For fans of trading card games that have always imagined their creatures and spells coming to life,
The Eye of Judgment brings that dream to the Playstation 3. In the ever-expanding world of collectible gaming it's hard to stand out.
The Eye of Judgment doesn't only separate itself from the crowd, it delivers in a way completely new and unique in the trading card game genre.
Released October 23rd, this game combines the card game powerhouse that is Hasbro's Wizards of the Coast with the online capabilities and gaming experience of Sony Online Entertainment.
The Eye of Judgment game comes with the Playstation EYE, a camera stand, a playmat, a starter of 30 cards and a booster. Players are able to customize their decks as in normal trading card games, but then these characters come to life via the PS Eye. Booster packs will run you about $3.75, with preconstructed theme decks averaging about $12.
Graphically, the game is stunning. It doesn't seem right to start a card game review with an opinion on the graphics, but let's face it, the graphics are one of the first things you notice about the game. The first time I
previewed the game at Gen Con Indianapolis I was flabbergasted. I started in Card Profile mode to get a look at the cards, and was blown away as the characters and monsters interact with you as you move them across the field. Gameplay is also amazing, and reminds me of how awesome that
The Empire Strikes Back scene was where R2-D2 and Chewbacca were playing holo-chess on the Millennium Falcon. Only now I'm the one commanding the monsters.
Trust me, I had this game loaded up on a 61” HDTV, and this isn't anything like playing at your kitchen table, maneuvering around pizza and sodas. The first few times some friends and I played this, we spent more time looking at the screen than trying to come up with deck ideas (or reading the cards, or even worrying about who actually won.) One small quibble was that the cord wasn't long enough to place the game far enough away from the TV, but I'd assume that only a small percentage of people would run into the 61” dilemna.
But we're here to talk about the game itself, and all the fancy graphics in the world aren't going to cover up if a game isn't developed correctly. Thankfully, there's a real game under all the polish.
Up front I do have to say that
The Eye of Judgment is a very unique game, combined with a very original presentation. It's not quite a video game, not quite a card game, and comes with an entry price tag much higher than the standard "trading card game" if you are only using the PS3 for this game. There are those hardcore console gamers that will wonder what a card game has to do with the Playstation 3, a unit who's purpose is high end graphics and Blue Ray, as well as those typical TCGers who will wonder why they now need a $400 PS3 and a $70 game to enjoy their cards, not to mention the PS Eye accessory itself - my
Dance Dance Revolution mat is taking up space and collecting dust rather than being a lasting part of my gaming.
Given those hurdles,
The Eye of Judgment answers those questions by offering a one-of-a-kind way for gamers to be introduced to the world of TCGs, online gameplay, and a unique and engaging gaming experience.
The game itself stands up as a solid addition to the TCG market. First, let's talk about the deck: cards consist of spells and creatures in five different elements: fire (red), water (blue), wood (green), earth (yellow) and Biolith (gray). The game pits these elements against each other in a battle for field control. Decks contain 30 cards, and the PS3 takes care of the turn structure and game rules, which is a very nice feature when trying to encourage some first-time card gamers to try it out.
The field is made up of nine squares, with the five elements being represented. The goal is to have control of five of the nine fields, or to deplete you opponent's deck. The strategy mirrors that of previous card games, but the changing field of play and various attacks of the creatures adds to the complexity, making nearly every game different. At first you would think that a 3x3 grid would limit the gameplay, but there is definitely enough strategy here to satisfy the cerebral gamer.
Each player gets two mana per turn to either spend or bank for later turns. More mana buys you bigger and better creatures, so knowing when to build up and when to blitz is a big part of the strategy. Players versed in the TCG market will be able to pick up the game quickly, but for players new to this type of game the learning curve could be quite steep.
One important note is the importance of making sure your PS Eye is aligned and set up correctly. If you don't take the time to calibrate the Eye completely, you're going to get errors and a lot of slowness when the game tries to read the various "glyphs" on the cards. A few minutes of proper setup can help avoid a lot of frustration down the road.
