User Rating: 8.6 | Magic: The Gathering - Battlegrounds XBOX
I have to say, I've never played the card game (I've tried before, but just couldn't get into it), but I love this game. This game is like dork-o-vision goggles for non-Magic players. In that, I mean that I can now see what so many "dorks" (no offense) found so intriguing about the game. There is so much strategy and skill involved in the game and it translates wonderfully from turn-based to real time. First of all, the gameplay is simply extraordinary. Each set of spells (there are 5 and they are referred to by color) has its own unique style and tactics to use to defeat the opponent. For example, players who use red spells will rely primarily on attacking the opponent directly with spells. Whereas, the general strategy with green spells is to try and overwhelm the opponent by summoning tons of creatures. In addition you can even combine different spell colors which create even more strategies. Another thing to say about the gameplay is that the game does an excellent job at training the player to use all of the spells. The Quest mode has the player go through over 70 missions with each mission describing the strategy for using each spell in the game. This is even accompanied by a set of hints that can be viewed by pausing the game and selecting "hints" from the pause menu. The AI tendancy to be a little too easy on the easy missions and completely unforgiving on some of the more difficult missions, which balances itself out nicely. This game is also a Live title on Xbox. So far, I have played online 3 times for about a half an hour each time, and there has not been even one episode of lag, though recently the online lobby has been less than crowded to say the least. As far as the graphics are concerned, don't expect to be blown away with amazing visuals. Though nicely done, we are not exactly talking Panzer Dragoon ORTA quality here. But it totally makes sense considering that, at times, there will be as many as 9-10 creatures on the screen at one time! In addition there is practically no slowdown, which should be expected in this day and age, but is nice nonetheless. The music is a nice orchestrated set that fits the action. Very "Conan The Barbarian"-esque. One thing that can get annoying is that everytime you cast a spell the wizard that you are playing as repeats the spell name. Which isn't too annoying at first, but after hearing, "Raging Goblin!" about 50 times it starts getting a little tedious. It's not too much of a problem though as you can easily turn that off in the audio options. All in all, the sound and music in the game make for a decent mix. What really wins this game over, however is just how intense the battles can get. Also, there is just so much variety in play styles. I've had matches that were close and over in just 2 minutes, while other matches have gone on for nearly 10 minutes. Though probably not the most popular game it should definitely not go overlooked this holiday season. 
