Eye of Judgement...PS3's new killer app

[Razer]

(ok, the "killer app" part was added by me but I think this is something that, if done right, would push hardware tho I believe Sony will have it include it as the pack-in).

from www.gamespot.com-


The Eye of Judgment Updated Hands-On
What do you do when the forces of evil threaten an ancient land? Grab a deck of cards and a camera, of course.

The Eye of Judgment has come a long way since it debuted at the Electronic Entertainment Expo last year as a cool tech demo built around a card game. Not only has the game been refined into something pretty cool, but the PlayStation 3 camera, now known as the PlayStation Eye, has also gotten a makeover. We had the chance to try out the latest work-in-progress version recently and have been impressed by how it's all coming together. Though the technology is still very cool, it's no longer overshadowing the actual game, which is now looking like a compelling strategy game.

The game's story is still being kept vague, but what's important to know is that there's trouble in an ancient kingdom, and you're getting tapped to sort it all out. Rather than grab a trusty sword or a wand, you bust out your deck of mystically powered cards and venture forth to kick butt and take names. From the look of things, the robe-and-armor-wearing set at the heart of the conflict aren't big on getting their hands dirty, so combat is all about card battling. Your battleground is made up of nine panels laid out in a 3x3 configuration. To achieve victory, you'll have to hold more panels than your opponent.

The game's simple but strategic system is brought to vivid life thanks to the PlayStation Eye camera, a play mat, and the unique deck of cards that will come with the game. You'll set up the camera to overlook your play mat, matching the grid being displayed onscreen by using the included stand. The first time you play the game, you'll need to register your cards into the game by placing them in front of the camera, which will read a special bar code on each card. Once that's done, you'll shuffle your cards and deal yourself a hand of five before setting your deck down. From then on, you'll simply follow onscreen prompts to go through each of the different stages of play.

The basic flow of the game is standard: Cards will be dealt to both players and then turns will alternate between players and reward you with a card and mana. During your turn, you'll be able to lay down cards if you have enough mana, use one of your action cards, or attack. Placing cards requires some forethought, as you'll need to take into account each card's attack range and elemental affinity. Some cards will only be able to attack the square in front of them, while others will have a greater range and be able to attack any square around them. A card's elemental affinity also comes into play, as you'll want to lay cards down on panels that match their affinity. Matching elements typically affords you a bonus of some kind, such as a boost to attack power for that card or a boost to all the cards you have in play. The elements are fairly logical—wood, earth, fire, and water—although there's an original one tossed into the mix: the industrial-influenced biolith. The goal of attacking is to lower your opponent's card health to zero and remove the panel they hold.

Besides attacking, you'll be able to use different cards during a match that can help your fight. You'll have a constant set of action cards that will let you attack or reposition your card to face a new direction, which is done by putting the card over an existing card on the board. As the game progresses and you get new cards from your deck, you'll eventually get cards that will let you restore a card's health or perform other useful actions. The most useful card we came across was the one that lets you flip the panels on the board to switch their elemental affinity, which comes in handy when you don't have any cards that synch with the available elements. The system is straightforward and isn't too hard to pick up. Onscreen counters will keep you informed of whose turn it is and how many cards you should have in your deck. Speaking of your deck, though the game comes with a starter deck of 30 cards as well as a booster pack, you'll be able to pick up more cards to buff up your deck. There are currently plans to make 110 cards available in total. Cards are expected to be available in booster packs and preconstructed decks. If this sounds somewhat familiar to card-game fans, it's likely because the Sony Japan-developed game is being worked on in conjunction with Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast, of Magic: The Gathering fame.

Besides the single-player game, you'll be able to take on a friend in offline and online matches, or watch the CPU play against itself using your deck. We're curious to see how cheating is going to be handled. While it's less of an issue in an offline game, online matches could get weird if people can just search through their deck to find the card they need. Registering your cards to your PS3 should help some, but we're curious to see just how folks are going to be kept honest. Besides game modes, Eye of Judgment will let you check out your cards in a cool display mode where you can mess around with their animations.

The visuals in the game continue to be refined over what we've seen in the past. The onscreen representation of the board has a nice antique look to it, and the different panels reflect their various elemental affinities. We had a bit of a problem distinguishing between some of element types, but it's a minor issue fixable with some color tweaking, which the game is currently undergoing. Each character card has its critter brought to life in 3D, a la Star Wars chess, and they look impressive. The battle animations are very cool, but once you've been suitably impressed by your dragon barbecuing up some gnomes or elementals, you can turn them off to speed up the matches. The creature designs are a mix of the classic cape-and-sword-style adventurers along with some different takes on familiar creatures such as dragons and elementals. Though the game was still a work in progress, the action ran smoothly, with just a few hiccups here and there. On top of the 720p in-game visuals, Eye of Judgment features some swanky CG that sets the stage for the epic card battling.

The game's audio is coming together to offer a good complement to the visuals. You'll hear some melodramatic themes at play during battles that set the right tone for the action. Sound effects are still being tweaked, but they're coming close to being spot on to what you'd expect to hear from the menagerie you'll be wielding to take out your opponent.

Based on what we played, The Eye of Judgment will likely come as a pleasant surprise to those who'd assumed the game was more of a tech demo than anything else. The game is fairly easy for anyone to pick up in a few minutes, and once you do, it's more than a little addictive. Fans of card games should have no trouble getting into the game's mechanics. Newcomers to the card-game genre might be more prone to giving the game a shot given its presentation, which is a good deal more dynamic than just staring at cards. The Eye of Judgment is due out this fall for the PlayStation 3, with additional card packs being available at around the same time.

[Shino]

Yupyup, as I said in the thread I made about it, I'm really excited about this!

[Razer]

ok, post has been copied to the pre-existing thread. Lock this one down, Shino.

[Shino]

Thanks Ray to the Zer!