Magic: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2015

 PC
User Score
3.2

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 127 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 127
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 127
  3. Negative: 89 out of 127

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. CCkAzE
    Jul 19, 2014
    4
    Magic 2015 could have been a 10, but they inexplicably took out all game modes other than single player and multiplayer free-for all. Two headed giant has been a staple of this series, and in my opinon, the most enjoyable game mode of the DotP franchise. It's what kept me coming back year after year. Not only did they take it out, there was almost no warning. I would never have bought thisMagic 2015 could have been a 10, but they inexplicably took out all game modes other than single player and multiplayer free-for all. Two headed giant has been a staple of this series, and in my opinon, the most enjoyable game mode of the DotP franchise. It's what kept me coming back year after year. Not only did they take it out, there was almost no warning. I would never have bought this game if I knew there was no 2HG.

    All that said, the amount of freedom this game gives you to craft your deck is awesome. Unlike Hearthstone, you aren't limited by your "class" in your access to cards. You can literally make whatever deck you wish with every card in the game at your disposal. The types of decks you will encounter in multiplayer will be endless.

    Still, the microtransactions and left out features kill this game, and I cannot recommend it to anyone unless they are a die-hard MtG fan. Wizards of the Coast and Stainless really dropped the ball on this one.    … Expand
  2. Izno
    Jul 18, 2014
    4
    None of the fun premade decks from previous iterations of the game. Microtransactions to unlock all of the cards whereas in previous versions this did not exist. no two headed giant. The included cards and decks that you begin with are trashy even by limited standards. With all that being said if you're addicted to magic you could probably do worse than this product at 10 dollars.None of the fun premade decks from previous iterations of the game. Microtransactions to unlock all of the cards whereas in previous versions this did not exist. no two headed giant. The included cards and decks that you begin with are trashy even by limited standards. With all that being said if you're addicted to magic you could probably do worse than this product at 10 dollars. Still though this is the worst version of the game so far that I have played.… Expand
  3. Lakin
    Jul 20, 2014
    4
    This year wizards made me really sad. This game is filled with micro-transactions even if you buy the most expensive pack. Challanges are gone. Deck building is done poorly, for example no search for words function and theres really not that many cards to have any fun. even if you count copies theres
    like 980cards overall, Yu-gi-oh on Wii had 4000! Background in the game is just plain    This year wizards made me really sad. This game is filled with micro-transactions even if you buy the most expensive pack. Challanges are gone. Deck building is done poorly, for example no search for words function and theres really not that many cards to have any fun. even if you count copies theres
    like 980cards overall, Yu-gi-oh on Wii had 4000! Background in the game is just plain obviously so it runs well on tablets. In the end, magic is still fun which would give like a 7 but those things take it down to a plain average 4    … Expand
  4. MrMT
    Jul 31, 2014
    3
    I have to agree with the low scores here. I live 2013, and played it like crazy. I bought 2014, and was well into it until something wiped my progress, and I was back to the beginning with no unlocked cards. 2015 appears even more predatory - either you pay an insulting amount of money for unlocks, or you grind your way up through endless turgid battles to start building a deck - whichI have to agree with the low scores here. I live 2013, and played it like crazy. I bought 2014, and was well into it until something wiped my progress, and I was back to the beginning with no unlocked cards. 2015 appears even more predatory - either you pay an insulting amount of money for unlocks, or you grind your way up through endless turgid battles to start building a deck - which will never be as good as the one you pay a premium for. ie, this is pay to win. To those that enjoy pay 2 win, have fun. Personally, I prefer a game.… Expand
  5. Meshen
    Jul 16, 2014
    3
    All of the build up to this game has revolved around the fact that true deck building has finally been implemented. This seems like great news, until you realise that there's a measly card pool of approximately 300, which has been split into a 'basic' pool (unlockable by playing) and 'premium' pool (only unlockable via cold hard cash). This 'pay to win' approach would be a little moreAll of the build up to this game has revolved around the fact that true deck building has finally been implemented. This seems like great news, until you realise that there's a measly card pool of approximately 300, which has been split into a 'basic' pool (unlockable by playing) and 'premium' pool (only unlockable via cold hard cash). This 'pay to win' approach would be a little more palatable if the rest of the game was rife with content, but it simply isn't.