I tested the different ways that could cause interfere with reading the cards, and sleeves seemed to pose no problem. The biggest issues seemed to be shadows on the mat, the mat being either misaligned or uneven, and the PS Eye being a tad off in angle. Once you get used to knowing all the little details, it's pretty easy to get things set up.
The Eye of Judgment offers four game modes. You can play the game stand alone without the PS3 against another player, against the AI with five levels of difficulty, PVP on the PS3, and online against other players. In addition, you can have the game play simulated matches, AI vs AI, to try and test your deck and see what works and what doesn't.
Online play takes care of several cheating aspects, but does offer one loophole. While the computer does take care of all decks, rules, gameplay, and cards in hand to ensure that each player is only using the cards they should, the unscrupulous player could, given enough time and resources, use high quality color copies in place of real cards, ensuring they have the best options available when deckbuilding. You also can't spot these players, as you never end up seeing their cards...you just see the creatures summoned to the board.
While this does hurt the collectibility of the cards, this doesn't effect the online gameplay. Players still need to know the game rules and be able to play. Otherwise, the cards themselves aren't going to win the game. In fact, when we went online, we used a starter to beat a few players who had an obvious card collection advantage.
A small gripe here is that when playing online, even though the computer manages the decks and cards that you draw, you do need to physically find and play the cards. Instead of just drawing and having the card in hand, you need to shuffle through your deck to find the correct card. This can be especially difficult for newer players, but as you familiarize yourself with the cards this should become less of a time sink.
In addition, it's a tad difficult to know the exact attack ranges of the cards that the computer or online opponents are playing because you never see their cards. If you don't have the creatures memorized by name, you've got to constantly use the Status card to get more information on a creature. You can't look down at the field and see all the cards, just yours. If you combine the learning curve and these issues, it's a good suggestion to play a few head to head games against the computer of a friend before going online.
At the moment online play seems to be a little sparse. We had no issue finding an opponent, but the number of people to play was a bit lower than expected. The mostly-online nature of the game also stifles trading. You're not going to be trading with any of your online opponents, so you'll have to make the trip to your local hobby store to pick up anything you need. Since hobby stores (for now?) don't have any plans to actually hold events for EoJ, you're probably not going to be able to purchase singles, just sealed product.
The game certainly shines most when playing against a real life opponent sitting across from you, but is this game and what is has to offer something that appeals to hardcore TCGers? Are players new to TCGs going to prefer this over some other console game? These questions remain to be answered.
With only 110 cards to work with things could get repetitive, but with Sony promising all the opponents you could ever need online and Wizards of the Coast planning new card product every three to four months, players are sure to be challenged. The only question is if you are the kind of player who's going to become engrossed with the strategy the game has to offer, or if you are going to become bored with the graphics and initial entertainment value. That is something each gamer has to see for themselves.
It does have to be said that aside from the game itself, this title shows a huge new range of opportunity and possibility in the trading card game market. It's going to be quite exciting to see where it goes from here.
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Presentation Rating = 9.0
The graphics are stunning, jaw-dropping in fact the first time you see them. Everything about the game reflects the vast experience from Sony and Hasbro. There's a bit of a void with the backstory that other typical console games would have, but that becomes unnecessary in this case. The score is also brought down a little because the cards themselves are a bit less attractive than other card games, since a lot of space is delvoted to the 'gylphs.'
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Gameplay Rating = 8.0
It's difficult to separate out the presentation of the game from the actual gameplay, but once you get around to the actual card game, it is solid if not revolutionary. The opportunity was also there for some fun mini games or other features outside of building a deck and playing, but those are noticeably absent. The tutorial also leaves a lot to be learned on your own as far as making the game go more smoothly.
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Support Rating = 8.5
The online aspect really shines, despite the card duping issue, but with the promise of continued development by Hasbro and Wizards and the opportunity to find an opponent at any time, the only thing missing is some sort of organized play. Time will tell if that becomes an option.
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Innovation Rating = 9.5
There's no getting around just how unique this game is. From top to bottom the game is a completely new experience in TCGs. The only thing keeping this from a perfect 10 is that the card game aspect itself doesn't offer any huge leaps in the way of mechanics, etc., but that's a little much to ask given the obvious leap that the game already takes in terms of innovation.
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