The Eye of Judgment skewers the traditional design approach taken in translating popular collectible card-games such as Yu-Gi-Oh and Magic: The Gathering into their videogame counter-parts.  Rather than present a by-the-numbers-clone using a pre-existing card game, the team at Sony Japan have collaborated with Hasbro and the card masters at Wizard’s of the Coast to realize a fresh approach that uses actual cards and Sony’s latest peripheral - the Playstation Eye.  The Eye of Judgment doesn’t break the fourth wall of gaming, but it does provide a unique experience for anyone who’s ever enjoyed the drama and suspense of table top card games.  But is this unabashedly unique approach enough to save the game from lame art-design, awful music, and no single player campaign?

The Eye is Lidless, All Seeing… All Knowing

So, through the magic of the Playstation Eye – Sony’s latest peripheral marvel for this console era – The Eye of Judgment brings your atypical two dimensional cards to vivid, three dimensional life on screen.  By scanning a, rather small nine-square playing field, the camera maps 3D effects to each card falling within its all-knowing gaze.  Even as an obvious gimmick for a niche genre, the Eye of Judgment still manages to impress with creatures and effects that burst forth from the ground with imposing authority.  Think Archon on steroids.

If this kind of eye candy has you questioning the Eye of Judgment’s authenticity as a card game, it shouldn’t. The Eye of Judgment is a fully conceived collectible card game worthy of the Wizard’s of the Coast brand (maker’s of a little card game known as Magic: The Gathering).  The most unexpected news of this collaboration is that The Eye of Judgment Collectible Card Game can be played without the power of the Playstation 3 - rendering your $450 piece of hardware quite useless; undoubtedly a great way to “try before you buy” if you’re already a fan of collectible card games.

The Eye of Judgment is simple on the surface, but leaves enough room to encourage deeper strategeries.  On each turn, a player is granted two mana points which can be spent to initiate attacks, cast magic, or summon creatures from a player’s deck.  A deck is comprised of 30 cards split between two types - magic and creature - with each card featuring a unique activation cost that separates low level grunts from high level monstrosities.   Ultimate victory is awarded to the first player that can control five of the nine zones on the playing field using creature cards.  Magic cards unleash a variety of effects that can alter the balance of the playing field, heal specific creatures, or rotate enemy cards to expose blind sides in their stratagem.

The Eye of Judgment rewards players who plan ahead; and for fans of the genre that’s great.  Non-fans might feel overwhelmed at first, but the core concepts of this game aren’t difficult to grasp, and with enough practice anyone can enjoy the game despite its shortcomings.

A Wee Bit Near-Sighted

The Eye of Judgment, despite its near perfect design as a card game, suffers from some major flaws.  The graphics are passable overall, however some of the art is downright horrendous (don’t believe us, check out the in-game model for the Giant Axe Dwarf or the Elven Berserker Maiden [images too gruesome to reprint here - ED]) and the music is entirely out of place.  Imagine a compilation of the worst garbage metal in videogame history.  Now, apply that to a mystical card game that takes place in a fantasy setting. Yep, you’ve got Heavy Metal without the kick-ass animation or the herbal motivators.  Robert Plant singing about Gollum aside, the connection is a bit of a stretch.  Or, to be fair to fantasy loving Metal bands the world over, maybe just executed in an all-together lame fashion.

After nixing the obnoxious soundtrack, it’s time to hit IKEA and invest in an extra lamp since the Playstation Eye doesn’t function very well past sunset.  It should be noted that none of the aforementioned problems are unbearable, but they can hinder The Eye of Judgment’s unique experience and frustrate dedicated players to wits end. However, if you are a lover of aforementioned cheese metal, fantasy settings and sitting alone in dark rooms in front of web cameras, this may be just the thing for you.  Ahem…

What Ever Happened to Campaign Modes?

The lack of a single player campaign in The Eye of Judgment really stings.  We get the sense that a lot of thought went into breathing life into Eye's fantasy setting and yet we barely scratch the surface of the story. To compensate, the game offers a tutorial video to introduce the game’s concepts, but it’s entirely too long.  A clever single player campaign could have served as an intriguing introduction to the game's fantasy milieu and allowed those without friends who like cheese metal, fantasy settings and also happen to own PlayStation Eyes a more rewarding solo experience than to simply play fodder to the games omnipotent A.I.  Prepare to lose frequently at the outset of the game.

Luckily, or unluckily, depending on how you ‘see’ it, The Eye of Judgment allows you to play against real people online and off.  Playing with friends online seems a little bold since it assumes your friend also has a Playstation Eye, a copy of The Eye of Judgment, a high-tolerance for high-fantasy and a few good lamps – a very high set of prerequisites indeed. 

Final Judgment

The Eye of Judgment is a worthy attempt at changing the face of traditional tabletop gaming by ushering in unique aesthetics to a typically static genre.  The balanced card game, deep strategery and added visual effects make it a lot of fun, but the experience seems limited and cries out for a campaign mode. If you can get past the learning curve, and the steep investment (Eye of Judgement $70 + New IKEA Lamp $30 + Magic married with Cheese Metal = Priceless), The Eye of Judgment offers broad appeal even non-fans of Collectible Card Games (CCGs) will find intriguing, if only for a moment.  Expansions and booster packs could really give this game legs.  Let’s just hope that a sequel can iron out the rest of its kinks.