    Gone are the prebuilt decks that were great to just jump in with on a level playing field, and also gone are fan favourites in the Two Headed Giant and Challenge modes. Deck building should have been a separate element to coexist with the format DotP fans have come to love. For those who wanted deck building as the centrepiece of the game there has always been MTG Online, so to take away so many great elements and replace them with a limited, micro-transaction filled husk of a game is appauling. Shame on you, Wizards.    … Expand
  6. fenrishero
    Jul 16, 2014
    3
    They advertised it as having deckbuilding. It does have deckbuilding. From a very limited pool of cards. And without cornerstone common cards, like fetch lands, Rampant Growth, Negate or Fireball. Those cards are in the game, but are restricted to inaccessible computer decks. It is likely they'll sell those as the DLC for this version.

    The UI has gotten worse. Clunky as hell, and    They advertised it as having deckbuilding. It does have deckbuilding. From a very limited pool of cards. And without cornerstone common cards, like fetch lands, Rampant Growth, Negate or Fireball. Those cards are in the game, but are restricted to inaccessible computer decks. It is likely they'll sell those as the DLC for this version.

    The UI has gotten worse. Clunky as hell, and clearly optimized for touch screens.

    On the plus side, the premium cards are almost exclusively cards you don't care about, so you won't feel any compulsion to actually buy them. The Store Locator feature is a nice touch, as it reminds you why they'd make such a bad version of Magic: to avoid angering their licensed sellers.

    Bottom Line: At one point, I realized I'd rather be playing Hearthstone. And I hate Hearthstone.    … Expand
  7. CrimsonEwok
    Jul 17, 2014
    3
    Pros:
    +deck building
    Cons: - - -NO TWO HEADED GIANT!!! BOOOOO!!! -Terrible interface(it is a step back from previous entries) -poor card selection -Not necessarily "pay-to-win" but player purchases in the shop can give slightly unfair advantages(not my biggest complaint, but I thought I would mention it) -No bonus multiplayer modes archenemy/plane chase/two headed giant (only up to    Pros:
    +deck building
    Cons:
    - - -NO TWO HEADED GIANT!!! BOOOOO!!!
    -Terrible interface(it is a step back from previous entries)
    -poor card selection
    -Not necessarily "pay-to-win" but player purchases in the shop can give slightly unfair advantages(not my biggest complaint, but I thought I would mention it)
    -No bonus multiplayer modes archenemy/plane chase/two headed giant (only up to 4 player free for all)

    Why am I rating it so low? It takes too many steps back from the games before it. I've played all magic games before it and see no reason I should move on from them besides more people to play with. Since there is no Interesting new mode(and even the removal of a much loved mode) I don't see myself playing this with others much if not at all. I really can't recommend this to my friends so a short lived Magic:DoTP 2015 single player is what I foresee.    … Expand
  8. brotherx
    Jul 17, 2014
    3
    They really rushed this game. Its as if they were testing the waters to see what the bare minimum amount of work they could do and pass off as a game. They went a little too far this time. We have tutorial, campaign, and practice mode and that's about it. No 2HG, no puzzle mode, no archenemy or anything like that. You chose one deck and without telling you the game just locks you into thatThey really rushed this game. Its as if they were testing the waters to see what the bare minimum amount of work they could do and pass off as a game. They went a little too far this time. We have tutorial, campaign, and practice mode and that's about it. No 2HG, no puzzle mode, no archenemy or anything like that. You chose one deck and without telling you the game just locks you into that color unless you reinstall.… Expand
  9. lasthope
    Jul 19, 2014
    3
    making base and premium pull - its crap, really. In fact, in game balance quite broken cause white color really overpowered, and my favorite red color isn't much useful. And game looks awful for pc gamers, because if you really dont like gamepads you will suffer in-game menu very hard. Picking basic deck is a kind of blind choice, only color give you some information, and you have to playmaking base and premium pull - its crap, really. In fact, in game balance quite broken cause white color really overpowered, and my favorite red color isn't much useful. And game looks awful for pc gamers, because if you really dont like gamepads you will suffer in-game menu very hard. Picking basic deck is a kind of blind choice, only color give you some information, and you have to play this deck whole game, cause you have only one deck until you win at least few games, which is hard, because pre built deck can beat campaign one with a great kind of luck only.
    and also my favorite review on this game:
    GARRUK BEGAN THE HUNT FOR YOUR MONEY! CAN YOU STOP IT?(c)    … Expand
  10. Aureliano
    Aug 31, 2014
    3
    I've played magic 2013 and 2014 so i know the stuff. Magic 2015 is a very bad game. They introduced a money to win component an they've realized a new interface full of bugs. And it's not finished: they have eliminated the two headed giants mode (2 players vs 2 players).

