Magic Duels is a free to play, yet fully featured Magic The Gathering game which made its way to the Xbox One last week. The game features a single player campaign as well as a battle mode in which you can challenge AI or human opponents with your custom built decks in order to earn coins. The coins you earn can be used to purchase booster packs, or other upgrades such as converting cards to foil cards.
I’ve been casually interested in the Magic games in the past. I’ve played the 2014 and 2015 games (both of which required a purchase) but could never quite get hooked. Magic Duels certainly has a very slick presentation, however the gameplay feels sluggish and dated, especially when compared to Hearthstone. I’m sure comparing Magic to Hearthstone will offend Magic players, but Hearthstone is much easier to play and its card battles run smoother than Magic’s. There are way too many button prompts in the magic games. When your opponent plays a card the game expects you to look at it and press ‘A’. When your opponent attacks you’re expected to hit ‘A’ after every card attacks. The battles should just be able to play out smoothly, without all of the prompts slowing the game to an annoying crawl at times.
Magic Duels will certainly appeal to Magic and card battle enthusiasts, but those with a more casual interest in the genre will most likely be put off (especially for those who have played Hearthstone). Ultimately, Magic Duels has me hoping that Hearthstone someday makes its way to consoles. Sure the ideal way to play is on an iPad, but I wouldn’t mind playing a game or two on the Xbox One if it were an option.
Are you looking to beef up your game collection for the Xbox One? How does thirty games for thirty dollars sound? If you want some serious bang for your buck, be sure to pick up Rare Replay for the Xbox One today!
Rare Replay was announced during Microsoft’s E3 press conference this summer and surprised just about everyone. The reception to the announcement was incredibly positive, especially after the price was announced. Considering most HD remakes or re-releases tend to sell for $60 while only including two or three titles, very few expected a collection of thirty games to be priced at half that.
Notable titles in the Rare Replay collection include Battletoads, Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark, Viva Piñata and Conker’s Bad Fur Day. The collection spans twenty five years featuring titles released between 1983 and 2008. Rare Replay also features over 10,000 achievement points, however it’s worth noting if you’ve previously earned achievements from the games released on the 360 you cannot double dip.
I’ve played very few of the titles featured in the Rare Replay collection so I’m excited to try out most of the games for the very first time. I’m currently downloading the games that aren’t bundled in the download of the collection itself and once they complete I’ll have to figure out which game to jump into first.
Are you going to check out the Rare Replay collection? Which of the games featured are your favorites? Which do you recommend I check out first?
This year marks not only the first time the FIFA series will feature women’s teams (in the form of 12 national teams) but also the first time a female athlete has graced the cover of a mainstream sports game.
FIFA is one of the best selling video games in the world, so it’s pretty cool to see a female athlete featured predominantly on the cover and it’s even cooler to see the women’s national teams make it into the game. Hopefully this is the first step of many to expand the focus beyond just male athletes in EA Sports games.
I really like the cover, featuring Alex Morgan of the United States national team. I’m honestly a little tired of seeing Messi on the cover, I think they could’ve given Morgan the cover on her own to celebrate the women’s team World Cup victory.
I’m excited for FIFA 16 to release this Fall, and I can’t wait to see this cover in my digital game collection. Congratulations Alex Morgan!
I pre-ordered EA Sports Rory McIlroy PGA Tour and was excited to check out EA’s first current gen golf game (also the first in two years and the first since dropping the Tiger Woods name). It took all weekend to download over the hotel WiFi, and today I finally got to give it a try.
What a disappointment! Rory McIlroy PGA Tour is lacking in so many ways compared to the great Tiger Woods games of the past. First of all the tutorial seems lazy and is also lazily narrated. The Rory McIlroy prologue lacks excitement as does McIlroy’s commentary (that you can’t skip).
Career mode was my favorite part of the Tiger Woods games, and I especially loved trying to rise from the amateur ranks to the PGA Tour, all while earning sponsorships and increasing my stats. Most of that is missing from this game. First of all, the character customization is terribly lacking.
There are hardly any customization options at all. As you can see above, there are only eight haircut styles to choose from! Not only that, but what’s even worse is you can no longer pick and choose how you spend EXP to increase your stats. The game increases your stats for you and your only choice is between a few styles to start out with (power, finesse, balanced). Career mode starts you off with the Web.com finals, and there’s no other amateur career leading up to the PGA Tour. What’s worse, is by default the game is set to simulate most of the round with you only getting to play four or five holes.
Once on the course the game doesn’t get much better. If you’re playing with spin enabled (arcade controls) any amount of spin at all affects the ball so drastically it’s almost impossible to use. Even a slight amount of backspin will stop the ball dead in its tracks and any amount of forward spin is likely to cause the ball to run clear off the green even if you land toward the front.
I’ve had several chip shots get stuck on the flag rather than sink into the hole, and putting is impossibly hard. Even with putt reads enabled putting is hopeless. In fact half the time the reads seem to be completely wrong and indicate the ball breaking in the complete opposite direction. You’re better off ignoring the reads entirely, but prepare to be frustrated beyond belief with putting. I’ve never had this much trouble with a Tiger Woods game.
