Magic: The Gathering - Tactics

 PC
User Score
3.2

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 26 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 26
  3. Negative: 17 out of 26

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  1. Akuto
    Sep 8, 2011
    5
    This is hardly a free to play game. It's more like a demo with benefits. The first and only free 5 mission chapter took about 30 minutes to complete. Only one of the cards I was awarded for completing the chapter was even compatible with the color I chose. Multiplayer is near impossible to win due to people willing to pay for gold and booster packs to acquire more powerful spells. BecauseThis is hardly a free to play game. It's more like a demo with benefits. The first and only free 5 mission chapter took about 30 minutes to complete. Only one of the cards I was awarded for completing the chapter was even compatible with the color I chose. Multiplayer is near impossible to win due to people willing to pay for gold and booster packs to acquire more powerful spells. Because of this, the game very quickly loses its "free to play" replay value. I've also experiences some bugs, such as my deck of 40+ cards being registered as incomplete, and the icons displaying turn order not appearing in their bar. In spite of this, I think this game could have some great potential if it became a little more free-user friendly and a little smoother in the programming.… Expand
  2. Morring
    Feb 11, 2012
    2
    As I played the game, a number of issues came up. All the matches are timed, with separate timers for each player, but the game is unbelievably laggy for the small amout of information it has to transfer. I won and lost a few matches just because one of the players lagged whole minutes at a time. UI is acceptable, but it visibly suffers from the existence of a console version and is a bitAs I played the game, a number of issues came up. All the matches are timed, with separate timers for each player, but the game is unbelievably laggy for the small amout of information it has to transfer. I won and lost a few matches just because one of the players lagged whole minutes at a time. UI is acceptable, but it visibly suffers from the existence of a console version and is a bit annoying for today's standars. The game won't even remeber my graphic settings at times, and worse of all only a few resolutions are supported. But these problems are something I'd be willing to overlook, as the idea behind this game is really interesting. The real problem is that this is a lame pay to win game. After finishing the 1 hour campaign you will receive your first talent point, which will give you an in-game advantage. Point is, there are other campaigns in the game and you have to pay to play them. Most F2P games maintain a balanced gameplay by offering aesthetically pleasing and/or time saving stuff for real money, this time you pay to have a strong tactical edge, like permanent buffs on the next creature you summon. Want a few more cards? Sell a kidney. You can buy any card in the in-game auction house or booster pack for real money, and I'm talking of cards costing 5$ each. If you want to spend so much money in cards just play MTG in real life, at least you will be able to resell them for real money when you get tired. There would have been may ways to make a good game out of this, but this is not one of them.… Expand
  3. Omega
    Mar 14, 2011
    5
    Free to play games always win a place in my heart as a special effort. These games attempt to break the flawed model of black-box games, allowing people to see what they're getting into. With so many bad games out there nowadays, this is a great way to win customers. League of Legends is a shining example of how this model works - and works well. If you make a good game as a result, youFree to play games always win a place in my heart as a special effort. These games attempt to break the flawed model of black-box games, allowing people to see what they're getting into. With so many bad games out there nowadays, this is a great way to win customers. League of Legends is a shining example of how this model works - and works well. If you make a good game as a result, you will be generously compensated for it.

    The core game of MTG:T is very well conceived and implemented. Where it breaks down completely is in the pricing and in taking the opportunity to innovate.

    Micro-transaction games are awesome, but their current cost for boosters and booster boxes is a blatant cash grab and prohibitively expensive.

    I think there should have been some kind of persistent element to your creatures, spells and items in the game. So that between matches, they can grow. Each "card" at that point becomes a unique creature with stats that improve the more you use that specific card. That would also compliment the micro-transaction concept by allowing you to purchase improvements for them between games.