    I wish i've never bought it.
  11. smarm
    Jul 27, 2014
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. (Disclaimer)
    I played this game via library sharing on steam. So I have not purchased the game (nor do I plan to). Nor have I shelled out money to make the game "playable" (echos of the "cash grab" comments); The person who owns the game had unlocked all the cards and so I was able to make a deck actually worth playing.

    (Poor AI)
    The AI is a straight drop in replacement for the poorly designed 2014. You can expect to: have the AI's draw exactly what they need when they need it and (seemingly) mess with your draws; So that your draws will be the worst depending on which deck you face.

    So for example, if you have ~30% creature removal, against creature heavy decks you tend not to draw as much as you do against decks that are not creature heavy.

    (On planeswalker difficulty)

    But at the same time the AI is ridiculously easy to beat with a constructed deck. Even given the vaunted "you have the choice to make your own deck", the game becomes tedious against the AI's once their strategy has been neutralized.

    This coupled with the removal of multiplayer features (playing against clever humans rather than stupid AI's), makes this a terrible game with almost no replay value.

    (Crappy card choices)
    Even with all the "premium unlocks" with booster packs, the card selection is very poor.

    I suspect that the card pool they've given you is a random selection of cards that you would get from actual booster packs; Mostly commons, a good amount of uncommons, few rares and only a handful of ultra rares. A terrible idea for a computer game, since you are routinely faced against decks that do not have this weakness, they are carefully constructed and have a reasonable amount cards that make them work correctly.

    (Very poor challenge curve)
    Most of the AI controlled decks (even on the highest difficulty) are ridiculously easy to beat. But then randomly sprinkled into their incoherant story based campaign are decks that are insanely difficult to defeat EXCEPT for very specific removal mechanics; The Hydra deck and the token deck for instance. Being hit for 25 5th turn as a matter of routine is not fun.

    This is so poor that it forces to player to play ONLY in one way to be able to defeat these decks.

    (MTG color strengths are absent)
    White is the most powerful color by far. The other colors cannot come close to competing. For instance, black has 1-2 cards that are creature removal, when traditionally it is the strongest color in terms of removal.

    Green has no large creatures worth the name, blue has little control, red has only a handful of viable direct damage, etc.

    All the strengths of the colors have been neutered of their traditional strengths.

    I feel that the people who designed the color selections did it by randomly selecting cards from boosters. There is no coherant theme or strategy involved in any of the unlocked cards.

    (The deck)
    If anyone's curious, here's the deck I ended up one shotting the game with (I only ever had to play one game against each AI to win):

    20x Plains
    3x Swamp
    4x Nimbus Wings
    3x Armored Ascension
    1x Baneslayer Angel
    1x Cobbled Wings
    3x Elite Vanguard
    2x Mentor of the Meek
    1x Arrest
    4x Deviant Glee
    3x Banisher Priest
    1x Planar Cleansing
    4x Gods Willing
    2x Hero of Iroas
    3x Reprisal 3x Ajani's Pridemate 2x Child of Night I only splashed black since the selection for white cards was so poor. With white creature removal (the only cards worthy of the name, since no other color has anything comparable) as the backbone, then Armored Ascension to make heavy hitting flyers. The rest is details since the computer can't deal with those two cards at all. Fantastically useful was the Gods Willing, but this was the cherry on top of the previous two items and only served to make easy games into ridiculously easy AI stomping games. I did have quite a bit of fun designing and testing this deck, which is why I haven't rated the game lower.    … Expand
  12. Eilanzer
    Jul 16, 2014
    2
    The worse version of the game till now. Yes we have free deckbuild BUT at the cost of 2 headed Dragon and a paywall of premium cards. And there´s MUCH more in the package...THE WORSE AI of all the Dotp, ugly ui and only 300 cards in the pool ¬¬
  13. evilglenn3000
    Jul 17, 2014
    2
    Look this is really important, DO NOT SPEND MONEY in this game, you gain literally nothing by doing so. Now on to the game itself, well they flattened the story and although the range of cards is decent enough there is NO way to earn them all by playing the game. Sorry wizards you straight failed us this time.
  14. GhosTrooper
    Jul 17, 2014
    2
    Sadly is worst Duels of Planeswalker game i've seen. Can they make even worse interface? I doubt it, if you take card with your mouse, there is no step back. Good idea to collect cards and make you own deck, but not so easy as you think.... microtransactions, microtransactions everywhere, this is not game you bought, just a trial to try it.

