*promote

Promoting this video and sending it back into the queue for one more try; last queued Sunday, November 3rd, 2013 10:21pm PST - promote requested by enoch.

Reviews of games in beta... yawn

*quality

Boosting this quality contribution up in the Hot Listing - declared quality by pumkinandstorm.

Yup, it's good, even great.

*promote

Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Sunday, November 3rd, 2013 10:21pm PST - promote requested by chicchorea.

Seriously videosift.. you suck. -_-

When 2 minute 40 second reviews of a game in beta make the top 15..and why.. because he is well known sifter? NEVER review something based on beta.

I probably should have mentioned in the review that the game is currently in beta -- you've got me there (though I mention it in the description on youtube).

But it's not exactly like I stumbled into some early friends and family beta and posted a review. There are thousands of people playing the game right now. There's no NDA. And Blizzard is charging real, no-foolin' cash for packs of cards and to enter the arena. As far as I'm concerned, if they're going to charge money for it, it's open season for reviews.

I am under impressed with Hearth Stone. I much prefer Faëria... However HS is well polished and they have a nice balance between the free to play and items to purchase. I might put it ahead of Infinity Wars, as IW tends to be overly complex and deep when many times I want a simple fun game, I go back to Faëria for my more complex type game... I would also put it ahead of Magic 2014, but then I was never a Magic fan... Android Netrunner if that came in digital form (aside from the OCTGN module)... then I'd be in trouble... as would the digital card game world as Fantasy Flight's Netrunner is perhaps the best card game out there...

The current beta is pretty much a release candidate. It's feature and content complete. Most reviews that you see on release day are based on copies sent out that are the first RC that has gone through QA and not found any show stopping bugs.

This is a great review. I unfortunately(fortunately) got my beta key two or three weeks ago on a Friday night and that is all I did that weekend (and spent $60 on cards).

The Beta is very much a polished product conducive enough for a review. I think it is an interesting departure for Blizzard, and even though it is a card game - it really does feel like a Warcraft game in the Blizzard vein. Blizzard has always had a boner for Popcap, this is like a boner for Popcap with Blizzard elements (more action based) influenced by Magic. It's alright by me, I honestly like Popcap games as well! Even if those games are "casual" they are tight as fuck.

Great job with the vid Sarzy!

I totally agree. Unfortunately, the way the game industry is headed, we'll all be paying $120 for pre-release alpha's in 5 years.

No "real" review sites (ie sites that are counted by gamerankings and metacritic) are reviewing it yet, just user blogs fishing for hits. Review copies are not release candidates, games go gold about a month before release day and these copies are then sent out for review.

Atrician, hehe, we call it kickstarter.

Every game I've worked on has sent out a version of an RC for reviewers (usually with some sort of personalized file inserted into the bulk assets incase of a leak). I've also been on projects where the game wasn't sent to manufacturing until 9 days before it was in stores. Packaging and manuals were done about a month before our intended shipping date and then sat around until the game was actually in a state good enough for release.

Magic: The Gathering has been around sice 1993.

http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Summoner/

VideoSift Sarzy's Top Ten Movies of 2014 has been added as a related post - related requested by eric3579 on that post.