Posted in: Movies, Recent Updates, Video Games | Tagged: blizzard, deck playing, entertainment, gaming, Hearthstone, The Curse of Naxxramas, video games

Fun, But Costly, The Curse Of Naxxramas Is Upon Us

By Etienne Dubuc

The hit online collectible card game Hearthstone probably released its biggest update since its official launch in March two weeks ago. The Curse of Naxxramas adds a solo campaign to the normally mostly player versus player game. Collectible card games have never really been about solo play since artificial intelligence is always a bit off and too easy to beat after you get more experienced. In this case though, Blizzard really hit the nail on the head.

Beside playing the campaign for the new cards you get after each match, every Hearthstone fan should play it for the challenge. Without being hugely difficult in normal mode, most players should be able to beat the AI in one or two matches, and the game offers brand new challenges. The new cards and powers you get to face really change up the pace and tactics of each encounter. By this time, long-time players have built their decks and know how to approach every kind of opponent. Meaning that the learning curve of the game is a pretty flat line, the challenge is only coming from other players at the top of their game and from the draw of each card that can shape the match for or against you.

If the AI in normal mode is just clever enough to introduce you to some new tactics and type of gameplay, when you get to heroic mode, you will face a truly worthy opponent. It will make you rethink your decks and strategies. This is what I find the most interesting achievement of Blizzard. Collectible card games have been around a pretty long time and have seen multiple rules come and go between the different games. So it is not that easy to make a game feel fresh and exciting. At its release Hearthstone showed its potential and its addicting gameplay, and now it has proven that after five months it can still throw us off balance.

Of course there is still room for improvement, the AI still chooses to act a bit randomly at times, opting to kill my minions instead of hitting my face when it would have killed me. But that kind of abnormal decision ain't too frequent. Every other time you'll also question the decision of the AI, but still won't be able to take advantage of this so-called mistake.

The new cards given to players after winning will of course affect the player versus player matches. Some of them being pretty powerful for their low cost. I'm sure a lot of those cards will rapidly find a place in the strategies of a lot of Heartsthoners. Which means that people who aren't playing Curse of Naxxramas might end up with a disadvantage. That wouldn't be a factor if the campaign was free, but Hearthstone is Free-to-play and Blizzard had to find a way to monetize the game. The first wing is offered gratuitously until somewhere around August 22^nd, but after that, you'll have to pay $6.99 for each wing or get a bundle that will make them $4.99 each.

This is where I get irritated by the update. People that just want to continue playing without investing in the game will start to be less competitive. Blizzard almost make it obligatory to purchase the dungeon wings to keep up. What could have been done is the addition of maybe two or three cards to win in the daily challenges, those cards being well balanced to counter some of the new ones of the solo campaign. The game would still have made a load of money with Naxxramas, as it is a great product and a lot of players will want to experience it, but the more casual players that do not want to invest in this Free-to-play wouldn't be left behind.

The course of history could prove me wrong and adding some Naxxramas cards to your decks won't be that necessary to slay the competition. Decks will perhaps be created again to counter those new cards and everything will balance itself out. But if I look at the retail collectible card games, that won't be the case and the people who don't want to invest will be left behind and eventually stop playing.

Etienne Dubuc is the host of a French radioshow called « Les geeks ont raison » and program director for CISM 89,3FM in Montreal. You can follow him @geeksontraison

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