Duel Masters: Cobalt First Look

The collectible card game phenomenon continues to entrance kids by the millions worldwide, and seminal card purveyor Wizards of the Coast has capitalized on the trend once again with Duel Masters, a complex-yet-accessible game that's targeted at the late childhood-early teen demographic. Now, Atari and High Voltage Software are bringing Duel Masters to the PlayStation 2 with Duel Masters: Cobalt, a game that looks to be packing in just about everything a diehard fan of the real card game could want.

Cobalt is broken up into a variety of modes. Story mode will start you off with a choice of five characters (created for this game), each of whom has his or her own preferences pertaining to card types and such. You'll be able to play through a ministory for each one of these characters that will add up to comprise the whole of the story mode. Between battles, you'll be treated to in-game cutscenes that move each character's story along. If you don't want to deal with all of this, you can jump into the arcade mode, which dispenses with all the story stuff and just lets you play matches against the computer (or a second player, if you choose). In this mode, you'll have access to 20 playable characters, though the 15 that aren't found in story mode will have to be unlocked as you go.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Duel Masters: Cobalt is its extreme mode, which literally throws the standard turn-based play style of the tabletop card game out the window. In extreme mode, you'll play matches against computer-controlled or human opponents in real time, so your moves will only be bound by a short timer that prevents you from getting too cheap with your tactics. Extreme mode is interesting because it presents a style of play that's not really possible using the real card game, and producer Ben Hoyt told us that once experienced Duel Masters players try extreme mode, they likely won't want to go back to the original rules.

The actual nitty-gritty of the card battling in Duel Masters: Cobalt looks to be pretty entertaining for anybody that's a fan of the original game. Your cards are represented by 3D models of the monsters on a 3D backdrop, and when a card attacks, you'll see an up-close view that shows off the monster in more detail, complete with an often-amusing attack animation. These animations can be disabled, of course, for faster-paced gameplay. Cobalt's interface has been designed to be accessible to new players while providing all the relevant information that experienced fans of Duel Masters will need to play the game. Hoyt said that he felt the game presents a gentle learning curve, and with the included tutorial, anyone should be able to pick up the game after a short time.

One interesting addition to the card-battling gameplay is inspired by the Duel Masters TV series. Hoyt mentioned that the characters in the show generally have one unique, extremely powerful card that always seems to pop up at just the right time to save the day. As a result, the team has integrated a new "signature card" system into Cobalt to mimic this. Basically, you'll be able to define one card in your deck as your signature card, and then you'll be able to summon it at will once per match, assuming you have enough mana and fewer than three shields in play.

Duel Masters: Cobalt comes with plenty of extra materials to keep fans busy. Of course, a full deck-building and card-trading interface will be available that lets you filter and sort the card list based on all sorts of criteria. A creature viewer will also be on hand that lets you check out each monster's 3D model up close, as well as allowing you to play back all of his or her animations. This viewer actually functions somewhat like a card binder, since you'll only get to see monsters you actually have in your deck at the current time.

Duel Masters fans are legion; the booster decks apparently sell into the millions. There are also an awful lot of PlayStation 2s out there. It's pretty likely, then, that there's a lot of overlap between the two demographics. So it's a good thing Duel Masters: Cobalt looks to be a solid adaptation of the card game in video game form. The game is slated to hit stores this November, so we'll bring you more information on it soon.