Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers

 Xbox 360
User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 46 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 46
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 46
  3. Negative: 7 out of 46

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  1. DavidD.
    Jul 31, 2009
    10
    Absolutely Love it!! I don't know how this game can be any better. I was never a die hard but I did play a little bit here and there. The things I didn't like about the actual card game was all the cards that you had to handle. And of course I had no one to play against because all the people were so freaking nerdy with their broken decks!! In this, anyone has a chance to win Absolutely Love it!! I don't know how this game can be any better. I was never a die hard but I did play a little bit here and there. The things I didn't like about the actual card game was all the cards that you had to handle. And of course I had no one to play against because all the people were so freaking nerdy with their broken decks!! In this, anyone has a chance to win because you can't have every and any card you want. Everyone is on the same footing almost. You unlock cards as you go through the single player. And of course the online game is great because you can always find someone to play against.… Expand
  2. arbie
    Aug 26, 2009
    5
    Middling to poor. I played the demo and decided it was worth my NEARLY 15 DOLLARS (after conversion rates and local gouging in Japan) to download the software knowing its limitations and ignoring the harsher reviews on Metacritic, which means I have myself to blame. I do want to enjoy it, and will probably continue fiddling with it from time to time. I was let down by the game AI --Middling to poor. I played the demo and decided it was worth my NEARLY 15 DOLLARS (after conversion rates and local gouging in Japan) to download the software knowing its limitations and ignoring the harsher reviews on Metacritic, which means I have myself to blame. I do want to enjoy it, and will probably continue fiddling with it from time to time. I was let down by the game AI -- it's not true AI as most have noted because you're going up against nonvariable conditions where "players" are instructed to do X when possible, or Y when stuck, which makes it about the same as online chess against a computer, which means the insult is when you realize there are only two real computer opponents: those who play expert and come at you with a pre-programmed strategy, or those who leave you be when you leave YOURSELF wide open to attack. Without being able to properly build your own deck you do struggle to beat the opponents at higher levels, but the gameplay is predicable and the computers don't mix and match their own decks at any point, making replay pointless. Playing casually or hardcore against another human is pointless as being in the same room with another Magic player, you're both going to own cards already -- and if you're looking for online Magic buddies, you'll have known about (and been paying for) the PC service for ages. The XBLA Magic "game" is targeting cash-heavy suckers, essentially, since the Venn diagram for Xbox gold membership gamers and Magic card players only overlap in the area of disposable income. But I'm making unfair claims about people now -- I obviously bought the damned game, I have an Xbox, I play Magic casually, I ignored the Metacritic reviews past the second scroll, and I feel burned. The game does offer a nice change of pace from most of my Arcade collection. Ah well. BUYER BEWARE!… Expand
  3. Z9000
    Jul 23, 2009
    4
    What a monstrously bad attempt at sloughing off what equates to an extended demo of Magic The Gathering and then charging people for it! Designers had a horrible understanding of how to build decks and proper number of cards in type, and required tools. Too bad, you are stuck playing them as there is no true deck builder. You can't even remove stock cards to put any "unlocked" cards What a monstrously bad attempt at sloughing off what equates to an extended demo of Magic The Gathering and then charging people for it! Designers had a horrible understanding of how to build decks and proper number of cards in type, and required tools. Too bad, you are stuck playing them as there is no true deck builder. You can't even remove stock cards to put any "unlocked" cards in. Instead you can only add to the poorly designed decks and dilute their effectiveness. This whole mess seems consistent with what appears to be Microsoft's new focus, being an ad based service. If you want a real MTG game, go dig up the Microprose release from the 90's, it's still king.… Expand
  4. CA
    Jun 20, 2009
    8
    If you're a fan of MTG, here's what I think you want to know - you start with 2 basic decks, you earn new cards and new decks by playing against the AI opponents. (Not by buying more cards with real money) You can play through the campaign either single player or co-op (co-op is offline only, and versus is online only), and you can play online with friends, or against strangers If you're a fan of MTG, here's what I think you want to know - you start with 2 basic decks, you earn new cards and new decks by playing against the AI opponents. (Not by buying more cards with real money) You can play through the campaign either single player or co-op (co-op is offline only, and versus is online only), and you can play online with friends, or against strangers in ranked or unranked matches. Online play includes support for 2, 3, and 4 player matches. The biggest drawback so far seems to be the lack of a full deck editor. You unlock the decks they have for you, and can't change any of the basic cards of the deck - all you can do is add to it (or not) from the other cards you earn. (I'm hoping once I get far enough, I'll unlock the ability to fully edit the decks, but for now it seems like they streamlined this to prevent people from making "broken" decks.) There is also a puzzle mode I haven't really dug into that seems similar to the old puzzle set ups they would have in issues of "The Duelist." Aside from that, the presentation is great - the timing system takes some getting used to, but works well (Make sure you turn off simplified targeting if you're an advanced player!), and I'm having a blast with it. Highly recommended if you ever had fun with any of MTG's video game or real world incarnations, or if you just want to see what all the fuss is about without dropping a lot of cash.… Expand