    Lots of missed opportunities. Will they take them?    … Expand
  4. Falcon88
    Feb 6, 2012
    5
    Totally bugged game, it is so hard to play it enough without encountering critical bugs that I can't still understand if it is a f2p or just a demo, but I bet on the latter. Unfortunately the idea was good.
  5. explodingness
    Feb 19, 2012
    0
    -Doesn't deserve "Free-to-Play" label. -Doing well in PvP almost directly correlates to how much you are willing to spend.
    -Even paid for content has glitches and will crash
    -Lots of lag in PvP games, which can make the player timer expire quickly, ruining the game. -To gain anything from a PvP battle (xp, gold, etc) you have to pay to play, and if you lose, you aren't refunded. -Solo    -Doesn't deserve "Free-to-Play" label. -Doing well in PvP almost directly correlates to how much you are willing to spend.
    -Even paid for content has glitches and will crash
    -Lots of lag in PvP games, which can make the player timer expire quickly, ruining the game.
    -To gain anything from a PvP battle (xp, gold, etc) you have to pay to play, and if you lose, you aren't refunded.
    -Solo campaign has no difficulty scale, one level will be extremely easy then the next will be nearly impossible to beat. And the difficult levels aren't tactically smart, the game AI just cheats the system to make it harder
    -Complete waste of time and will just make you angry.
    -Feels like wizards of the coast forced a game out SOLELY to make money, player enjoyment was barely thought of, the "F2P" label was just a marketing ploy; a mockery at what real free to play games are suppose to be.    … Expand
  6. Aquila
    Feb 11, 2012
    1
    The free to play part is shockingly short. Dishonest marketing where people will trap for spending huge amounts of money. And a HUGE pay to win factor is present. So don't trap for it people! But the game itself is fun if it was normally priced it will be a between 6 and 8.
  7. kurleykyew
    Jun 10, 2011
    8
    Still a little buggy at times, but since releasing several months ago they've made solid improvements to the marketplace interface and gameplay. I've enjoyed playing it and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys tactics games and/or M:TG. To get the most out of it you'll probably want to at least pay for the starter campaigns and work your way through them- they're about $20 if you don'tStill a little buggy at times, but since releasing several months ago they've made solid improvements to the marketplace interface and gameplay. I've enjoyed playing it and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys tactics games and/or M:TG. To get the most out of it you'll probably want to at least pay for the starter campaigns and work your way through them- they're about $20 if you don't find a way to get them at a discounted price, but I'd say it's worth the money.… Expand
  8. BobMcB
    Feb 20, 2012
    9
    A nice combination of a tactics game and MtG. I like it a lot.

    The free to play part is short, yes, but you can login to freerealms.com and clonewarsadventures.com using your MtGT to get 598 in-game money that can be used to buy the campaigns. Those will net you 4 gold per day which will get you on your way towards tournaments that get refunded by the veteran players if you lose. So in    A nice combination of a tactics game and MtG. I like it a lot.

