Contents Summary:
- 22 Game Cards
- 5 Oversized Super Hero Cards
- Rules
This is not a standalone product. DC Comics Deck-building Game, Heroes Unite, Forever Evil, Teen Titans, Rivals, Confrontations, Rebirth, or Dark Nights: Metal is required to play.
Intro:
As many of you know by now, my favourite DC Comics hero is Green Arrow, and a lot of my love for the character began after watching the 2012 hit CW Network series, Arrow.
So of course after I had bought the ‘Heroes Unite’ core box set games for DC Deck-Building Game, and found out there were expansion packs to it all, I decided to get one, and so Arrow was my first choice.
This small expansion adds 22 new game cards to the deck as well as 5 new Super-Heroes to choose from, and all of the cards are from the hit television series’ first two seasons. If you watch the show, then you already know who the big bad of this expansion is!
Cards & Rules:
Whilst this expansion doesn’t add much when mixed in with the core game, there are a few new rules and effects that take place when playing with this set. For example, the Super-Hero cards now have more purpose for being on the playing field besides the simple ‘once per turn’ effects they have.
As before with the core game, each player can either be dealt a random Super-Hero or simply pick one of their favourites. The new Super-Heroes given to us in the Arrow Television Crossover pack are:
- Oliver Queen
- Roy Harper
- John Diggle
- Felicity Smoak
- Sara Lance
Along with the Super-Heroes of course, come the new Super-Villains, which include the likes of China White, Deadshot, Brother Blood, Malcolm Merlyn, Isobel Rochev, Count Vertigo, Edward Fyers and of course the big bad of season 2 who became a fan favourite villain throughout the entire series, Deathstroke!
The Super-Villains do count towards the 22 Game-Cards count that I mentioned in the Specs at the top of the review, which means there is very few cards to play with in the line up and main deck of this expansion, though of course you must remember that this is meant to be added onto one of the core base games that are available, so there is obviously no need for too many cards to be added, although there are certain concepts within the show that I would have liked to have seen added to this expansion, which I’ll go more into later.
The new Hero type cards bring forth familiar faces in the form of Detective Lance and his daughter, Laurel Lance, as well as Oliver’s friend and former lover Shado, and not forgetting his own mother of course, the secretive but strong willed Moira Queen.
The Villain type cards in the line up consist of just 3 new cards in the form of Huntress, Mr. Blank, and Bronze Tiger. If some of you are drawing a blank on that second name (see what I did there?) then let me refresh your memories. Mr. Blank was an assassin in season one of the series, hired by corrupt financier (who happened to be a name on Oliver’s list) to kill the Moore family that said financier, Mr. Edward Rasmus, had just stolen money from, who he now wanted dead because the family attempted to sue Mr. Rasmus for his theft. Mr. Blank was able to kill the parents but their son escaped and Oliver helped save the child from also being murdered.
mef_vivi
There is only one location added with this expansion which I find odd as there are at least two other locations I could think of to use. The location that is added with this pack, is the infamous night club that Oli opens up named Verdant. Though I’d have thought Queen Mansion and Oliver’s Lair beneath Verdant would have made good location cards also, just to add a bit more to the expansion.
There are 3 new Super Powers cards which include the famous catchphrase of Oliver Queen as ‘The Hood’, used since season One which is “You Have Failed This City”, as well as the infamous drug that gave Deathstroke his abilities in the show, known as ‘Mirakuru’, and finally a heart warming card titled ‘Promise to a Friend’.
Last but not least, we have 3 new equipment cards, and yet again, similar to the locations, I have an idea or two of what could have been added to this set to expand the deck a little more and give fans more fun nostalgia for the show. The first card is of course Arrow’s Bow, because this wouldn’t be a very good Arrow themed deck if his bow wasn’t added as equipment. Next we have Sara Lance’s Collapsible Staff which she uses when fighting crime as The Canary. Finally we have Explosive Arrow, which as you can see, was used by Laurel Lance after a collapse underground left her and Oliver separated in season 2.
I think that these new cards are all great, but I do feel like Cryptozoic and the team that created this expansion missed out a few of the more memorable and fun things from Arrow. There are the two locations I mentioned before, but also with these equipment cards, I feel like they missed an opportunity by not adding the Boxing Glove Arrow seen in the sixth episode of season 3 titled ‘Guilty’. I know this expansion is only collected from the first two season, but since this expansion was released in July of 2015, and that particular episode of season 3 aired in November 2014, I feel like it could have certainly been implemented into the deck.
However, that’s not to say that I am disappointed by this deck at all because it has some great cards that add plenty to the game.
Art:
As you can see, the cards in this expansion swap the colourful hand drawn art of the comic books, for live action screen grabs from the show itself, which brings the cards to life, and for fans of the show, it certainly brings back some memories of the earlier days in Oliver’s life as a vigilante.
Overall:
This is the first and only expansion I have for Cryptozoic’s DC Deck-Building Game, so whilst I don’t have much to compare it to, I can say that it is an enjoyable expansion for the core games, and any fan of Arrow or the deck-building game genre will enjoy this product.
For more information on this game, or to purchase it for yourself, click the link below to Cryptozoic’s official site:
https://cryptozoic.com/dc-deck-building-game-crossover-pack-2-arrow-television-series
Or for any other products from Cryptozoic, simply follow this link to their home page:
Media Mallrat 
Leave a Reply