    Please do not spent your money and your time    Sadly is worst Duels of Planeswalker game i've seen. Can they make even worse interface? I doubt it, if you take card with your mouse, there is no step back. Good idea to collect cards and make you own deck, but not so easy as you think.... microtransactions, microtransactions everywhere, this is not game you bought, just a trial to try it.

    Please do not spent your money and your time playing pirated version.    … Expand
  15. rampagestyle
    Jul 17, 2014
    2
    The cost associated with this game is ridiculous when you have solid tcg games in Solforge and Hearthstone are truly ftp. Magic needs to evolve with the times because right now I have no reason to buy this game.
  16. segfault
    Jul 20, 2014
    2
    You start off with a sealed standard pool.... and a few game later you a playing constructed standard and modern decks... to be honset DOTP was better with set decks than sealed versus constructed. If you are new get Magic 2014.
  17. MrFreshdom
    Jul 22, 2014
    2
    Granted, the paperback version could never be recreated in a digital format. However this game makes zero attempts to play as a card game and wants to lead you in an adventure when all you really want to do is play Magic: The Gathering. Surely, It's trying to elaborate and immerse you in the world, but it does so by holding your hand every step of the way (tightly at that). Then comes theGranted, the paperback version could never be recreated in a digital format. However this game makes zero attempts to play as a card game and wants to lead you in an adventure when all you really want to do is play Magic: The Gathering. Surely, It's trying to elaborate and immerse you in the world, but it does so by holding your hand every step of the way (tightly at that). Then comes the worst part: Micro-transactions. If done in a right, quasi-ethical manner it would be all fine and dandy but it almost feels like punishment to play without them. In conclusion, this game is going to make you feel as it its nothing more than a ripoff in the end. Do not spend your money in this game, unless you want to come to the sad realization that a sector of the gaming industry is going down the toilet.… Expand
  18. Neotropic
    Jul 10, 2015
    2
    The game is fun at first. But eventually the AI gets to smart and seems to always draw what it needs. I have yet to play the AI when it has a bad shuffle. Where myself, horrible shuffles. AI continuously is able to put out more creatures than you. Seems to always be able to counter whatever deck you build. On top of it having insane cards you can not beat. So making coins in it eventuallyThe game is fun at first. But eventually the AI gets to smart and seems to always draw what it needs. I have yet to play the AI when it has a bad shuffle. Where myself, horrible shuffles. AI continuously is able to put out more creatures than you. Seems to always be able to counter whatever deck you build. On top of it having insane cards you can not beat. So making coins in it eventually becomes impossible unless you spend an insane amount of money buying cards. But still, poor shuffles.… Expand
  19. vandana
    Aug 4, 2014
    1
    I've written two reviews of MTG:DotP to date. 2012 and 2013. I gave them high scores because at the time I felt like it was the best, cheapest and most enjoyable way to experience card games digitally.

    But things change and competition doesn't sleep. You are only as good as your competitor is not. There came a little game called Hearthstone that suddenly became major player in e-sports.    I've written two reviews of MTG:DotP to date. 2012 and 2013. I gave them high scores because at the time I felt like it was the best, cheapest and most enjoyable way to experience card games digitally.

    But things change and competition doesn't sleep. You are only as good as your competitor is not. There came a little game called Hearthstone that suddenly became major player in e-sports. It is not as complex and interesting as MTG, but I believe better suited for digital play.

    Magic the Gathering doesn't seem to make effort to compete on, what I would call, casual online ccg market. DotP has been stripped of many game modes and forced into microtransactions which no one will be interested in because competition has better options for 30-year-olds with money.

    Right now Hex seems to offer robust experience (we will see for how long), Hearthstone fun and casual - easy to learn, hard to master experience, and Magic in every single iteration is far behind. Now, lets talk about Hex. i believe Hex is all that MTG in Online form should be. It's a blatant and shameless rip-off, but still perfectly executed. if someone at Wizards had moved their brain at the right time, Hex would have never come to realization because DotP would have taken its place on the market...

    MTG Online requires too much money and too much unecessary knowledge to get into (trading), and is simply to hardcore and too obsolete when it comes to engine to attract new players. DotP is a shade of what it could have been. A demo to Magic which each year looses field to new competition and doesn't even try to improve anymore.

    Shame. Because Magic the Gathering is still the best card game out there. Just poorly managed and/or archaic in marketing and digital development.    … Expand
  20. PhearMark
    Aug 8, 2014
    1
    If you liked Magic 2014, don't bother with this one.