    The free to play part is short, yes, but you can login to freerealms.com and clonewarsadventures.com using your MtGT to get 598 in-game money that can be used to buy the campaigns. Those will net you 4 gold per day which will get you on your way towards tournaments that get refunded by the veteran players if you lose. So in the end you can get free boosters and play this game for free forever. It only takes a bit of patience and being friendly to other people in the game. And the game is well worth the $15 it costs to buy more campaigns and net 14 gold per day. Doing so, it only took me about a week to get a decent deck that gets results in the tournaments.    … Expand
  9. ruxoz
    Apr 8, 2012
    2
    I was forced quitting several with a message "Server disconnected. Please make sure.. blah blah" even I play in the single player mode!?? I'd like to love this game. But wasting one hour just because server disconnection is unacceptable.
  10. Lostsaint85
    Jan 24, 2013
    0
    The label "free-to-play" is as dishonest as I have ever seen attached to a game. Pay-to-win is far closer to the truth, what you get for free is basically a demo and not even worth the time to download.
  11. ifnotmoreso
    Mar 26, 2012
    0
    The interface is clunky and the gameplay is terrible. You need to buy content almost immediately to get any value out of it. Deleted the game after 45 minutes. The idea is sound but it really needed a few months more development time before release. Tarnishes the MTG brand.
  12. Nisa-chan666
    Jul 18, 2012
    0
    Seriously unimpressed with Magic: The Gathering - Tactics. The launchpad kept shutting itself down 10-15 seconds after I pressed the play button (and that time estimate may well be very generous of me). After 45 minutes of trawling SOE's frankly abysmal support section, I decided that it had wasted enough of my time and deleted the damn thing. If you want to play MtG, just buy the cards;Seriously unimpressed with Magic: The Gathering - Tactics. The launchpad kept shutting itself down 10-15 seconds after I pressed the play button (and that time estimate may well be very generous of me). After 45 minutes of trawling SOE's frankly abysmal support section, I decided that it had wasted enough of my time and deleted the damn thing. If you want to play MtG, just buy the cards; it involves parting ways with money, but is infinitely less frustrating.… Expand
  13. Jamesbong
    Sep 6, 2012
    1
    - pay to win game. Without spending real money you get 2 gold a day a tournament is 20g and cards range from 5-3000 gold each. Spend 10ish usd on the campaign and you can get 14 gold per day. Spend a few 100 usd for a ton of boosters and you can probably compete with the very small community of vets this game still has.
    - Braket / draft? Good luck. Very small population due to the    - pay to win game. Without spending real money you get 2 gold a day a tournament is 20g and cards range from 5-3000 gold each. Spend 10ish usd on the campaign and you can get 14 gold per day. Spend a few 100 usd for a ton of boosters and you can probably compete with the very small community of vets this game still has.
    - Braket / draft? Good luck. Very small population due to the lack of updates / bug fixes. Average wait is 2 hours for a braket or draft for me. I have waited up to 7 hours for a game.
    -Auction house is ran by 2-3 players.
    - New UI was mentioned 2 months ago but no update on its release or progress.
    -Current UI still has bugs that have been causing players to lose gold on a regular basis have not been fixed. SoE has known of these bugs for 12+ months. This is by far one of the worst games SoE has to offer. I wouldnt recommend any game that SOE offers at the moment because of their awful services. SOE ruining games with potential since 1998.    … Expand
  14. Altomyhrr
    Feb 20, 2013
    1
    A COMPELLING GAME!!! So why so negative? It's a warning that despite an addictive concept, I cannot think of even one other game that has EVER had SO MANY BUGS!!!! The lag in this simple turn based game is frequently beyond unforgivable! This is a very basic game that struggles dramatically to maintain a tolerable pace in spite of using a system that has more than 4x the recommendedA COMPELLING GAME!!! So why so negative? It's a warning that despite an addictive concept, I cannot think of even one other game that has EVER had SO MANY BUGS!!!! The lag in this simple turn based game is frequently beyond unforgivable! This is a very basic game that struggles dramatically to maintain a tolerable pace in spite of using a system that has more than 4x the recommended requirements. Beyond that, the number and variety of errors that it generates are maddening. You may enjoy 30 minutes building a successful strategy only to have your optimism crushed when the game fails to allow you to make a basic legal move. In many cases, it not only prevents you from retracting your move, but forces you to place your unit in a suicidal position just to complete your turn. Today, I was commanded to drop 6 cards before I could start my turn. I only had one in my hand and could not proceed. I've even attempted to "surrender" just to get out of a corrupt game, but it commonly persists in holding my computer hostage unless I have Task Manager disable the game entirely. If it weren't for Sony's lack of focus to repair these ongoing and well known problems, I'd have given Tactics an 8 or 9, but I've been playing for months only to see them make modifications that don't address the core problems. In fact, I like the concept so much, this is the sole reason I created a Metacritic account. I would hope that someone in a position to make a difference would do so. I'd give the game an addictive 8 and give the programmers a pink slip for not having the capabilities to execute as well as most indie programmers do.… Expand
  15. tonykaluga
    Apr 30, 2013
    0
    Bad marketing kills good game. my score is 0 to this game. This is hardly a free to play game. I d like it but i want pay 4 a nwe mission its a radicoulos. Sad sad sad

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
62

Mixed or average reviews - based on 5 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. PC Gamer
    Mar 24, 2011
    74
    Tactics adds layers of depth, but the cost of booster packs quickly makes a mockery of the "free-to-play" label. [April 2011, p.77]
  2. Gamer.no
    Mar 7, 2011
    50
    Magic The Gathering Tactics offers a fresh and original take on the collectible card game. The new elements make the game both tactically challenging and very entertaining. But unfortunately the game is plagued by bugs, mismangement and a severe lack of communication from the developers, making it still an unfinished product.
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  3. The Escapist
    Mar 4, 2011
    60
    Magic the Gathering Tactics is a very well-designed tactical game surrounded by a mediocre economy and bad supporting interface. The skeleton is sound, and if SOE improved the musculature and skin, MTGT could be the six million dollar game.
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