  5. LukeS
    Jun 18, 2009
    8
    Magic is a good game for any fans of the card game. The challenge level makes it frustrating at times, but it makes winning all the sweeter. There seems to be a lot to do, and 4 hours in, I'm not even close to beating it. Worthy of the card game!
  6. MD
    Jun 30, 2009
    7
    Overall this is a good treatment of MTG. The card artwork is beautiful and the "table" you play is attractive enough. MTG has very complex card interactions and they all seem to be handled faithfully. The AI even uses all the nasty card combination that experienced players HATE to be on the receiving end of (but we love it when we can use them). Unfortunately, the game does have a couple Overall this is a good treatment of MTG. The card artwork is beautiful and the "table" you play is attractive enough. MTG has very complex card interactions and they all seem to be handled faithfully. The AI even uses all the nasty card combination that experienced players HATE to be on the receiving end of (but we love it when we can use them). Unfortunately, the game does have a couple of medium-sized problems as well as a few annoyances. The biggest issue by far is the lack of a true deck builder. The included decks (which you "win" by beating the AI) represent a decent range of playing styles, but you can only customize them by adding/removing cards that you also have won through play. Neither land cards nor the "stock" cards that the deck starts with are customizable. Want extra Giant Spiders in your green deck? Sorry. Want to go land-heavy so you can afford all your Craw Wurms? No can do. I understand that they need to prevent users from stocking a deck with tons of ultra-rare, game-changing artifacts (which IRL would be quite expensive to collect), but they can handle that with rules (no more than 4 rares per deck, etc.). Hopefully a true deck-builder will be added in a DLC patch, though it's going to irk me to pay for it. The other medium-sized issue, IMO, is the mandatory timers in online play. More than once I have been prevented from calculating an effective attack or block (which calculations can get very complex!) because the stupid timer expired. Even the "pause" button (which you have about 4 seconds to press) only slows the timer down. When the host sets up an online game, he/she should be able to specify which timers, if any, are active. I understand that they want to prevent players from indefinitely pausing a game to force the opponent to quit, but when I'm playing with a known friend I should be able to disable all of that and have a relaxing game that lets me take 2 or 3 minutes to figure out the best way to whack the other guy's stupid forestwalking flying pixies with +11/+11. Grrr. Minor quibbles include challenges with impossible starting conditions (how could a card with the effect of "if this card is not played from your hand, you lose" already be on the board?), an apparent bug regarding playing of instants during the block phase (it only allows one?), and no way to over-allocate damage on multiple defenders (for example if you have 4 damage to allocate between two 1/1 defenders, there's no way to allocate 2 and 2; you must choose a defender and allocate exactly 1 damage to it, then the other 3 goes to the other defender). The "campaign" mode is kind of silly, but that's how you unlock decks and cards so you gotta go through it to get the good stuff. None of these issues is a dealbreaker in any way - the game is well worth the $10 and all MTG fans should buy it. If they add a full deck-builder, the game will be 9/10, and if they allow the host to set game & deck rules (including shutting off the timers), it's 10/10.… Expand
  7. Vampire
    Jul 29, 2009
    1
    This suks, realy suks. Why? Thers one reason that drops this game to trash - lack of deck builder!! Thats the heart of MtG!! i didnt played too much this game (demo) but i want buy it - thats for sure. Time limit is too low, allocating damage on multiple defenders changes rules of game!! Who did this crap?! NO NO NO for MtG on xbox!!
  8. CharlesGillespie
    Jul 7, 2009
    8
    For $10 less the a starter deck of the card game you get the full expierence. this game will teach you how the rules of magice work, and how work out card combos. it falls short of deck building and limited cards, but for $10 it's a great taste of the game of Magic.
  9. EroEroAlex
    Sep 2, 2009
    8
    Really, just a well put together MTG experience, great Deck options, unlockable cards, Great online 1-4 players, or 2v2 with a friend on your 360 against another team, heh, it hooks ya pretty well, could use a tad few more options as it stands now, more cards, or a higher level of deck customization, but with additional content coming its only a matter of time, as it stands, all that itReally, just a well put together MTG experience, great Deck options, unlockable cards, Great online 1-4 players, or 2v2 with a friend on your 360 against another team, heh, it hooks ya pretty well, could use a tad few more options as it stands now, more cards, or a higher level of deck customization, but with additional content coming its only a matter of time, as it stands, all that it is, is without question worth $10.… Expand
