Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planewalkers

by Atari

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00000K4D2
• Media: CD-ROM
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #26,662 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

GameSpot Review

As the television ads for the card-based version of Magic: The Gathering proclaim, "All you need is a brain, a deck, and a friend." Until the release of the multiplayer ManaLink patch in early February, MicroProse had provided plenty of decks but didn't allow players to compete against human opponents. Fans of the series were beginning to think the designers at MicroProse were the ones lacking brains. Duels of the Planeswalkers, the latest installment in MicroProse's Magic series, combines ManaLink, over 480 cards, and the Magic game engine - but the original release of Magic: The Gathering for the PC was over a year ago, and fans may find this add-on to be too little, too late.

In giving credit where credit is due, Duels is not solely an expansion pack. All of the elements found in the original Magic package can be found in Duels: 403 cards from the Fourth Edition set, two modes of gameplay (duel and campaign), a video-enhanced tutorial, faithful card art reproduction, and a plethora of pre-built decks. Duels even includes several interface enhancements and tournament options à la Spells of the Ancients, as well as 80 new cards from Legends and The Dark sets.

All of this makes Duels more of a rerelease than an add-on, but those of you who bought Magic when it hit the streets may be a bit peeved at MicroProse. Duels is the product that should have been released last year: a full-featured Magic engine that allows mano-a-mano duels via the Internet. Even if you own Magic and Spells of the Ancients and you only want the 80 new cards to enhance your decks (ManaLink is available to registered users for free via the Internet), you have to shell out another $30 for Duels ($45 street price with a $15 rebate). This means that dedicated players who have been with the series since the beginning will have to pay approximately $120 to play multiplayer Magic via the Internet with all of the available cards, giving way to the real magic behind both the card and computer-based version of Magic: its ability to mysteriously suck money from your pocket.

Duels is definitely aimed at newbies to Magic and, as a stand-alone product, it's a damn fine translation of the card game. However, for players who have been behind MicroProse's Magic from the beginning, Duels is almost useless and really just serves to piss you off. If you're new to Magic and are interested in the possibility of playing against your friends over the Internet or via a LAN, modem, or direct connection, you may want to check out Duels. But for you old-school Magic players out there, Duels of the Planeswalkers is simply not worth the price. --Tal Blevins
--Copyright ©1998 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited.

Product Description

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars top of my list, July 14, 2003

By 

A. Rochelle (Mount Juliet, TN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planewalkers (CD-ROM)

I began playing the card game several years ago, and when the PC software came out, I knew I had to have it. I have just about worn mine out playing it over and over again. I would say it is a must have game, but since the online version was released they have shown no interest in upgrading this version. Therefore, if you are running Windows 2000 or XP, or plan to upgrade soon then you are out of luck as far as enjoying this marvelous game. I recently upgraded to XP and now I wish I hadn't. Only the oline version works on a newer OS, but you have to buy electronic cards. This really ..., especially for those of us who started out playing the original game and spent hundreds of dollars on the cards already.

In closing, the game is awesome and if you have Windows 95/98 and plan to stick with that OS for a while then definitely add this to your gaming collection. Windows 2000 & XP users, on the other hand, are just out of luck!

22 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thats not nice..., January 7, 2001

By 

"cootief" (Issaquah, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planewalkers (CD-ROM)

Look, if you guys do not have the game, it is not nice to keep it posted that you will have it in. Either supply Duel of the Planeswalkers, or take it off your page and stop wasting our time and taking advantage of us and our hopes to get a hold of that game.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A grand game.. that STILL holds my attention..., February 23, 2003

By 

Soren M. Saggio "-soren-" (Mesa, Az United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planewalkers (CD-ROM)

"Duel of the Planeswalkers" is a GREAT game. It was released in 1998 AFTER the initial release of "Magic the Gathering" (for PC) and the expansion pack "Spells of the Ancients". "Duel of the Planeswalkers" includes BOTH of the initial releases and also allows you to play online or via LAN. There are even a few "cards" that were designed specifially for playing on the PC... you will never find this in an actual MTG deck, they have random effects assigned by the computer when you play them!

My biggest complaint about MTG the CARD game was that it was impossible to keep up with all the rules... banned cards... and if I use this card with that card in this particular circumstance this will happen... MIND boggling problems. Its true MTG was the "father" of all other card games since 1992, and most are a far cry from MTG... but trying to seriously play and keep up on every expansion set was insane!! THUS MTG Duel of the Planeswalkers was born and is the answer to every "causal" MTG player's Prayers.

My 2 complaints about this game are as follows:
1) On today's 1.5+ Gigahertz machines this game needs to be slowed down if you play the "single player" theme game. Not a problem at all during actual DUELS, but in the "Shandalar" world everything moves WAY too fast. No big deal, just find a CPU reducer utility on the internet. Older machines might not have a problem in the "Shandalar" area, but might bog down in the middle of a duel where over 20 cards are on the "table". The CPU really has to do some massive computing to figure out it's next move.... (newer machines DON'T have this problem!)

2) This game hasn't been updated/added on to since 1998... great game... an expansion would be exquisite!

I have yet to take advantage of the online/lan playability... and I wonder if anyone is STILL playing this online... I'm not sure.

It's 2003 and I still find myself going back to this game... fun to play, easy to walk away from when necessary, no long term monatary investment.

If you are a casual player or fan of Magic the Gathering, this game is an excellent purchase. Serious players might find the game slightly old and outdated... but may yet enjoy it.