There are so few courses and gameplay features in Rory McIlroy PGA Tour you’re much better off picking up any of the recent Tiger Woods games (I recommend The Masters). Rory McIlroy PGA Tour is terribly disappointing and I can’t recommend it even to the most hardcore golf fans.
Hey there, hope you’re enjoying the start of your holiday weekend! I spent my day off by going to the gym, cleaning and organizing a bit and now I’m just lounging around playing The Witcher 3!
I sold my Xbox 360 shortly after getting an Xbox One and have often regretted the decision. At the time it made sense as I was looking forward while also attempting to cut down on clutter. I ended up trading in my 250gb 360 slim (which I had just recently upgraded to from an older Elite) to GameStop for some irrationally low sum (I think I got around $80 for the console and around 15-20 disc based games). Oh well, I got a second Xbox One controller out of it so it seemed like a good idea.
I haven’t really missed my 360 either. I’ve enjoyed my Xbox One immensely. The longing for another 360 came after returning from vacation where I spent a lot of time playing Minecraft on the Xbox One with my brother. He doesn’t have an Xbox One, and is still in high school so it’ll be awhile until he gets one. Therefore now that I’m back in Idaho the only way I can play Minecraft with him is on a 360. Sure, you’d say PC is an option, but he’s part of the generation that thinks PC’s are old fashioned. A phone is all he needs.
I’ve also been looking at the list of great Games with Gold releases on the 360 and I’ve found quite a few games have been given out for free that I never got around to playing. I also miss playing the Scene It games with Vanessa, so yesterday I ordered a $99 refurbished Xbox 360 from GameStop (along with a 2 year replacement plan).
I picked up the 60GB Lego Lord of the Rings bundle because it has the highest hard drive space of the $99 bundles. I have quite a few digital 360 games tied to my account, but I think 60GB will get me what I need for now.
I’m not certain which version of the 360 I’ll be getting as the page notes that models may vary, but I’m at least hoping I get a model with an HDMI port.
My only regret at this point is that I never transferred any of my 360 saves to the cloud. This was a huge mistake on my part because I’ll have to start many games over again should I choose to play them. I never finished Final Fantasy XIII but I got pretty darn far. Not sure I’ll want to start that adventure over.
My 360 should arrive tomorrow evening and I look forward to re-downloading a few of my favorite titles and checking out April’s Games with Gold. Too bad I didn’t have a 360 all along because I’ve missed a lot of great free games. Oh well.
Have you found yourself going back to a last gen console? Did you have to repurchase it or did you keep yours?
Microsoft itself has cut the price of a year of Xbox Live to $39.99 via the Microsoft Store. There are often sales on Xbox Live subscriptions via other sources, such as Amazon, but this is the first time I’ve seen Microsoft itself selling a subscription for a discounted price (it certainly may have happened before).
There’s no indication of how long the $20 discount will last, so snatch up your code while you can!
I’ve been a monthly subscriber for way too long, and have essentially been throwing away money. I picked up a code and along with my free month from the Master Chief Collection I’m now ‘golden’ until April 2016.
Back in 2008 Civilization Revolution on the Xbox 360 served as my introduction to the wonderful strategy series that’s been around since 1991. The gameplay was incredibly addicting and winning battles was wonderfully satisfying again and again. One night browsing the app store in my hotel room in Hawaii I stumbled across a pleasant surprise when I saw Civilization Revolution 2 for sale. I bought it immediately and spent countless hours trying to dominate the world rather than sleeping. Revolution 2 plays great on the iPad and offers hundreds of hours of enjoyment for longtime Civ fans or newcomers alike. I’ll be enjoying Civilization Revolution 2 well into 2015 and beyond, and it certainly deserves recognition as one of the best games released in 2014.
Number Four: The Wolf Among Us
Telltale Games’ The Wolf Among Us took me by surprise this summer. I was never blown away by the Walking Dead games but decided to give The Wolf Among Us a try. I downloaded the entire season on the iPad this summer and dove right in. I was immediately blown away by the unique, dark world and the amazing characters within. The music and scenery during the introduction following the preface absolutely blew my mind and ranks as one of the most awe inspiring sequences in a video game I’ve ever experienced.
The mystery Bigbee gets wrapped up in kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire experience and every twist and turn made it so hard to put my iPad down. I burned through the episodes as quickly as I could and loved every minute of it.
Number Three: Hearthstone
Hearthstone is an incredibly well made, free card battle game. Blizzard took a chance and hit a grand slam with Hearthstone. The game features great artwork, animation and sounds along with easy to pick up, hard to put down gameplay that provides countless hours of entertainment. I feel like Hearthstone is quite easy to understand and get the hang of compared to other card battle games like Magic the Gathering, but there’s still plenty there for more seasoned players. Hearthstone is so hard to put down because no matter how badly you’re being beaten you’re never quite out of it. I’ve been on the edge of defeat and have gotten the right cards at the final moments and have battled back from that edge and onto an incredibly satisfying victory. There’s hardly anything more rewarding than experiences like that!
