Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012
- June 15, 2011
- Stainless Games Ltd
- 95h median play time
Get on Steam"Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012" is a visually improved version of the popular game with added features. Play against AI or in the new multiplayer format, Archenemy, and form a team to defeat a powerful boss opponent. Customize and enhance your unique deck with unlockable cards as you progress through the game. Gather your allies for a challenging experience.
Reviews
- Great introduction to Magic: The Gathering for new players, with helpful tutorials and a variety of pre-built decks.
- Fun game modes like Archenemy and Two-Headed Giant provide engaging multiplayer experiences.
- Offers a nostalgic experience for fans of the original card game, with beautiful artwork and solid gameplay.
- Lacks the ability to build custom decks, limiting player creativity and strategy.
- The AI can be frustratingly overpowered, often leading to unbalanced matches.
- Technical issues and bugs, including crashes and poor multiplayer support, detract from the overall experience.
- gameplay32 mentions
- 31 % positive mentions
- 59 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game is a mixed bag, with many players appreciating its ability to teach the mechanics of Magic: The Gathering through engaging challenges and varied prebuilt decks. However, some find the unlocking system clunky and the overall experience slow, especially on older hardware. While the core gameplay remains solid and addictive, there are concerns about oversimplification and technical issues that detract from the experience.
“The gameplay is fantastic.”
“Amazing game, features the core gameplay that makes Magic so much fun and so exciting.”
“The challenges are fun to do and help you to think about many of the mechanical synergies the game has to offer.”
“The gameplay is annoying and slow.”
“I realized that its unlocking gameplay is kind of clunky and frankly exhausting, whereas with the 2013 and 2014 versions, all you needed to do to unlock the 'good cards' was simply typing in the promo codes.”
“I won't buy another MTG game if they try to spoon-feed you tiny bits of the game and charge you for quick unlocks and 'foil' conversions, while gameplay stays mostly the same as last year's iteration... oversimplified and limiting even for those who've never played the game face-to-face.”
- graphics23 mentions
- 57 % positive mentions
- 30 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The graphics in the game are generally praised for their beautiful artwork and character design, with many users highlighting the high-resolution visuals and polished aesthetics. However, some criticisms include issues with optimization, improper display of card graphics, and technical glitches that detract from the overall experience. While the visuals are appealing, they are often seen as secondary to the game's core mechanics and gameplay.
“Awesome card game with outstanding fantasy artwork.”
“The graphics with this game are perfect and fit the game well.”
“The game itself is of course simply a computer version of the card game, complete with beautiful high resolution artwork on zoomable cards.”
“Cheesy visuals borderline stolen from the Yu-Gi-Oh GBA game.”
“It also crashes, displays card graphics improperly, and cuts off the edges of the screen so you can't see or use cards on the side of the playing field.”
“Graphics like a 2009 year game, but still not optimized.”
- story7 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
The story mode in the game is considered interesting but lacks depth and clarity, failing to effectively convey the lore of Magic: The Gathering or introduce its characters. While there are additional DLC decks and campaign missions featuring popular characters, the overall narrative experience is seen as underwhelming, with players expressing a desire for more substantial storytelling elements. However, the cooperative 3-player mode offers a more enjoyable experience for those playing with friends.
“If you can find friends to play with, it's great fun though, and there's a 3-player co-op story mode that's very fun.”
“The game does a poor job conveying the story of MTG or introducing any of the characters, just like the paper TCG.”
“The single player story mode could be better but still interesting to progress.”
“And there's a story mode with some scripts.”
- stability7 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game is reported to have numerous bugs and glitches, particularly affecting multiplayer functionality, which detracts from the overall experience. While players still find enjoyment in the game, they recommend updating to the latest version for improved stability. Overall, the stability issues are significant enough that they warrant attention and patches.
“I'm not removing my 5+ flight sim controls just so this buggy game will work.”
“This version is quite buggy though, so I'd suggest getting the latest version as this series of games are annual releases.”
“The decks are more balanced than the original and have more multiplayer modes, though there are a number of multiplayer bugs and AI glitches that really need patching out.”
- music7 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 57 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some praising the beautiful soundtracks that enhance immersion, while others criticize it for being repetitive and occasionally annoying, with specific complaints about a distracting beep and the quality of the special edition soundtrack. Overall, the soundtracks are seen as a highlight for some players, but not universally appreciated.
“It is because of its beautiful soundtracks.”
“2013 doesn't include soundtracks as good as this one.”
“Soundtracks so good that they pull you into the game.”
“The music is lacking; repetitive and sometimes annoying.”
“There's also some annoying barely audible beep in the soundtrack, so annoying.”
“The special edition is not very worth it (foil card can't be delivered to a lot of regions and the soundtrack is bad).”
- replayability4 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players find the game's replayability to be high, particularly due to the engaging archenemy mode and multiplayer options. The potential for future deck expansions and the variety of unique decks contribute to its lasting appeal, despite some minor bugs. Overall, the gameplay experience is enjoyable and encourages repeated play.
“The archenemy mode is so fun and very replayable.”
“Multiplayer is great, and assuming like the original, when they release deck expansions, this game will have great replay value!”
“Good gameplay, unique and interesting decks, lots of replay value, plus some nice sneak peeks of the new cards not released yet.”
- humor3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- -67 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is described as both hilarious and engaging, particularly in the context of interacting with characters. Players find the comedic elements accessible, making it enjoyable for newcomers, though some may feel it leans too heavily on simplicity.
“It's hilarious pissing them off.”
“It's funny and engaging, just like magic.”
“It's so accessible to the new player it's not funny.”
“The jokes fall flat and feel forced.”
“I expected a lot of laughs, but the humor is stale and unoriginal.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of unlocking all cards for a deck to be tedious and time-consuming, leading to frustration. While the game offers enjoyable multiplayer and fun decks, the option to purchase unlocked cards for $10 suggests that the developers are aware of the grind's excessive nature. Overall, the grinding detracts from the game's longevity and player engagement.
“Unfortunately, unlocking all the cards for a single deck is tedious work, and the developers knew this, because you are given the option to just buy the unlocked cards for $10 in the Steam store.”
“Fun decks and great multiplayer, but there's too much grinding for cards; no one plays anymore.”
- character development2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Users appreciate the character development primarily through the impressive artwork and design of the characters, which enhances their overall enjoyment of the game.
“I always liked looking at the cool artwork and character design on the cards.”
“I still enjoyed looking at the artwork and character design.”
- monetization2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization in the game has received mixed reviews; while some players criticize the artificial locking of essential cards behind microtransactions in a game they already purchased, others appreciate the absence of microtransactions in the newer version, despite a reduction in deck customization options.
“There's not as much deck customizability as there was in the first online version of the game, but there's also no microtransactions or money sink either.”
“Cards that are needed to progress by customizing decks are artificially locked away in microtransactions - in a game you already paid for.”
“There's not as much deck customizability as there was in the first online version of the game, but there's also not any microtransactions or money sink either.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game suffers from poor optimization, resembling graphics from 2009 while demanding excessive resources from GPUs and CPUs, leading to loud performance issues. Players emphasize the need for better optimization specifically for the PC port.
“The game needs to be optimized for PC players, as the current port puts a heavy strain on both the GPU and CPU, leading to increased noise levels.”
“Graphics feel like a game from 2009, yet the optimization is still lacking.”
“The only drawback is the poor quality of the PC port; your GPU and CPU will be pushed to the max, causing excessive noise. The game needs better optimization for PC players.”
