The Eye of Judgment is a interesting and novel take on the card playing genre, and perhaps a dream come true for Yu-Gi-O
"Judge not, lest ye be judged."
Fortunately a calibration tool helps players to set up their camera and playing mat quickly and easily. Playing the game itself however is anything but quick and easy. There are some, rather boring, tutorial videos you can go through to learn some of the basics. However a number of things are left out and aren't even in the manual, things such as special abilities, like what does reincarnate do. This can make it tough going for the first while; eventually you do get a feel for it and that's when the game really opens up.
The goal of the game is to conquer 5 out of 9 fields. You do this with your deck of 30 cards. Monster cards are your main force with which you play and each monster has its own strength, weakness and special ability. You also have spell cards which can increase the power of your creatures or even change the landscape of the 9 fields. Each field has one of 5 elements (Fire, Water, Wood, Earth and Biolith) and these elements have a profound effect on your monsters. It can make them stronger, weaker or even affect your creatures special abilities. Like many card games it's easy to learn but difficult to master.
That's how you play the game but what happens when you actually place a card in front of the "EYE"? All manner of High-Def Technicolor that's what. The computer detects the card you play and summons the creature in full 3D to the corresponding square. The creatures are highly detailed and when positioned to attack initiates a battle animation that is also gorgeous to watch. Particle and spell effects are also very nice to look at. The sound effects are also suitable for the game but music is a bit heavy on the metal and can begin the grate after a while.
"Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."
You're given a number of modes to actually play the game with. Starting with Battle Arena; here you challenge the computer or a friend to a single match. As you defeat the computer you unlock more cards for it to play with, but you still have to pay for the real cards if you want to use them. Card Profiles is next, a virtual encyclopaedia for the cards. By placing a card in front of the Playstation Eye the creature appears in full 3D, which can thing be moved or tilted. You can also look up some fictional background information on the creature and its origins in the game world. Deck Builder is self explanatory and is simply used to create a deck that you either take online or have the computer use against you in a match. Judgment mode is a near pointless game in which you place creatures down in a manner similar to Card Profile and the creatures face off. But not in any fancy manner, they just jump on their spot, followed by the winner waving its arms and the losers doing their defeat animations. Some form of battle animations would have brought much more to this mode but as it is it's simply useless and might as well have been left out.
Finally we come to Online mode, perhaps the most important and best feature of this game. Similar to Battle Arena mode you and a friend/ stranger battle each other with your cards. But to ensure neither player cheats a number of extra features are added. First both players must first use deck builder to register their decks to prove they really have the cards they say they have. And then during the match itself instead of drawing the cards from the top of your deck the computer randomly selects the cards for you. Having to root through your deck for the cards can be annoying if you haven't already laid the cards out in front of you. Thanks to the online mode though you will almost always have someone to play against
However this doesn't change the fact that there is no campaign. Single matches against a faceless A. I. in Battle Arena mode leaves little incentive to fight against it for long. The lack of a campaign is further heightened by the background information provided with the cards. Why provide detailed background for the creatures and their world but have no campaign mode to tie it all together?
This game is not likely to attract newcomers to the card game genre but for those that already enjoy cards games like Yu-Gi-Oh this Next-Gen experience is just what you have been waiting for. The various cards provide near endless strategies, you could spend hours just setting up your deck, and with a ruthless A. I. and online mode this game has high replay-ability.