Magic: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014

 PC
User Score
6.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 117 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 49 out of 117
  2. Mixed: 34 out of 117
  3. Negative: 34 out of 117

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  1. lallan7
    Jul 13, 2013
    3
    I enjoyed the last two DoTP, and found this to be a big disappointment. I understand that a good amount of the game revenue will be generated through the dlc's. I have no problem with that.
    However, the interface was made poorly. They made it look better, but function slower, and generally harder to navigate. It's very easy to play the wrong thing, or select the wrong card (they    I enjoyed the last two DoTP, and found this to be a big disappointment. I understand that a good amount of the game revenue will be generated through the dlc's. I have no problem with that.
    However, the interface was made poorly. They made it look better, but function slower, and generally harder to navigate. It's very easy to play the wrong thing, or select the wrong card (they slightly shade the one you are selecting, and there is a delay so you can mess it up easily). I play the PC version with an xbox controller. You get to see an awesome example of poor programming this way. If your mouse moves at all, your controller stops working. You can keep playing with the mouse, but that should not occur when the game is set up correctly.
    The game itself is tedious, and far less entertaining then the previous. The encounters are set up to be extremely repetitive and unimaginative. I get that the matches are meant to have patterns, but with as few matches as there are in the game, those very limited patterns get boring quickly. The puzzles are a joke as well. I know the last one had pretty difficult puzzles, but these are just too easy. They involve such difficulties as "play something from your hand", or "attack with a creature that can get through".
    They give you a very limited selection on your decks, which again, I understand as they make money off the expansions. However these decks are very close to the last duels, so again they are pretty boring. I find it frustrating to play against a deck I unlocked completely, and see the computer pull out cards that deck doesn't have.
    Overall, I see where they are going with this, but the execution was poorly wrought and the game had the biggest fault I can give a game it was not fun. I hope they address the issues in upcoming patches and dlc's or release a better game in the future.    … Expand
  2. BoredBork
    Jun 26, 2013
    3
    Overall I'm pretty disappointed with how they advertised "sealed play" first off you get 2 deck slots in which to play sealed(but you can spend MORE MONEY! if you want more). however you get 6 booster packs to make a meh 40 card dual color if you're lucky, unfortunately the campaign you are NOT playing against other sealed constructed decks you're playing against potent 40 card MONO decksOverall I'm pretty disappointed with how they advertised "sealed play" first off you get 2 deck slots in which to play sealed(but you can spend MORE MONEY! if you want more). however you get 6 booster packs to make a meh 40 card dual color if you're lucky, unfortunately the campaign you are NOT playing against other sealed constructed decks you're playing against potent 40 card MONO decks myself hit a wall at jace(second guy, yet 17% done already) all in all you don't get boosters after each win like the advertising and the descriptions on steam made it out to be. Otherwise it's just a flashy(litrerally) Magic:2013(which I had more viable decks available on anyway) with a disgustingly blue and bland menu. I just can't help feel a little cheated, would rather not have gotten it.… Expand
  3. Eanae
    Jun 30, 2013
    0
    Created an account just to review the game. That's how bad it is. Playing cards versus highly tuned AI decks with pre-determined deck orders has to be the stupidest idea I've ever seen.
  4. ntall1
    Jun 27, 2013
    0
    The last one was very bad and this one is no different. This time they took the fans plea's of "We want deck building" And found a way to implement it in the worst possible way with the most limiting restrictions forcing you into micro transactions.

    The reason one would buy an arcade version of MTG is for the casual experience and not having to buy tons of booster packs to make our    The last one was very bad and this one is no different. This time they took the fans plea's of "We want deck building" And found a way to implement it in the worst possible way with the most limiting restrictions forcing you into micro transactions.

    The reason one would buy an arcade version of MTG is for the casual experience and not having to buy tons of booster packs to make our decks better. Now they want you to do that even in the casual experience.

    Only version of this game that was any good was 2011, and 2012 wasn't nearly as bad as 13, 14.    … Expand
  5. kirkkh
    Aug 5, 2013
    3
    Holy god this game sucks! No custom decks! Evil greedy psuedo-sealed play (you have to pay $1 to play it after 2 times)! All the while feeling like this is just a marketing gimmick to get you buy magic cards (the game feels like just a long tutorial/advertisement for MTG). Seriously appalling.
  6. dopigsfly123
    Nov 23, 2013
    3
    Very disappointing.

