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With the market flooded with FPS titles, it is nice to see someone develop something fresh and original for the Xbox 360. They need as much diversity as they can get if they are to draw in others beyond the hardcore gamer audience. While this style of game isn’t my cup of tea, Culdcept Saga may give RPG style fans something to spend some quality time with. A title that is built upon strategy and luck, this board game combined with collectable card game is just the niche title that may interest those 360 gamers who are on the fence and think the system is solely for FPS and sports games. I’d be lying if I were to tell you that Culdcept Saga screams "next gen" in terms of visuals. What you get is a visual style that is unique, but low on the polygon count, weak on the animations (especially the card battles), and honestly looks much like a Dreamcast title. With that being said, it is fair to say this game isn’t one you would show off to your friends if you are going to express the power of the Xbox 360. I must give kudos to the art design on the cards themselves, which are quite beautiful indeed. The interest and longevity are greatly appreciated in terms of game play and online execution.
With an unlimited number of strategic combinations and over 470 cards to choose from, one can argue that Culdcept is one sweet game. Sure the game is simplistic in nature as you begin each journey into the game’s story by jumping onto a board game mechanic, rolling the dice (of sorts), and moving from spot to spot on the board. Depending on the color and inhabitants of the square you can choose a card, battle, or capture that particular piece of the board. The card battles themselves aren’t what you would call exciting, but they do provide enough ambiance to keep your interest. This is a good thing as to make it though Culdcept’s many lands and territories, it will take you a good 30 + hours of doing mainly the same thing over and over again. The game really gets cooking through online as the AI seems to always have a great advantage over the player more times than not. All is not perfect online though as you can always check out what card your opponent is playing with and their selection which makes the game more of reading players tells than it is being masterful with your deck of choice. There is no way to pause game play online, so if you are in for a long marathon, you’d better have your snacks and bed pan by your side. Gamers who are into this genre will no doubt enjoy what Culdcept Saga offers, but with the game’s dated visuals, poor voice acting, so-so solo mode, and slightly broken online play, one can only recommend this for hardcore fans of this genre. Other gamers may find themselves lost and beaten within an instance of just getting the basic premise down. It’s a basic game of Monopoly style game play with some monsters and fantasy storylines tossed in for good measure. Not bad, but far from great.
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