Magic: The Gathering - Battlegrounds, based on the fantastically popular card game, introduces a couple of interesting gameplay elements to the intensely competitive Xbox Live crowd. In the days of overpowered individuals of mass destruction like you find in The Matrix, Metal Gear Solid and Kill Bill, Magic's protagonists are relatively weak, vulnerable physical combatants that don't even bring all their spiritual tools to any one battle. These guys can't even cross the midpoint of the field without automatically endangering their health.

Battlegrounds is the anti button masher. If your first instinct upon entering a confrontation is to run in with all guns firing and both fists flying, you will have to rethink your strategy or watch your onscreen persona flop to the ground match after match. This is a general's war. You control a wizard that commands an array of powerful magical abilities but who isn't so hot hand-to-hand. Hanging out on one side of the battlefield, you build your strength and use a variety of spells to destroy the opposing player.

These skills are divided into three categories: sorcery, creature summons, and enchantments. You select your spells in real time, while you are being assailed with magic from the other side. The enemy wizard's attacks can come at you quickly, so it is important to select your weapons carefully and use them confidently. Each of the three spell types is tied to one of the face buttons. Once in the menu, another button press selects the specific attack (Y cancels out). The interface feels slightly cumbersome at times - to get to some choices, you need to press a button, shift to a second page of spells, then press another button to summon the dragon or cast the fireball or whatever. Whether there will be some kind of customizable shortcut system in place in the final version remains to be seen, but I haven't heard anything about it. That seems like something that would be featured in at least the PC version, but its not a big deal either way.

On the hand-to-hand front, your wizard is equipped with an attack and a shield, mapped to the two triggers. These are last resorts, and you'll want to use your hexes and underlings as your main protection. You can slash at the oncoming monsters and you can run across the dividing line and try to deal some street justice, but neither approach is going to get you far. The best use of your time is running around to collect mana and making sure your frontline is strong. When you have enough mana to unleash the attack of your choice, let it rip and start collecting more mana.

The strategies are more involved than simply selecting your magic set and trying to cast spells as fast as possible. Some abilities boost the attributes of summoned creatures and some damage everything on the screen, friend or foe. You can choose spells from two sets out of the five that are available, which are grouped according to color, and cast them as many times as needed as long as you have enough mana and you don't exceed a set number of creatures at any one time. So you can enter a battle wielding both Red dragons and Blue protection. Mixing up the playbook like this should add some flavor and depth to the encounters, and Atari is promising plenty of new spells and wizards to download on Live. Initially, there are nine wizards, sixteen arenas, and about seventy spells available.

If you like a little thinking to go with your conquest and you don't easily panic juggling attacks and defenses in close quarters, this might be your game this season. The player-on-player may be the main attraction, but the game also boasts an involved single-player campaign for those offline moments when you just want to improve your conjurer. Any way you color it, this is one to keep your eye on.

   
   

· · · Nick