    Pros:
    - Can build your own deck

    Cons:
    - Menus take excessively long to become interactive
    - Card selection is poor at best
    - The 'best' cards are only available through the premium boosters of which you only ever get one
    - Campaign rewards feel weak, especially the final 'boss' game

    Just avoid it. I wish I had.
  21. suneater
    Aug 21, 2014
    1
    After all the problems DotP 2014 had, I was really hoping that the devs had taken a step back and rectified the issues with it (deck construction locked into Sealed mode, bad challenges, restrictive campaign, etc.). Instead we get a barebones version of MTG that does everything wrong that it possibly can. Problems are apparent right when you start up the game; the UI is slow and heavilyAfter all the problems DotP 2014 had, I was really hoping that the devs had taken a step back and rectified the issues with it (deck construction locked into Sealed mode, bad challenges, restrictive campaign, etc.). Instead we get a barebones version of MTG that does everything wrong that it possibly can. Problems are apparent right when you start up the game; the UI is slow and heavily animated, obviously being designed for a touch screen interface. Instead of being given 1-2 prebuilt decks like in the previous two annual releases, you are given a choice between deck archetypes. However, you have no idea what cards are actually inside your deck before you lock in to using that "Intro Deck"-strength deck which can really screw you over at the start of the game. For example, I picked a supposedly B/G Reanimator deck but the only reanimator card in it was Rescue from the Underworld (a high costed, slow reanimator that requires saccing a creature as an additional cost). Because you are picking an archetype and not an actual deck, you also don't get unlocks specifically for your deck; while this gives you more freedom in deck construction, new players will be baffled about what they should add to their deck or how to edit it properly. A "Suggested Cards" tool is available but it isn't very trustworthy; using it with my best deck (G/W tokens), two of the three recommended cards are Phytotitan and Pelakka Wurm.

    While you can finally build your own decks with DotP 2015, you will really struggle to put something playable together without buying cards for real money. Buying all the cards in the game will cost you $20 and individual "planes" of cards will cost you $5 each. If you could just drop $20 on unlocking everything in the game you would be looking at spending only $30 total on DotP 2015. Of course, it isn't that easy... many of the best cards available (including Stoneforge Mystic, Doubling Season, Kozilek, and more) are locked behind "Premium Boosters" which give you 10 random cards for $2 (physical boosters in Standard cost between $2-4 and have 15 cards each). Last year's gambling mechanic was bad but it was only restricted to the Sealed Deck mode. DotP 2015 has essentially become Pay2Win with these boosters because the cards inside can be used in any game mode, including online.

    Speaking of online play, there barely is any! 2-Headed Giant has been removed for no reason and no other game modes have been added. You can only play 2-4 player FFA with your custom built decks; no Archenemy, no Planechase, no new modes. With the addition of deck construction and the rise of popularity in Commander/EDH, it is really disappointing that even that wasn't added.

    The only good thing that I can say about this is that they finally added non-basic lands. Deck construction is a nice touch finally but the rest of the game has suffered for it. It seems that in order to release the same game on every platform they had to cut content to make it work on mobile devices. DotP 2015 has a tedious, boring, and grindy single player campaign, no Challenges, no multiplayer modes outside of FFA, and no tools to introduce new players to MTG except for the tutorial. This is the worst DotP game made yet (even worse than the original DotP which was removed from Steam) and not even fans of the series should bother with this blatant cash grab.    … Expand
  22. calcipher
    Aug 9, 2014
    1
    Flushing my money down the toilet would've been a better choice than buying this game.

    - The game crashes constantly, even on high end machines, often in the middle of a match. Sometimes, it crashes the entire pc, forcing you to restart and lose the progress. I can run Skyrim maxed out on my machine and not a **** card game? Learn to code, please. - When you start, you're prompted    Flushing my money down the toilet would've been a better choice than buying this game.

    - The game crashes constantly, even on high end machines, often in the middle of a match. Sometimes, it crashes the entire pc, forcing you to restart and lose the progress. I can run Skyrim maxed out on my machine and not a **** card game? Learn to code, please.

    - When you start, you're prompted with a choice of ONE deck. The hints are very misleading: i chose the white/black deck that was described as removal based. Total removals in the deck: 3. You can't change your choice and you're stuck with your deck for the start of the campaign, unless you manually edit the save file.

    - That goes without saying, the deck is EXTREMELY UNDERPOWERED, regardless of your choice. You'll have a hard time beating the early battles, even if you turn down the difficulty to Arch-mage. Be prepared to grind your way through HOURS of frustrating losses, as the AI "cheats" constantly. The only way to go around this is turning down the difficulty to Mage, then suddenly every match is a piece of cake but no fun at all.

