- [Lich] You were born to die for me.
- [Tom] Five years after Valve's last major game
the legendary developer proves
it still knows how to make amazing things.
As a Dota 2 themed digital card game
Artifact may not be what people were expecting
but it does something truly different
and exciting within the genre.
Artifact is still missing long term hooks like progression
but it's already challenging, detailed,
and a whole lot of fun.
- [Dark Seer] I dare you to attack me.
(calm music)
- [Tom] While playing cards and dealing damage
might feel familiar to Hearthstone
or Magic: The Gathering fans,
the way Artifact makes you think about those actions
is fundamentally different.
And that makes it stand out from the crowd.
It splits the play field into three lanes,
but you only need to win two.
Each player takes single actions back and forth
in a lane before combat occurs.
Then you move down to the next lane and do it again.
Sharing a hand between lanes
forced me to think hard about every move.
Just because a card was effective in one lane
doesn't mean it couldn't be even better in another.
Each of the four colors has its own
unique and interesting play style.
For example, red heroes are usually beefy.
Green has access to the biggest units.
Blue has powerful AoE spells
and black has great direct damage spells
and can also generate tons of gold
to buy items for your five respawning heroes mid match.
Picking which lanes to deploy those heroes in
is a puzzle in itself,
forcing me to consider what color I might need in a lane
multiple turns down the line.
My most gratifying wins in Artifact
were the ones I planned out whole rounds in advance,
creating consistently tense matches.
On the other hand, Artifact's randomization
can occasionally frustrate my carefully thought out plans.
I never felt random effects like targeting arrows
would undermine a solid strategy,
but it also doesn't make cards like Cheating Death,
which gives units in a lane a 50% chance to just not die
any less aggravating to play against in the moment,
no matter the strength or balance of it.
(tribal music)
Amidst all the mind games are more tiny details
than any one person could ever possibly find.
An absurd amount of well voiced dialogue is hidden behind
extremely specific interactions.
For example, the Satyr Duelist will say different things
depending on which allied green hero you use to play him.
- [Satyr Duelist] Lycan, with you by my side
there's no enemy I can't fell.
- [Tom] And all of those lines are influenced
by the fully voiced lore found in the collection screen.
That added flavor makes every card more than paper thin.
The music and art in Artifact are also lush
with the score shifting as towers are destroyed
or damage is threatened,
along with the adorably expressive
deck imp sidekick each player has.
That said, Artifact is still missing a few expected layers
outside of its fantastic in-match experience.
There's no ranking system, cosmetic customization,
or stat tracking at all.
I want to keep playing Artifact
simply because of how fun it is
but a few weeks after launch that hold is starting to weaken
without the hooks I expect from most
modern online competitive games.
Valve has been listening to the community though
and is making significant updates.
Progression, it says, is at the top
of its post launch to-do list.
(mystical music)
Artifact has modeled itself after a physical card game
when it comes to getting cards.
Its $20 cost comes with far more than $20 worth of stuff.
So it's less of a price tag
and more of a way to warn everybody
that this isn't free to play.
Though you can win card packs
by doing well in competitive gauntlet modes,
you'll mostly have to buy cards for $2 per pack
or individually on the Community Marketplace.
That could get pricey, but thankfully Valve has included
a free version of Artifact's excellent draft mode,
which means you don't have to spend any money at all
to have unlimited access to a competitive mode
where the size of your collection doesn't matter.
Two weeks after launch the real money marketplace
has mellowed out as well
and Artifact's economy is pretty affordable,
at least when compared to other trading card games.
The marketplace is extremely easy to use
and there are less than 10 cards
of the Call to Arms sets 310 that cost more than $2
at the time of this review.
More are closer to five cents,
and that affordability is helped
by the fact that you get a guaranteed card
of the highest rarity in every pack.
While the definition of expensive is extremely subjective,
building a good Artifact deck is significantly cheaper
than the 200 plus dollar decks of competitive Magic.
And buying a specific cheap single
is far more appealing to me
than grinding for gold to buy random packs in Hearthstone.
Add in free packs with real monetary value
you can get just by doing well in gauntlets,
as well as the ability to sell Steam items
or trading cards from other games for cash,
and Artifact's economy feels more than fair to me.
(mystical music)
Artifact is a challenging, deep,
yet surprisingly approachable card game
that breaks many of the conventions
I've come to expect from the genre.
That mechanical bliss is complemented
by countless Easter eggs and compelling lore,
but I am starting to miss
a more meaningful progression system
to keep me engaged long term.
Its physical card game model has ended up being
one of the most reasonable around,
and the completely level playing field of draft mode
is so fun it's worth the price of admission
even if you don't wanna spend another cent.
For more on Artifact check out our primer on how to play
or our video on nine things the game doesn't tell you,
and for everything else, keep it right here on IGN.
(mystical music)