The Eye of Judgement Impressions

It's not until you see The Eye of Judgement in action that you begin to realise its revolutionary potential. Sure, it's essentially just another a card game at heart, but complete with a package of peripherals including the new Sony Eye camera, The Eye of Judgement could turn the genre on its head. Developed in conjunction with acclaimed card game creators Wizards of the Coast--the firm behind the Star Wars TCG and Magic: THe Gathering-- the game recognises the cards being played via the camera, and automatically generates the game on-screen.

As well as being able to see the game on screen, you can also interact with your creatures in 3D--stroking, moving and ordering them around just by moving your fingers. Effectively, it recreates visually what you've only ever been able to imagine when playing card games. From kids who play these games in the playground to those who do it in serious competition, The Eye of Judgement is sure to appeal to a great number of players for offering something genuinely new.

In terms of principles, The Eye of Judgement is pretty much the same as most advanced card games. The game includes a 3x3 board that offers a total of nine spaces in which to lay your cards. Each space has features one of five elements--fire, water, earth, wood and biolith--which will affect which creatures you want to lay there. Two players battle their deck against each other by laying cards down in turn. In the demo we saw, each player was offered two mana points to play two cards--one character card and one magic card for example.

If you can place a character card in their favoured zone, such as a fire card in the fire zone, then that character will gain two more hit points. Put the same character in a water space though, and they will lose two hit points. A creature's strengths and weaknesses are also dependent on their zone, so an earth creature is naturally better at defense, while a water creature is naturally evasive. The biolith creatures are the wild cards, so to speak, and they have the ability to turn battles in an instant.

When you choose to attack your opponent or are forced to make a counterattack, the game zooms down to show your characters in action. Miniature battles take place in their respected areas automatically, and the winner is decided based on the strength of their characters and their ability to adapt to the environment. However, if you bring in the big guns in the form of a spell card, you can really lay the smackdown on your opponent, with large scale explosions and clouds happening on screen to illustrate the damage.

Unlike most card games, you won't actually need another human player around to play the game. The PlayStation 3 will double up as an opponent if need be, and we're promised that the console's AI routines will accurately replicate human-like playing style. One of the key features to the game is that you can play over the PlayStation Network with other users around the world. Not only that, but the online leaderboards will keep track of the best players, and their decks will be made available for everyone to download and analyse to help improve their game.

The Eye of Judgement will include everything you need to get started in the game world, including the game itself, the new PlayStation Eye camera with stand, the board and a starter deck of 30 cards. Obviously, with a Wizards of the Coasts license in tow, expect there to be an abundance of add-on packs to be available from day one, and if the game is successful, the number of decks could practically be limitless.

While we didn't have the opportunity to play around with The Eye of Judgement ourselves, the demonstration showed the game to be shaping up well. The Eye technology certainly adapts well to real-time movement of the cards, and while it's not up to broadcast-standard equipment, it's sure to entertain card game fans. The game has a firm Japanese release date of 25th October, and while Sony is hoping for a simultaneous worldwide release, we'll have to wait for confirmation. Until then, we hope to bring you more on The Eye of Judgement soon.