    - Even if you somehow manage to beat the AI, you're rewarded with a single booster pack. There's no guarantee the cards in the pack will boost your deck, they can be any color and, yes, you'll get doubles. The strongest cards, though, can't be obtained this way: they're reserved for people that BUY booster packs.

    - NO 2HG, no Sealed Play.

    - Clunky menus, that force you to go forth and back to check your progress.

    - The "free deck building mode" is a joke. Despite what the description on Steam says, you'll be very limited with your choices when building your deck, unless (of course) you don't open your wallet and start hunting for premium cards. Building a decent monocolor deck is nearly impossible.

    Magic 2015 is built around a single purpose: frustrating the player to the point of buying more booster packs through microtransactions. That is all. You won't enjoy this game unless you throw in it a **** of money. Even buying the complete edition (30$) won't get you 100% of the cards available, but will leave you at around 90%. In the end, to get the full experience you'll have to pay the same as a AAA+ retail game, but keep in mind this piece of **** will be replaced in 11 months.

    This franchise has suddenly turned in a Pay to Win product, and that means that, at least for me, this is the end. I won't buy any more games from Wizards, ever.
    I've been a Steam customer for 8 years and I've never been so close to ask for a refund. DON'T BUY THIS GAME and save your 10 bucks for something else.    … Expand
  23. unevenpolecat
    Jul 18, 2014
    1
    Don't buy, the game gives you one very **** deck and you have to buy booster packs to make it somewhat better, you will be surprised how much you will be using poor cards out of boosters you would never used anywhere else to make your deck somewhat usable. Oh and the end boss has only rares, legends, and premo uncommons, you are expected to beat this boss with your crap deck, realisticallyDon't buy, the game gives you one very **** deck and you have to buy booster packs to make it somewhat better, you will be surprised how much you will be using poor cards out of boosters you would never used anywhere else to make your deck somewhat usable. Oh and the end boss has only rares, legends, and premo uncommons, you are expected to beat this boss with your crap deck, realistically you are meant to buy many boosters until your deck is not **** and can manage to beat the boss both times.… Expand
  24. Jerot
    Jul 17, 2014
    1
    I have now completed the game sans a few card specific achievements. So I'm updating my review.

    As a long time player of the physical card game and DotP series, I would highly recommend avoiding this particular incarnation of the game. It is first and foremost a mobile game, its IAPs and menu make this very clear from the start. The menu is particularly unresponsive to mouse clicks at    I have now completed the game sans a few card specific achievements. So I'm updating my review.

    As a long time player of the physical card game and DotP series, I would highly recommend avoiding this particular incarnation of the game. It is first and foremost a mobile game, its IAPs and menu make this very clear from the start. The menu is particularly unresponsive to mouse clicks at times and I found it much simpler to operate via keyboard. You cannot see any menu in its entirety without scrolling through each option one at a time, switching between sub menus is very slow compared to previous games.

    Content wise we have No revenge campaign, No alternate campaigns (Arch enemy/Planes chase/Etc.), No puzzles. Two headed Giant has been removed from multiplayer along with the old lobby system, meaning we now have to recreate lobbies every single game. All in all, you have about 1/3rd as much to do as any of the previous games in the series yet the price is almost identical, and now with even more day 1 "dlc".

    Card selection while pulling from a larger number of base sets is extremely limited. It appears they pulled a small list of cards from several sets to beef up the features list on paper. In practice you will have fewer compelling decisions to make about deck composition than in previous DotP games where you had a selection of 40 or more hand picked cards to customize your deck with. Several powerful cards are locked behind an additional paywall. While not new to a series where decks have been sold as DLC before, now we are expected to buy random booster packs of cards to finish a complete set.

    Navigating the game is painfully slow and clunky, comparing 2014 to 2015, If I want to change decks in 2015 I have to open up my player profile, click my deck icon, scroll to a deck, select it, and choose to equip it before backtracking to the original menu to select my opponent. Where in 2014 you hand a wheel of your current decks available after selecting an opponent, no additional menu navigation required. While it may not seem like a huge deal, in a game where you are expected to fight several hundred encounters to unlock all the cards for your self, small quality of life issues like this really add up.

    In general the game AI seems to have taken a major hit, enemies will react and play in extremely predictable ways. Almost certainly to accommodate the mobile release of the game this time around. Even the basic AI that chooses to tap lands automatically when playing cards no longer accounts for cards in hand and requires you to specifically set what is being tapped so you don't lock yourself out of plays. This hasn't been an issue since very early in the series. AI opponents almost certainly cheat especially on higher difficulties. Difficulty is achieved through extra powerful cards not available to the player, in previous games you would be playing against decks you could unlock and customize yourself. The only exception being "End Bosses" but even then they were usually unlocked as DLC later in the games life cycle.