Number Two: Tales from the Borderlands (episode one)
Telltale games have had a big year this year. The Wolf Among Us came to a wonderful conclusion this summer and then this winter saw the start of two new adventures with Game of Thrones and Tales from The Borderlands. The latter has not only been my favorite Telltale game to date, but also one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had with a video game ever! The first episode is upbeat, colorful, energetic and absolutely hilarious from start to finish. I’ve never laughed so much while playing a game. I had a smile on my face from start to finish as I made my way through the exciting chapters of the first episode. There was never a dull moment and the conclusion to the episode had me dying for more. I can’t wait to experience the rest of the story! Tales from the Borderlands confidently lands at number two on my list because it was a refreshing experience with some incredible writing in a great world. I highly recommend it!
Game of the Year: Halo: The Master Chief Collection
This is sure to be a controversial pick for a variety of reasons. First of all, this is technically a re-release of games spanning from 2001 to 2013. Secondly, the game had an incredibly rocky launch, and was not ready to be released upon the salivating masses in November. It’s true, for the first three weeks I owned the game I was only able to play around 15 matches which is entirely unacceptable. That said, now that the game has been more or less working as intended for the last week or so it’s easily been my most enjoyable gaming experience of 2014.
Being able to jump into matches across four different Halo games with my friends from around the world with whom I’ve played the games with in the past. It’s amazing to see how much Halo has grown all in one package. We used to throw our cumbersome CRT TV’s in our cars and drive miles to a central meeting place, lug our TV’s downstairs, order pizza and play Halo for hours on end. To be able to jump into a game of Halo Combat Evolved or Halo 2 with the push of a button is awesome. To be able to play a match of Halo 3, 2, and CE in quick succession is equally awesome. The Halo 2 Anniversary remake is a stunningly beautiful way to relive both a great campaign and a great multiplayer experience.
I will easily spend hundreds of hours over the next year and beyond enjoying the Master Chief Collection. The last week of fun alone has already made up for the three weeks I was barely able to play the game I invested $60 in. From the start the Master Chief Collection was a bargain for $60. They could have easily charged $60 alone for the Halo 2 Anniversary edition, but instead they threw in three more games and gave us an unimaginable value. For that, Halo: The Master Chief Collection is crowned A Video Game Life’s Game of the Year! Congratulations 343!
After about an hour of enjoying Master Chief Collection with friends we all lost our connection to the party and all of a sudden all of our friends lists went dark. They showed zero players online, and we were unable to invite each other back into the game and had issues sending messages even from the Smart Glass app.
We were all able to join Halo matches on our own, but coudln’t join each other’s games or parties. It appears as if Xbox Live is once again under attack and most of the social services seem to be affected right now (over the last 30 minutes or so).
We were having a blast playing Halo, and it’s frustrating to have our enjoyment interrupted once again by a group of “hackers” (the hashtag #xboxlivedown seems to show a widespread interruption). What a shame. I guess I’ll either try to play Dragon Age or just give up all together and play some 3DS to end the night.
I noticed after we came home from breakfast with family yesterday morning I was unable to sign into Xbox Live. We only had a few hours before we had to head out again for another family gathering so I didn’t think too much of it. I did notice throughout the evening I was unable to view my friends via the SmartGlass app on my phone. I had been looking to see which of my friends had upgraded from the 360 to the Xbox One this Christmas.
It was then I was first made aware of the mass outage affecting both Xbox Live and PSN. I saw a series of tweets mentioning the outages and found confirmation on both IGN and CNN. When I saw that the outages were thought to be a result of DDoS attacks I felt quite a bit of anger. Why would someone be so cruel on a holiday that means so much to so many people? I could imagine the thousands of gamers, the young especially, trying to boot up their new consoles only to be met with nothingness. From what I understand many were not able to play at all as the games or consoles themselves required updates and were not able to receive them.
I was away all day so the outage didn’t affect me, but the fact that it was disrupting the Christmas joy of thousands of others saddened me. Did the outage affect you? Is it still affecting you? Xbox Live seems to be working as advertised right now for most people (including myself), but PSN is still mostly down.
What happened (in a brief, barely informed nutshell)?
The nuisance group which calls themselves The Lizard Squad apparently took both networks down yesterday. They were demanding retweets in exchange for releasing their grip on the networks. In the end Kim Dotcom seemingly single-handedly ended the attacks by offering Lizard Squad members premium MEGA accounts.
Thanks @LizardMafia for stopping attack on XBOX Live & PSN. Let everyone play with their Xmas gifts. Your Mega vouchers have been approved!
A group called Finest Squad spent most of yesterday and today countering Lizard Squad’s efforts, and has been working to bring the “hackers” to justice. Their efforts are greatly appreciated, and will hopefully deter future “pranks”.
Gumballs Plays Games 