities the DLC brings has opened up a whole new range of strategies to use against your opponents. The only downside to all this is that now the core mono-colour decks don’t stand too much of a chance against the multi-coloured decks (just like the TCG itself) and although some players will be able to win with mono decks, the majority of us players will be going back to the drawing board and creating whole new strategies for these new decks and cards.

Overall, if you loved the main core game this is a given to buy and at 400MSP it’s not a big hit to the bank. This may even win over a few fence sitters who found the mono decks a bit weak but to anyone who just isn’t into the who TCG scene this isn’t going to change their minds as its essentially more of the same. However it is a solid piece of DLC and definitely worth picking up if you’re a fan

Overall 8/10

Nice review tenners, this is one to miss for me Im afraid though I'm not a fan of the genre. it looks visually good from the screenshots though and looksd like there's plenty to get your teeth in from what you've described I'm sure fans of the genre will love it.

Nice review. Need to get round to this and it seems there is a good amount of extras to be had... sadly though i've still to finish the first one and then do 2012 before I get to this (goddamn falling behind!).

Not so much a fan of magic - Prefer yu-gi-oh - however, i'm familiar with the rules of magic and since the XBLA yu-gi-oh game was a huge let down it seems the magic series may suit my CCG needs

Super sonic as ever Tenners! I'm sure you're getting better with each review mate!

I've updated the review to include a review of the latest DLC for the game which you'll find at the end of the main review.