    In my research I've seen numerous threads of people who are unable to run the game, and others having very poor performance even on top end systems. While I didn't experience anything too frustrating (Aside from a few lock-ups when trying to create decks) I still think it is important to mention as these games usually aren't patched very often in my experience.

    I would also like to mention during the pre-order period of the game, there was no clarity with what the DLC available actually included. Some people believed that for $5 you would get an entire additional set of cards to customize your deck with. However, in reality it only unlocks the cards from a specific chapter of the game which would otherwise be entirely free. The special edition of the game included all these packs at a discount, but even paying $35 there are yet more cards you will have to shell out money for. Compare that to Magic 2014 where $20 will get you the game and all four of its expansions, With a better interface, smarter AI, better multiplayer experience, and honestly 3-4x the content.

    Yes its playable, yes it magic, but for the cost, the problems, the lack of content... You are better off buying any other game in the series.    … Expand
  25. shadowstep
    Jul 17, 2014
    1
    Horrible excuse of a MTG game. Menu is clunky and lags, also is horribly designed unless you are playing on a tablet. Deckbuilding is nothing like it was hyped to be, what's the point of building a deck if you have such a small pool to work with?

    Don't forget about all the microtransactions. They really give this game an immersive experience, allowing you to spend real money on packs to    Horrible excuse of a MTG game. Menu is clunky and lags, also is horribly designed unless you are playing on a tablet. Deckbuilding is nothing like it was hyped to be, what's the point of building a deck if you have such a small pool to work with?

    Don't forget about all the microtransactions. They really give this game an immersive experience, allowing you to spend real money on packs to unlock random cards. Oh and that's the only way you can unlock cards in the "premium" pool.

    Tutorial is painfully long (like 10-15 minutes easy) and no way to skip it. Nearly gave up before finishing it. There is no excuse to not add a skip option.

    If you hated 2 Headed Giant or the Puzzle Mode, you're in luck! This game dropped both of those game modes. No excuse for them to be missing, these have been pretty standard in previous MTG games.

    Don't buy this game. All it is is a money grubbing, pay2win, microtransaction filled MTG ad that you have to pay $10 for. Maybe they'll learn next year.    … Expand
  26. Debo1
    Jul 17, 2014
    1
    I Just created an account on here so I can review this game. As a huge fan of the series this has to be the absolute worst. Interface, as many have said before is HORRIBLE!! Slowwww and Clunky. Not to mention it's a huge pain to navigate through the options.

    NO TWO HEADED DRAGON?! Are you insane!? One of the cornerstones of this game is now gone. If they don't add it down the road then    I Just created an account on here so I can review this game. As a huge fan of the series this has to be the absolute worst. Interface, as many have said before is HORRIBLE!! Slowwww and Clunky. Not to mention it's a huge pain to navigate through the options.

    NO TWO HEADED DRAGON?! Are you insane!? One of the cornerstones of this game is now gone. If they don't add it down the road then they literally shot themselves in the foot.

    Should have kept some premade decks in the game to allow new players the ability to jump right in and compete.

    As someone looking forward toward this game for awhile now, I'm completely disappointed, and will not put nearly half as much time into it as I did it's predecessors.    … Expand
  27. timevsmoney
    Jul 18, 2014
    1
    Please, Please don't buy this game.

    The one and only credit this game might have had going for it is the substantial jump in freedom to create decks, or at least the potential to. This significant growth in the series is mushroom-cloud overshadowed by the cynically obvious, practically forced, pay-to-win system that makes the game out right not worth playing. It took me more than    Please, Please don't buy this game.

    The one and only credit this game might have had going for it is the substantial jump in freedom to create decks, or at least the potential to. This significant growth in the series is mushroom-cloud overshadowed by the cynically obvious, practically forced, pay-to-win system that makes the game out right not worth playing. It took me more than several attempts to get through the intro, by the end of which of I was quite bored and completely out of patience. Unless you feel like grinding through hour after hour of single player mode with a lousy deck, to unlock few and far between decent cards that one day you might be able to combine into a half-decent deck, have at 'er. For everyone else who isn't a masochist with too much time on their hands you'll be bored to tears, or pay out the nose for decent cards, which was the one redeeming factor of a digital version of magic in the first place.

