Magic Duels

Magic Duels: Origins

Never heard of Magic Duels: Origins before? Neither had I!

What is it?

So what the hell is Magic Duels: Origins? It's basically this year's version of Magic's ongoing Duels of the Planeswalker series. However, with the release of Hearthstone last year, this iteration of digital Magic: The Gathering has made some changes to the formula.

First things first: this game is free to play! Personally, I like this business model. Hearthstone has proven that digital CCGs work great in a free to play model when done correctly, and MD:O is no exception. Like Hearthstone, you can buy packs with in-game gold OR real-ass cash. In MD:O, a single pack costs 150 gold, which equates to 10 wins against AI opponents, and you get even more gold for winning against actual people. This works out to be quite generous, and, unlike Hearthstone, I've never felt like I'm in want of gold, or that I cannot easily accrue it.

Speaking of gold, this game features a single player campaign, and it's actually quite good! There are five character storylines you playthrough, each with five matches for a total of 25 total campaign missions. These campaigns are all unique, with decks corresponding to a single magic color. Missions vary between regular-ass Magic duels to duels requiring specific win conditions, like beating out four opponents consecutively. As you play through each campaign, your deck grows in power, unlocking more powerful cards. Each mission also has an prologue and epilogue, providing exposition and helping to establish each of the five main characters as they develop their planeswalking powers. But where does gold fit in to the equation? Upon completing each mission, you are rewarded gold. By the time you've completed all of them, you will earn enough gold for about 10 packs of cards, which seems very generous.

New to Magic? Read on!

"But," you might say, "I've never played Magic: The Gathering before and I've heard it's difficult to learn!" You're right, learning the actual card game of MTG can be a daunting task. However, MD:O has you covered. The game has many, MANY fantastic tutorials, which come up during the campaign. Come across a double faced card? No problem, just click the tutorial and be transported directly to a short, hands-on demonstration of how they work. The tutorials in Duels of the Planeswalkers were always great at getting new players up to speed, but MD:O has streamlined the process to make things even easier. And the best thing is, if you're a player who knows the rules already, just click "Don't Show This Again" at the prompt, and you won't have to deal with it.

One of the coolest things about this game is the deck building. I haven't played Duels of the Planeswalkers for a few years, so some of these features may have been in more recent releases, but the new deck building options are great for novice and veteran players alike. For novice players, there is a Deck Wizard option that will create viable decks out of your current card list. Simply choose a template, and as it prompts you for a certain type of card, pick one of the cards it recommends or have it fill your deck for you. Don't like a card it added? Swap it out for something else! It's incredibly intuitive and a lot of fun. There are ten deck templates to choose from, so you won't have trouble finding one you like. For veterans, you can build your decks however you like, as long as you follow the rule of no more than four of a card that has been established for digital releases since the first Duels of the Planeswalkers.

More cards to come!

The final thing I like is that they plan to release new Magic sets in the game in the future. Instead of buying Duels of the Planeswalkers every year, you can get MD:O (for free!) and get new sets as they come out. This will add some serious life to the game. In the past, my friends and I have enjoyed our time with Duels of the Planeswalkers, but once we got familiar with the games' limited card selections, even with DLC, we stopped playing. Here's hoping this alleviates that problem and keeps the game fresh.

Minor flaws...

The only complaints I have about this game are minor. The biggest issue I've had is not being able to cancel casting a card/spell once I've selected it. In Hearthstone, if you move a card over the board, but then decide not to play it, you can simply pull it back into your hand without any issues. Not so in MD:O. If you click on a card, you're playing it, unless it has an ability that you need to activate, in which case you can often select "Cancel," which will return it to your hand. Your opponent will still see your attempt to play it.

Another minor, minor gripe is that the cut scenes in the campaign are terrible. They look like they're ten years old or more, and completely bring you out of the story. Remember Planescape: Torment's cut scenes? They're like that. Not good.

I should also note that I have only played the game on PC. Any technical or other issues present in the other versions are not addressed here. The game ran perfectly for me.

Final thoughts

Overall, this is a solid release. As a casual Magic fan, this game does everything it needs to for me to enjoy it. It may lack some features that expert players want, but I can't say for certain. The only caveat is that this game's longevity depends on future sets being added to the game to keep it from stagnating.

Verdict: 5 out of 5

This game is fantastic and is exactly what I want from a digital version of Magic: The Gathering. With only minor gripes and no technical issues to speak of, there's almost nothing holding this release back from greatness. I should note, however, that this score assumes that they continue to release sets for the game, and that they retain the same gold cost in game, or at least close to it. That aside, you should absolutely download this game! It's free, so what have you got to lose?