    1. The pre-made decks are terrible and they allow very little flexibility to change them. 2. The timer system is awful, too. First time I've ever needed to use reflexes to play magic. 3. The default settings prevent you from targeting your own creatures with certain spells. Why? Who knows! 4. The in-game purchases are outrageous. They want real money just to use a    Very disappointing.

    1. The pre-made decks are terrible and they allow very little flexibility to change them.
    2. The timer system is awful, too. First time I've ever needed to use reflexes to play magic.
    3. The default settings prevent you from targeting your own creatures with certain spells. Why? Who knows!
    4. The in-game purchases are outrageous. They want real money just to use a full versions of their crap pre-made decks.
    5. On top of all of this, the computer cheats. It appears to be programmed to get near perfect hands. After around 50 games, I've never seen it get stuck with less than 5 land (or the wrong type of land, even against decks with 3+ colors), and it has a near-perfect mana curve every single time.    … Expand
  7. yoli82
    Jun 9, 2014
    0
    The "Instant" mechanic bugs out for 9/10 abilities. A total disgrace for the Magic franchise. As for minor but also annoying details, the board is always extremely small with lot of wasted space and you have to zoom in on each card if you want to read it comfortably - something that Hearthstone does so much better.
  8. suneater
    Aug 22, 2013
    2
    Introducing a new "Sealed Deck" game mode, DotP 2014 at first appears to finally introduce deck customization to the series. Sadly, this is just another marketing ploy, a shallow attempt at introducing casuals to the limited Sealed Deck format. You open up boosters composed of cards available in DotP 2014, resulting in terrible mish-mashed decks (with still no non-basic lands available!)Introducing a new "Sealed Deck" game mode, DotP 2014 at first appears to finally introduce deck customization to the series. Sadly, this is just another marketing ploy, a shallow attempt at introducing casuals to the limited Sealed Deck format. You open up boosters composed of cards available in DotP 2014, resulting in terrible mish-mashed decks (with still no non-basic lands available!) that you have to use against mono-colored decks. If you "unwrap" a terrible set of boosters, there is no reset button; after the initial two decks you can make you have to buy additional slots at $1.99 each. This game also features the worst decks in the series: STILL no non-basic lands and a terrible core set (m14 is incredibly bland with casualified slivers).

    Once again locking you out of all but two decks at the start (Chandra & Garruk's again), DotP 2014 is a terrible introduction to MTG for new and casual players. Featuring the worst decks, the worst UI, easiest challenges, an awful campaign comprised of static decks (enemies pull the same cards no matter what, making the campaign little more than long challenges), and the worst game modes, 2014 is the worst DotP game since the original and not worth playing.    … Expand
  9. RobinSeina
    Aug 2, 2013
    4
    Here comes new Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014. Should we be in awe and say "yay!"? I think not. The only new thing that came this year is draft play called sealed campaign. Other mods includes include classic campaign through planes, two-headed giant and custom game. If you compare this with MtG: DotP 2013, you find missing planechase mode. In the multiplayer there is high number cheatingHere comes new Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014. Should we be in awe and say "yay!"? I think not. The only new thing that came this year is draft play called sealed campaign. Other mods includes include classic campaign through planes, two-headed giant and custom game. If you compare this with MtG: DotP 2013, you find missing planechase mode. In the multiplayer there is high number cheating players thanks to open deck creation that came thanks to sealed campaign.

    In short MtG DotP 2014 brings on plus side this years card editions, draft play and deck building and is better optimized for mouse and keyboard.
    On cons side it´s missing planechase mode, has some unwelcome UI changes, and there is cheating in multiplayer.
    If that´s enough for you to buy the game is up to you.    … Expand
  10. raiokincaris
    Dec 9, 2013
    2
    It's honestly disappointing to me how they made this promotional product. Oops, I mean "game," in every sense that Candy Crush Saga is a game (hint: pay2win much?) and the only thing more disappointing is there's absolutely no way possible you can get different cards in the sealed decks because they're generated based on your username (which means if you use Steam, it's tied to your SteamIt's honestly disappointing to me how they made this promotional product. Oops, I mean "game," in every sense that Candy Crush Saga is a game (hint: pay2win much?) and the only thing more disappointing is there's absolutely no way possible you can get different cards in the sealed decks because they're generated based on your username (which means if you use Steam, it's tied to your Steam account name).