    It happened to everyone, you got into magic with a buddy or two, loving the game and the competition, until you run up against guys who drop hundreds of dollars on cards and win no-contest. The game stops being fun and you stop playing magic. Duels of the planes-walker struck a balance between deck customization and paying-to-win. 2015 gets rid of this balance and brings you back to the bad old days of either opting out or dropping mad cash no responsible adult could justify despite the nostalgia. If that wasn't bad enough, the salt on the wound is that fact that these cards will only be good for a year, so you can drop another $40-50 on cards in 2016. This is a great business model, but it makes for a horrible iteration of a classic game and is a real disappointment compared to the potential.

    The really annoying thing is that if they had used a better model I would feel good dropping $30-40 a year on new release versions. But instead of a quality product worth purchasing, this $10 for a foot in the door, $50 if you actually wanna have fun is just a big f-u to the consumer and needs to be rewarded with poor sales.

    Please, Please don't buy this game.    … Expand
  28. Yaywalter
    Jul 25, 2014
    1
    I love me some Duels of the Planeswalkers. Even though I have no shortage of real life Magic opponents, there's still a place for an enjoyable digital single-player campaign using a more restricted/guided card pool than the 10,000+ cards I have in real life.

    But even though DotP 2014 was overall pretty great, 2015 isn't... not as much, anyway. I appreciate certain aspects... the sleek    I love me some Duels of the Planeswalkers. Even though I have no shortage of real life Magic opponents, there's still a place for an enjoyable digital single-player campaign using a more restricted/guided card pool than the 10,000+ cards I have in real life.

    But even though DotP 2014 was overall pretty great, 2015 isn't... not as much, anyway. I appreciate certain aspects... the sleek new interface, the fully customizable deckbuilder. Fantastic stuff. But those are the bones, where's the meat? 2015 is significantly pared back from 2014 in this regard.

    And lastly, sleazy F2P tactics are absolutely unacceptable in a single-player game that you're already shelling out good money for. This is not Magic Online, we don't want to buy any damn virtual cards for a ****ing single-player game, okay Wizards? The entire card pool should be unlockable through gameplay. I'm fine with it if you want to make them slightly difficult/grindy to unlock, if you really want to drain some poor saps of their hard earned money, but they should be reasonably attainable to anybody who doesn't wish to part with their cash.    … Expand
  29. Szmittu
    Aug 6, 2014
    1
    To be honest... As a big Magic: the Gathering fan, I cannot recommend this year's edition.

    Yes, you can actually build your own deck now... But options are limited. I feel, that I've had more freedom in last year edition, even when I was obliged to color/specific deck. Also, MtG 2015 is weaker in all other aspects. 2HG? Nope. Revenge campaign? Nuh-huh. Puzzles/challenges?    To be honest... As a big Magic: the Gathering fan, I cannot recommend this year's edition.

    Yes, you can actually build your own deck now... But options are limited. I feel, that I've had more freedom in last year edition, even when I was obliged to color/specific deck.

    Also, MtG 2015 is weaker in all other aspects.

    2HG?
    Nope.
    Revenge campaign?
    Nuh-huh.
    Puzzles/challenges?
    Naaaaaaah.

    Clunky gameplay?
    Yes.
    Unresponsive interface?
    Checked.
    Microtransactions, and a lot of them?
    But of course.

    That's a big no-no for me...    … Expand
  30. Fi7agi
    Oct 27, 2014
    1
    They advertised it as having deckbuilding. It does have deckbuilding. From a very limited pool of cards. And without cornerstone common cards, like fetch lands, Rampant Growth, Negate or Fireball. Those cards are in the game, but are restricted to inaccessible computer decks.
prev
Page:

Awards & Rankings

66
#66 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
60

Mixed or average reviews - based on 25 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 25
  3. Negative: 5 out of 25
  1. CD-Action
    Oct 22, 2014
    70
    Duels of the Planeswalkers is an invaluable tool for learning how to play Magic: The Gathering. [10/2014, p.64]
  2. Pelit (Finland)
    Sep 17, 2014
    77
    The card game takes one step forward and two steps backwards. Free deckbuilding is a big plus, but when you consider that the play modes from old Duels are cut completely and some of the card pool available is behind an IAP paywall, the new Duels doesn't compare well against other, cheaper, slicker and - quite frankly - more fun competition like Hearthstone. Duels is simple not on par with the competition. [Sept 2014]
  3. games(TM)
    Sep 16, 2014
    50
    The poor AI becomes increasingly apparent and even more of a chore upon completing the campaign. [Issue#152, p.114]
See all critic reviews »