Closed beta review – Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
Unlike some others here at Dorkadia, I’ve been out of the whole CCG (collectible card games for those not in the loop) scene for quite a long time. I haven’t played Magic: the Gathering since Unglued was released. Add to that the fact that I’ve been out of World of Warcraft since the release of Mists of Pandaria. I had been out for a year prior to that, but I participated in the MoP beta. So naturally the last thing anyone would think that I’d be interested in is a World of Warcraft themed virtual CCG. It turns out that it fills a very specific hole in my gaming life that the physical WoW CCG couldn’t. The characters (both heroes and cards) feel like old friends, the visuals are pleasantly cartoony, and the addition of voice-overs seals the deal. Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft poses a threat to my bank account like nothing else.
The basics
Hearthstone, like all good CCGs, is very basic in its concepts and play structure. Two players duel with themed or custom decks consisting of 30 cards. Players spend a resource called a mana crystal to cast spells, summon minions, or arm their heroes. Each player starts with 1 crystal in the first round and gains an additional crystal each round (which are refilled at the beginning of the player’s turn) up to a maximum of 10 if the game goes that long. The ultimate goal of each game is to reduce your opponent’s hero from 30 life points to 0. Very simple and straightforward. From here, the strategy begins. Minion cards can have any number of special traits such as battlecry, windfury, taunt, deathrattle, charge, and others. Thankfully, helpful mouse-over tool tips will help novice players get a handle on what each ability does. They key to victory is building a deck with the right amount of synergy and strategy.
Open all the packs!
Someone broke the seal! Get back!
Speaking of cards, I’ve been absolutely hooked by the way that card acquisition happens. There are these packs of expert cards that you can win or purchase which contain 5 random cards, at least one of which is guaranteed to be rare or better. They’re just begging to be opened. They need to be opened. The packs virtually explode to put their cards out on the screen for you. All 5 cards are displayed face down and have to be clicked one by one to be revealed. It presses all of the buttons that opening a physical pack of cards short of the smell. Hearthstone has perfected giving me that pack opening fix that I didn’t even know I needed.
There are, of course, already plenty of sites out there that will help you strategize your deck building. I’ve been out of the CCG world for so long that I should be the last person to give advice about card combinations. What does interest me, however, is the deck building and card buying aspects of the game. The most notable thing that Hearthstone is missing that any physical CCG would have is a secondary market for cards. Blizzard has not provided any kind of auction house or trading system in Hearthstone. Instead, they’ve implemented a diabolically clever crafting system. Unwanted cards can be disenchanted (destroyed) into a component called mystic dust which can then be used to construct a card of the player’s choosing. Of course, the amount of dust you receive is based on the rarity of the card disenchanted as is the crafting cost of the card to be created.
Take my money
Even Deathwing can be made to serve you!
So now we know how the economy behind this free to play game is going to work. You can earn gold through winning matches and completing daily quests. You can use the gold to enter arena matches or purchase expert packs. There’s nothing that can’t be accomplished in game for free…eventually. Problem is, that’s a very slow process and it’s going to take you forever to craft the cards you really want to finish off that perfect shaman deck you’ve been building. Especially when you want to have that deck made entirely out of gold cards. They’re like foil cards in a physical game, except they’re shiny and animated. How will you taunt your opponent if you aren’t playing with super shiny cards? Have no fear! You can spend real money to purchase packs or enter the arena (rewards include dust, packs, and even gold cards) instead of grinding through matches to earn gold to buy a pack of expert cards. All the compulsion of a physical card game without that pesky need to go to a store.
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is fun, whimsical, strategic, and ruthless all at the same time. It’s really the only kind of PvP that I enjoy in a Warcraft environment. I’m sure that an endless amount of expansions will eventually follow, but for now the core game is still in closed beta. It’s supposedly coming soon to PC and Mac with an iPad version (because it really is perfect for a touchscreen tablet) in the works. You will be able to chat with and challenge your friends on Battle.net as well. The gameplay is fun and compelling, the voice acting for card actions is great, and the clickable game board environments are amusing. I actually have nothing bad to say about this game. Sign up for beta or spend your days checking every card wiki or arena drafting simulator out there until it releases.