    It's just sad to see MtG utterly ruined in such an awesome, flashy piece of coding that really could have excelled, but it's only for promoting one new line. The only way to truly excel at the deck puzzles is to actually pay for the decks. I'm sadly not joking. They allow you to pay for virtual cards that have no bearing on anything other than "I can finally beat this one guy" and they expect you to shell out the cash, especially if you want to beat everyone for the shiny achievements.

    It's just a re-skinned, re-worked, re-marketed clone of everything that is wrong with MMOs, and it's not even an MMO. I'd rather buy the actual physical cards. At least then I can play with those with more than one person and not something that is obviously rigged from the start.    … Expand
  11. Stormrhodos
    Jun 26, 2013
    2
    Dealbreaker: the promised deck customization is almost nonexistant,purely rng-luck based and heavily restricted to a few random cards you will get in your 6 starter booster packs.And it only exists in the "sealed deck campaign",which is essentially 6enemies in a row.
    Don't buy this game because the long-awaited (and needed!) addition of deck customization and booster packs sounded nice    Dealbreaker: the promised deck customization is almost nonexistant,purely rng-luck based and heavily restricted to a few random cards you will get in your 6 starter booster packs.And it only exists in the "sealed deck campaign",which is essentially 6enemies in a row.
    Don't buy this game because the long-awaited (and needed!) addition of deck customization and booster packs sounded nice (which it did.) The advertized "deck customization via booster packs you unlock ingame" is absolutely disappointing and lackluster,you essentially get 2 chances of 6booster packs each (which can't be exchanged,you just unlock the random cards you get in those 6 packs on one of the 2 free "sealed deck campaign slots",which you cannot delete or "try again",you would have to buy more slots to get more chances) and if you happen to not get decent synergy cards or just cards that wont work well versus the first enemies you're forced to fight against in a set order, you're screwed or at least won't have a good time at all. Your only way of unlocking new booster packs is by defeating every second planewalker in your "path",which you cannot change,it is randomly set for you,with a chance of certain planewalkers not appearing or others appearing multiple times. Again,you cannot choose who to fight in which order. The game makes the decision for you. If you cannot get past one of these planewalkers (which have a fully unlocked mono deck each from the very start with beefy cards and good synergies) you will not progress and you will not get any more booster packs until the luck is on your side in a match. What sealed deck mode essentially boils down to is: If you're lucky on your first 6 boosters and you get enough creatures and synergy to make it work against the randomly chosen enemies with fully unlocked decks and strategies, you might get to a point where you can actually make a deck to your liking or develop a strategy that *you* chose,not that the game or rng chose for you.
    Still sounds acceptable to you? Here comes another bombshell.
    The screenshots and steam description of the game made it look like you could unlock booster packs by defeating certain enemies,which is only true *FOR THE FIRST TIME* you defeat that enemy. What.the.hell!
    Now,this *would* have worked if they just added a way to actually unlock booster packs by winning versus a certain enemy several times (and getting a booster pack each time you defeat an enemy) ,or hell,if they even allowed you to pick your enemies so you're not stuck on the same planewalker you cannot defeat because of the random card distribution. But no. You will only unlock a new booster pack if you defeat a certain planewalker for the first time. If you happen to not get any cards that compliment your existing limited number of cards you got from your first 6packs...you guessed it. You're screwed or won't have a fun time until you painfully unlock the next booster pack if you can manage to defeat 2 more planewalkers with fully unlocked decks. You can repeat battles versus planewalkers you defeated...but it doesn't give you anything. nada. And after defeating the first enemy on my path I was already at 17% completion. so if the system of unlocking ONE(!) booster pack every 2 enemies continues to be existant, you will unlock a whooping 3 booster packs in your sealed deck "campaign". 3.packs. 9packs in total. there is no way you would get enough cards to actually build and customize a deck to your liking/personal strategy. The game makes that choice for you,so pray to the rng-gods that you get enough creatures and cards to make a deck you somewhat like,to then fight against the same 6 enemies the game chooses for you over and over for nothing.
    This is ridiculous. Sealed deck mode sounded like it could have potential to finally bring deck customization and the fun of unlocking booster packs to the Magic Videogame series. Unfortunately,it seems it was just a way of tricking people into thinking the game finally has proper deckbuilding yet again. Sealed deck mode is essentially "fight 6 planewalkers,which the game chooses for you, in a row with an improvised deck of a very limited number of total cards." It isn't a campaign. And it sure as hell isn't the deckbuilding via booster packs a lot of us have hoped for.

