The Eye of Judgment Legends Hands-On

The Eye of Judgment was one of the more ambitious experiments from Sony early in the PlayStation 3's life. At its core the title was a card battle game that had you battling for control of a 3-by-3 grid using elemental-themed cards. The shiny layer of polish that differentiated The Eye of Judgment from other card games was the PlayStation Eye peripheral, which read data off of physical cards to generate polygonal creatures on the grid. The PSP version of the game doesn't feature anything that flashy and instead just focuses on the card game, which is a strategic and challenging experience. Sony had a demo of the game running in its booth on the show floor that gave us a decent taste of what to expect.

Who's Making This Game: Sony Japan Studio.

What The Game Looks Like: The Eye of Judgment Legends takes a more conventional approach than its PlayStation 3 cousin for its visuals and relies on 2D art and animation with some 3D polygons tossed in for some flair. The game’s presentation is pretty close to the PlayStation 3 in terms of layout. The centerpiece of the action is a 3-by-3 grid of elemental-themed tiles. Your goal is still to hold the most tiles by laying down cards that represent various mystical creatures and taking them over. A new Story mode on the PSP adds a narrative that plays out in still screens. The visuals are sharp and flashy and work well on the PSP.

What There Is To Do: The demo we played featured a world map with various locations called out on it. Not all the locales were open, but we were able to poke around in a tutorial area and another spot where we got into our first proper fight.

How The Game Is Played: The Eye of Judgment Legends sticks very close to the rules of the PlayStation 3 game. You’ll start each round with a set of five cards and will have the option to mulligan, that is, swap them for another five, if you want. Once you're done sorting your cards, you'll be able to lay a card down on the grid, alternating with your opponent. Each space on the grid and most cards will feature an alignment to one of five elements: fire, water, earth, wood, and biolith. You can place any card on any spot on the grid, but putting a card of one element on a grid space of the same element will always net a bonus of some kind. You’ll be able to adjust how a card faces when you lay it down to take advantage of the directions they can attack in when placed. In addition, you'll be able to use other cards to attack enemy cards, change a grid space's elemental alignment, replenish a creature card's hit points, or perform a number of other beneficial actions. The only limiting factor will be the amount of mana you have, which will be drained every time you use a card.

What They Say: "The Eye of Judgment Legends will be the perfect way to capture any gamer's imagination wherever they are."

What We Say: The Eye of Judgment Legends had a nice feel to it and might wind up working better on the PSP than it did on the PS3. While it doesn’t have the flashy visuals the console game did, its digital card system keeps things simple and fun. The new Story mode and the promise of new modes being added for the PSP along with roughly 300 cards is a nice package. The Eye of Judgment Legends is set to ship this spring for the PSP. Look for more on the game in the coming months.