  10. MattB
    Jun 18, 2009
    9
    This game is really, really fun for all magic fans. It needs a deckbuilder though, that is the only thing really holding it back from being a 'wow' or a 'must have' game.
  11. mikew
    Jun 21, 2009
    10
    DotP is a great way to enjoy a casual game of Magic without having fork over a hundred dollars putting a couple of decks together then trying to find someone to play with you.
  12. Andyman
    Jun 20, 2009
    9
    Finally, a very affordable way to play Magic. It's very nicely done, with a clean interface, great sound, good animation, and a crapton of things to do. I'm eagerly looking forward to playing it on Live... once I get a bunch of the unlockable cards.
  13. KJ
    Jun 18, 2009
    9
    Amazing game for 10 bucks. Sweet graphics with sleek animations. Sound gets old.. but you can easily just play your own. Lots of modes with tons of stuff to do! Online has multiple modes and you can even play with your friends. The A.I. is very solid and can prove to be frustrating at times with is what Magic is all about. They just really need to allow us to customize our decks a bit. Amazing game for 10 bucks. Sweet graphics with sleek animations. Sound gets old.. but you can easily just play your own. Lots of modes with tons of stuff to do! Online has multiple modes and you can even play with your friends. The A.I. is very solid and can prove to be frustrating at times with is what Magic is all about. They just really need to allow us to customize our decks a bit. This will win EVERYONE over. Future DLC were mentioned - therefore allowing us more cards. With more cards they HAVE to allow some deck customizing or it wouldn't make sense. Game also comes with a real promo foil card of a planeswalker. That's worth 10 bucks alone. You wont find a more enjoyable game for 10 bucks on the Arcade system - that is a fact. Enjoy.… Expand
  14. contradel
    Oct 3, 2010
    7
    Not for oldies.
    If you been playing this game with real cards and paying alot for these and getting into physical fights, this game probably won't have much to offer. But to me who doesn't have any friends with cards nor wish to buy them, this is a great value. Been playing it on the xbox and it's so good for just chilling while still having to be strategic.
    I hope however some more deck    Not for oldies.
    If you been playing this game with real cards and paying alot for these and getting into physical fights, this game probably won't have much to offer. But to me who doesn't have any friends with cards nor wish to buy them, this is a great value. Been playing it on the xbox and it's so good for just chilling while still having to be strategic.
    I hope however some more deck costumization will appear, more decks and more options e.g. choosing which land cards to actually use, cause sometimes when the spell just need random, you can limit your next spell by using the incorrent land.    … Expand
  15. eivuokko
    Nov 4, 2010
    2
    This game is probably great fun for people new to MtG in general, and it can be exciting the way collectible things are, if you can't get all you want. In other words, you can't customise decks properly - just adding cards isn't enough. This with mana management issues and few other glitches makes the game poor for any experienced player - after some point it *restricts* the technicalThis game is probably great fun for people new to MtG in general, and it can be exciting the way collectible things are, if you can't get all you want. In other words, you can't customise decks properly - just adding cards isn't enough. This with mana management issues and few other glitches makes the game poor for any experienced player - after some point it *restricts* the technical playing. Graphics are nice, but also bring out the grandness feeling of magical combat and could do quite a bit better on usability: a lot of information is decoded way smaller, wrong places, and with bad contrast than it could be. For new, and maybe young, players: This could be great fun; For experienced players or rules-lawyers: Few challenges are interesting, but campaign is a bit boring and frustrating. But then again, it's cheap on MtG-scale.… Expand
  16. suneater
    Dec 11, 2012
    3
    Watered down console port and not a good example of what MTG is. Locked decks kill customization and multiplayer potential along with porting issues. They dropped this in favor of the yearly releases for a reason and it isn't even sold on Steam anymore.

Awards & Rankings

82
#82 Best Xbox 360 Game of 2009
64
#64 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2009

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 27 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 27
  3. Negative: 1 out of 27
  1. X-ONE Magazine UK
    70
    It's cheaper than an actual Starter pack. [Issue#49, p.103]
  2. Absolute Games
    80
    Duels of the Planeswalkers (which bears the same title as the 11-year old expansion to MicroProse’s adaptation of M:TG) is a neat, albeit simplified, adaptation of the classic game.
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  3. GameSpot
    70
    If you're already a Magic expert, this is an acceptable way to get in a few games online with friends, though you'll likely find the inability to create your own deck to be a pretty major drawback. If you're a Magic neophyte, you'll get more out of this experience.
    Read full review
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