    A non-fanboy can't help but to feel ripped off. The normal campaign is the same as previous games. You have prebuilt mono decks you can "choose" from (usage of the word choice in this game is an overstatement) and you work your way through often predictable AI until you get bored and hope for the next game to finally have proper deck customization and personal strategy planning. They goofed it up again.    … Expand
  12. gesi
    Feb 28, 2014
    0
    Waste of time slow ass game with boring mechanic blank board, there are better games like Spectromancer for me has better music and strategy combat. Also seem to be bad optimized for PC .
  13. Surg3on
    Jul 3, 2013
    3
    For some reason they make it incredibly hard for me to have a casual game against a computer opponent without forking out another $10! Graphics are poor with much of the wonderful art wasted with the table taking up 85% of the screen. Surely they could fork out for an animator or something?

    That said once you get into the game it works and the AI opponents are very challenging (as    For some reason they make it incredibly hard for me to have a casual game against a computer opponent without forking out another $10! Graphics are poor with much of the wonderful art wasted with the table taking up 85% of the screen. Surely they could fork out for an animator or something?

    That said once you get into the game it works and the AI opponents are very challenging (as others have pointed out this is mainly due to the decks being completely unfair in sealed mode). Campaign mode is just as dull as dishwater as the opponent is completely non-random. Actual gameplay pace is frustratingly slow with no option to speed it up so in the end the game is just DULL.    … Expand
  14. Judasace
    Jun 28, 2013
    0
    Terrible game. "Sealed" puts your limited pool of cards up against mono-colored constructed decks...also I'm pretty sure there is a cheat in the AI to make sure they never get mana screwed and have near perfect draws. Also in regular play a couple of the decks are clearly overpowered. UI is very clunky and unintuitive (Tip clicking a card in the card pool should center on that card andTerrible game. "Sealed" puts your limited pool of cards up against mono-colored constructed decks...also I'm pretty sure there is a cheat in the AI to make sure they never get mana screwed and have near perfect draws. Also in regular play a couple of the decks are clearly overpowered. UI is very clunky and unintuitive (Tip clicking a card in the card pool should center on that card and zoom in, not automatically add it to my deck before I can even look at it.)… Expand
  15. Gojuroku
    Nov 13, 2013
    2
    I actually made the effort to create an account just to review this game. I have been playing Magic since revised ed and is a huge fan, which adds to my huge disappointment to this poor excuse of an adaptation of what is the greatest game ever.
    You can download and play for free, but for very limited features. I paid to unlock the game but it's just not worth it. Like many reviewers have    I actually made the effort to create an account just to review this game. I have been playing Magic since revised ed and is a huge fan, which adds to my huge disappointment to this poor excuse of an adaptation of what is the greatest game ever.
    You can download and play for free, but for very limited features. I paid to unlock the game but it's just not worth it. Like many reviewers have pointed out you can only play the sealed game 2 times; you'd need to pay to "unlock" subsequent games. Unlike conventional sealed games, you do not get to "keep" the cards as the cards are solely for the very sealed game, which is useless after you completed that game.
    Oh and there is no customisable deck; you just get cards to add on to the pre-build decks. And these additional cards are just additional copies from the same deck. Imagine Magic where deck construction is non-existent... Wha?
    The interface can be frustrating occasionally, especially for cards that "search card from library". It sometimes does not select the card you want. The drag to cast motion can sometime be hard to execute, for reasons unknown, and can ruin your game when trying to play instants in reaction. (Good luck with counter spells).
    The most annoying bug has got to be the constant crashes. (I have read this in some reviews but chose not to believe it was that bad, guess I deserved it). I must have attempted the raving prophet like 5 times, and it always crashes when I have the upper hand. Guess the app is a sore loser.
    I still love the original game, but just stay away from this horrendous app. It's not worth even downloading for free. If you must, do not spend any money on it. Don't let this ruin your opinion of MTG.    … Expand
  16. Piani
    Jan 2, 2014
    1
    Created an account just to rage about this stupidass game. It's almost impossible to enjoy a casual game against the computer, as the CPU always has enough lands, gets a perfect draw every time, and whips through synergies faster than you can read them. Half the time the CPU had flyers, tokens and artifacts out before I could even summon a spider. To make matters worse, when a card isCreated an account just to rage about this stupidass game. It's almost impossible to enjoy a casual game against the computer, as the CPU always has enough lands, gets a perfect draw every time, and whips through synergies faster than you can read them. Half the time the CPU had flyers, tokens and artifacts out before I could even summon a spider. To make matters worse, when a card is played in the center and you try to read it, half the time it's zoomed off to the graveyard, making you find it, reselect it and THEN you can read just how you are. To make matters worse, it starts you off with this slow-ass green deck that takes forever to get going (if it gets going at all), followed by this clunky red deck with no card synergy whatesoever and very little direct damage. The best part is when you first log in, they ask you how much MTG you've played; meaning if you're new to the game, you're completely baffled, and if you're experienced you'll be outraged. Ragequit followed by rage-uninstall!… Expand
  17. HarrisonKHall
    Jan 17, 2014
    2
    Same game, different year. The sealed deck feature isn't a feature; it's the developer trying to mine paying customers for more money for save slots. That's right; stainless games makes you pay them money if you want to use your own HD.

