Magic: The Gathering - Battlegrounds

I find it hard to believe that any Magic The Gathering fan won't like this game. I've caught myself playing the game hours on end.

Although it's far from cutting edge graphically, it puts together a balanced gameplay that fans of the card game should enjoy.

The graphics and sound are as solid as the strategy. They didn't quite match the card game's distinctive art style, but most avid players will be able to identify each creature at a glance.

While it can become predictable at times, the game does have Xbox Live support, which adds to its shelf life. [Apr 2004, p.8]

I've played so many "Warcraft III" clones recently that it's really refreshing to cover a game that's actually doing something innovative. However, it's the online and VS games that really flesh out Battlegrounds, since the single-player experience is pretty flat.

The spell effects are fantastic, and the arenas are cool-looking, but the duelist models and the in-game videos clearly needed some more work, both on the graphical AND content fronts.

A horrid single-player quest mode offers frustrating, ill-designed scenarios. [Mar 2004, p.91]