Hearthstone Review

Unfamiliar with the Warcraft universe having largely steered clear of the entire franchise, I have been hearing great things about Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, the new card game based on the series' lore. The game is still in beta but is free to play and despite my beliefs that it would be a poor iteration of other fantasy card games, the positive noises I was hearing (especially from other members of this blog - it's worth noting that this review is my opinion, as are all the reviews I post, not that of the rest of the team) and the non-existent price tag inspired me to put aside me prior assumptions and give it a go.

It is a very simplistic card game that doesn't demand too much knowledge of the game mechanics or franchise to have a good time and even seem to be quite good at. The tutorial is nicely paced, covering the basics and some more advanced tactics in a very short, easy and hands-on way. The difficulty builds throughout the tutorial at a nice rate so the player gets the sense that the game is getting harder but having begun to get used to the mechanics, they are more than capable of dealing with the enemies faced. It's a trick that makes anyone feel good about themselves; knowing that they are improving at something so quickly.

After the tutorial the player is gently ushered into competitive play with the option to unlock new playable characters by playing AI or by facing off against real opponents in a casual mode or the more competitive, ranked play. The three modes allow players of all abilities to further their understanding of the game and build their decks.

The deck building is perhaps less casual-gamer friendly with either prior knowledge of all the card abilities, or a good half hour or more needed to browse through the collection of cards, read up and customise a starting deck. Nevertheless the cards are nicely presented in a virtual book and once the initial information overload is over, deck customisation and card unlocks are satisfying and addictive.

Getting one over on real people is much more pleasing than just beating the computer AI and both the character and player ranking levelling up system reward skilful play. However the issue begins to arise which affects the majority of card-based games - the random factor. Winning streaks can't last forever but it becomes increasingly frustrating when things go wrong knowing that Lady Luck's a tricky mistress. Decks must be designed to last the entire game and the more powerful cards are useless at the beginning of each match, yet if the shuffle of the deck results in high-level after high-level card being drawn, the player is left absolutely helpless. Furthermore it begins to take some of the pleasure out of winning wondering whether that higher-ranked player you just beat lost due to an unlucky draw instead of your own skill.

It's an issue that isn't personal to Hearthstone but instead raises questions of the skill factor in card game as a whole. Enjoyable, nicely designed with a great soundtrack, the game is worth a go; especially as it is free. Hearthstone is obviously intended as a casual sibling to World of Warcraft's more 'hardcore' fan base. The game is without a doubt fun to play but can be equally frustrating; a person can learn from defeat if they are out-skilled, but is meaningless when they are out-lucked.

Simon Jenkins