    The only reason I don't give this game a strait zero is that the usual amount of polish is on display; the UI works more or less correctly 95% of the    Same game, different year. The sealed deck feature isn't a feature; it's the developer trying to mine paying customers for more money for save slots. That's right; stainless games makes you pay them money if you want to use your own HD.

    The only reason I don't give this game a strait zero is that the usual amount of polish is on display; the UI works more or less correctly 95% of the time, the sounds and visual effects have a charming appeal, and it "feels" like magic. Still, the single player AI is a joke, the card unlocking is tedious and designed to get you to pay them to avoid it, the flaunted "sealed deck game" is just a cash grab, and it all plays like a commercial for magic the gathering.

    This game and it's developer are an absolute joke. There is nothing here worth recommending unless you like giving money to greedy developers who have somehow managed to do less in the less three years that the Madden franchise..    … Expand
  18. Eskana
    Jul 25, 2014
    3
    Now, I love Magic: The Gathering, and when I saw this in the steam sale at Christmas, I was like: "What the hell, I'll try it out, it's only like £3." But... My mind is blown at how poorly done it is. This must be one of the cheapest games in the world to make, besides a few CGI cutscenes and like, Chandra's voice actress.

    The mechanics are OK, they do the job, but my biggest problem is    Now, I love Magic: The Gathering, and when I saw this in the steam sale at Christmas, I was like: "What the hell, I'll try it out, it's only like £3." But... My mind is blown at how poorly done it is. This must be one of the cheapest games in the world to make, besides a few CGI cutscenes and like, Chandra's voice actress.

    The mechanics are OK, they do the job, but my biggest problem is the interface, at least on PC (can't speak for the tablet version). Like seriously, "Let's play a cardgame on opposite sides of the room." Great, now the cards on the board are distant, indistinct, blurry non-entities. Oh, but there's a top-down view? Let's try that. "Let's play a cardgame... From ORBIT!" If this is on the iPad or whatever, these cards must be microscopic. There is SO much wasted space everywhere. It's absurd. Why don't the developers take a look at Hearthstone, which is frankly a superior experience in almost every single way in terms of interface and user-friendliness, and remake this game to be more like that, where you can actually see the cards you are using and read what they do, and see what your opponent has. Does it even show you the graveyards? I wasn't able to see that, although it was so far away I might be forgiven if I couldn't spot it.

    Wake up Stainless Games, you have a mediocre product that needs a serious overhaul. The idea is alright, even with the very limited level of customisation (Hearthstone is also superior when it comes to that, too... Did I mention that HS is also free to play? I've not dropped a dime on it) it's just... Ugh. It leaves the sour taste of wasted potential.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

91
#91 Best PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 19
  3. Negative: 0 out of 19
  1. Everyeye.it
    Oct 22, 2013
    70
    If you enjoyed the 2014 version of the popular card game, then you have no reason not to play the expansion pack released in late September.
    Read full review
  2. Level7.nu
    Sep 10, 2013
    70
    The new version of Magic manages to capture the essence of its analogue original. Fast paced battles with plenty of room for strategy and modifications of your deck. Too bad it is not as mechanically deep or varied to work as a full-blown substitute. Still strongly recommended for beginners.
    Read full review
  3. Hyper Magazine
    Aug 8, 2013
    80
    The addition of Sealed Deck mode makes this the best Duels yet, but the requirement of microtransactions for deck slots leaves a rather sour taste. [Sept 2013, p.78]
See all critic reviews »