Magic the Gathering: Battlegrounds
- November 19, 2003 11:20 AM PST
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A real-time fighting/strategy game starring the spells from Magic: The Gathering? Gold!
Magic: The Gathering addiction is a serious matter. For 10 years, gamers have been pouring their life savings into the granddaddy of all collectable card games. Atari?s Magic: The Gathering?Battlegrounds is a bit like a nicotine patch for Magic addicts?it removes all the spending of lawn-mowing money and combing through musty boxes of cards, but retains all the strategy and coolness of the card game. At least, in theory.The preview version of Battlegrounds showed off a game of quick thinking and strategy in which you must know what spells you have and how to combine them to pull off various feats. For example, a Defiant Elf is a weak creature, but its Trample ability enables it to keep attacking if it still has damage left to do. Cast Giant Growth on it, and you get a powerful creature capable of some real damage. A thorough Quest mode (essentially a massive tutorial for every individual spell in the game) teaches you how to play and unlocks all the spells. It?s up to you to use them well.
The early version didn?t look fantastic, but the action was involving enough that it didn?t matter so much. It?s an original game in a world of sequels, and it already does a lot to bring Magic to life on the Xbox.
