Orions: Legend of Wizards

iTunes Link

Orions: Legend of Wizards is a RPG Card game by Chillingo Ltd. $4.99

A word of warning, for first time players this game will confuse the hell out of you. I have a vague idea of what Magic: The Gathering is about, which is what this game is like apparently, but I found it quite similar to that Yu-Gi-Oh Card Game. I was told to read a guide at MoreGames website before starting and I did that as well as read the rules on the game. I found that I didn't take it in, just confused me more. Starting the game with no idea whatsoever, I found it quite easy to play and get into. The in-game tutorial is quite helpful and explained it alot more than what I achieved from the rules. This game incorporates the RPG side of the game very nicely into the actual Card Playing. This is the only card game that I can think of on the App Store and is a great distraction from all these puzzle and racing games that dominate it.

This is a super detailed game. Each of the 75 original cards are made to perfection with alot of detail and fine artwork. The card game scenes have excellent animation in them and I can't think of anything wrong with it. The map with all the different islands to take over is pretty basic and uses 6 or 7 types of islands, and just repeats them. A nice touch would be individual shaped islands instead. Once you get onto each island it picks up again with great individual landmarks and the awesome buildings that you can place on each one. Overall the graphics are done to perfection, but I feel that they aren't smooth enough to get a 10/10. The controls in this game are very simple with a touch and/or drag motion to complete everything in the game. There is alot to learn to do, and may seem a bit daunting at first but as you play a few games you will slowly get the hang of it. The easiest bit if the card game. You tap on your different game type icons and choose which card you want to put onto the field. There is a crossed swords button which ends your turn and attacks everything that has been on the field for over a turn once. Simple gameplay that makes for alot of fun.

The sound in this game was surprisingly a bit disappointing. I was hoping for some more sound effects than what was in the game, all I found was themed music that changed between the main map and when you entered a card game. The music is fine and I have no problems listening to it, but I really wanted more fighting sound effects, explosion noises etc.

This game is a heap of fun and very easy to pick-up. I thought I would be spending a good hour or two just wondering why I am even in a blimp. There are two game modes, each with three difficulty levels. Duel faces you one on one against either someone over the same WiFi or a CPU at a set difficulty level. The decks are based on your character type. This mode is used by me mostly for competition between friends or practice against stronger difficulty levels to prepare for the career mode. As stated on the iTunes Information page, "Great replayability, due to random world and deck generation. You can play this game for years, and still every fight will be unique," making this game very hard to get sick of. The career mode lets you choose to be one of the six elements, water, fire, earth, air, death and life. After choosing that you start out on your home island and must progress to take out your enemy at the end of the chain of 30 something islands. As you take over islands by defeating their leader in a duel, your opponent is doing the same. If you defeat your opponent or vice versa, the loser is sent back to their homeland. If defeated on your homeland the game is over or you win if they are defeated. The same goes for taking over all the islands. This doesn't sound very exciting, but then the buildings come in. Every island allows you to build so many buildings on them with crystals, and only 3 buildings can be built per turn. A turn is one card game that you make before ending your turn, which must be done before challenging another island. The buildings available to build can either produce you more crystals or allow you to buy better cards. Strategy is the key as you will find out if you buy the game and makes for a great twist. To keep things even more interesting each time you finish the career mode with that race you get a trophy, and of course there are six to collect. I just realized I have written so much and not even talked about the card game. Each turn you get a point towards each of the elements, as the cards from that element require so many points to be summoned. They are either monster cards that attack and may have a spell on them or a magic card. The aim on the game is to take out your opponents life points before they do the same to you by either attacking them directly (So not having a monster in front of your card blocking it) or by magic. It is really simple but a heap of fun.

I could go on for hours about every detail in this game, there is so much in it. This is one of the most original games that you will find on the App Store. Even for people who have no idea how to play card games, like myself, you will still get a massive kick out of the game. The game has huge replayability and just to finish the whole game with all the elements on easy will take you over 10 hours. Super game that was then backed up by iDracula, don't miss out on buying this absolute gem!

Gameplay- 10/10
Graphics- 9/10
Sound- 8.5/10
Overall- 9/10

I would recommend this game if you enjoyed- Magic: The Gathering (Not on iPhone)

Tell me what you think about this review at Twitter- http://www.twitter.com/iPhone_Reviews and next to come is Soul Trapper

Thanks- iPhone_Reviews