Grid Legion, Storm Demo

Card games have gained quite the reputation lately, thanks to the fact that there are so many variations on the theme out there. Even Blizzard has a horse in the race with Hearthstone, so there’s definitely something for every type of player. On the other hand, it seems like the genre still has a lot of room to grow, since there are many ideas that could be integrated in the future.

Grid Legion, Storm is a CCG with real-time strategy elements and a few new ideas when it comes to how the matches evolve. In essence, positioning and board control are much more important here, given the fact that the board itself is a lot bigger than in most CCGs out there. Thus, playing the right cards is not enough when you also have to keep an eye on unit movement.

You have plenty of cards to play with, and you are obviously free to create your own decks with the desired units. Once the match begins, you draw two types of cards, both action and domain cards. They have different purposes, but it’s important to find the perfect balance for every situation, otherwise you might not be able to perform the decisive attack after a stellar defense.

As you might expect, the gameplay mechanics can be a tad disorienting at first, mainly because it takes a while to get used to all the rules. The keyboard control are also rather slow, since you cannot make use of the mouse. It’s possible to connect a gamepad on the other hand, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you get any faster. Thankfully, the tutorial teaches you everything you need to know in order to make the most out of your units.

Lastly, not much can be said in regards to the graphics quality, mainly because there’s nothing special about them. The tiled map is very simple, although the unit artwork is masterfully done and quite engaging, even if you rarely get to see it. The soundtrack is decent as well, which matters a lot when you have to listen to it for hours on end.

Even if Grid Legion, Storm might be a tad more difficult to learn than your average CCG, it certainly has more to offer once you understand the concept, so that’s a huge plus. However, it needs some polish when it comes to controls and accessibility.