Developer: Pieces Interactive
Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Platform: PC, PS4
Tested on: PC
Magicka 2 – Review
Magicka, the humoristic franchise where wizards have to call upon the forces of nature and beyond to brew up some might spells, is back. The original game was loved for its wit, style and of course the spell casting, where you had to combine different elements in order to create even more fancy looking magic. Recently Magicka 2 hit the digital shelves and even though the wizard population has dwindled, Paradox Interactive calls them to arms once again. Pick out a fancy robe but just don’t set it ablaze.
Story
With the wizard population diminished to nearly zero, some wizards remain in the ruins of Aldrheim under the all seeing eye of Vlad, who is not a vampire but just likes to munch on people, (We suspect he is lying.) the world has grown accustomed to living without magic. Nonetheless, a great evil force is lurking over all of the inhabitants of Midgard and it looks like the remaining wizards will have to step up to save the world once again. It seems the evil presence has learned of a prophecy which states a child with unbelievable magic power will be born, who will vanquish all evil. If the child would be killed, evil will prevail and the world will be covered in darkness forever.
Overall the story is pretty basic and not that much attention is given to fully fleshing out the plot, but humor is the key element that makes it all that much more entertaining. As the game is filled with Easter eggs and fun references to popular series, games and what not, you’ll constantly be wondering what will make you giggle next.
Graphics
Magicka 2 will remind many of other hack and slash games such as Diablo 3, but with a colorful and cheerful theme. You’ll be treated to several different locations, all in a cartoon-esque style, that matches well with the humoristic feeling the developers were aiming for. With the inclusion of a decent amount of destructible items in all of the environments, all of the levels look quite spiffy.
Characters, villagers and monsters all contribute towards the light and airy theme of the game as they are all nicely designed. With the different types of enemies and personal equipment, you’ll have a decent amount of variation.
Last but not least, as the game revolves heavily around magic, it’s only natural that spells look impressive as well. Truth be told, they do, as each spell has a clear and different look, combinations of different elements also have a nice alternative look and in turn, all of the spells look totally different, depending on whether you cast them on enemies or on yourself.
Sound
When strolling through the world of Midgard you’ll hear many catchy tunes that will make magic flow through your veins even faster. Many of the upbeat tracks will add to the atmosphere the game is aiming for and overall, the music complements the graphical style quite well.
As for voice acting, the game does a superb job, and in a fairly original way too. Throughout the game every conversation is fully voiced, in a made-up language (except for the story), with a few familiar accents and words scattered throughout each conversation. It’s fun to recognize a French accent, whilst not hearing actual French sentences and so on.
Gameplay
Magicka 2 is a co-op action game, where the player has to blast all of his enemies into oblivion to save the world, albeit with a few innocent casualties along the way. As the game revolves heavily around its action, it’s only a matter of minutes before you can sink your teeth into the spell casting.
You’ll have the choice between the story mode, which consists out of nine different chapters, with the overall story loosely tied to them. Each of these chapters is divided in small, action filled stages to make sure there are enough checkpoints, in case you die in the midst of the barrage of spells. When you complete the story or want a change of pace, you’ll be able to play the ‘challenge’ mode, which is actually a real challenge. This mode consists out of clearing waves of enemies, in order to complete the challenge at hand.
Whilst the formula of the game is pretty straightforward, ‘kill the baddies and save the world’, the use of spells will prove tricky at first. The game will allow you to cast eight different magic/element types, namely fire, water, ice, earth, life, death, lightning and shield. Casting spells of a single type will be easy, as you’ll just have to push the corresponding button, and cast the spell in a straight line in front of you, on your weapon, on yourself or in a circle around you. Casting certain spells on yourself can for example give fire damage to your weapon or extinguish flames when your magical robe is on fire.
The game gets a bit trickier when your start combining different kinds of spells, if you’d rather have an earth shield, fiery lightning, an explosive death ray, etc. As the game has many different combinations, you’ll spend a lot of time learning new ones and trying out new things to vanquish your foes, and this is what makes the game interesting. Even though the game does not help you that much in learning new combinations, you’ll find ones that are rather easy after some experimenting. Nonetheless, many combinations can be made, as you are able to put five elements in your casting queue. However this does not mean you can’t cast the same element five times, because in some cases this can prove useful too, as it will strengthen the chosen element. That being said, the game allows you to use four quick slots, to use some unlocked combinations, without having to cast each element individually first. These unlockable spells are mainly those you will have to use often, to improve your survivability during combat.
When playing through the story mode, you’ll find new items that will aid you on your quest to glory, such as magical robes, weapons and staves. Each serve their own purpose, as weapons will increase weapon damage or add some extra elemental damage to the equation, staves will strengthen certain spells/elements and robes will grant protection against certain elements, status effects? or conditions. You can change your equipment in the ‘lobby’ (main menu) to equip yourself for the trials at hand. Nonetheless, you’ll sometimes find weapons or staves in the level you’re currently in, which you can pick up and use on the spot.
Control wise, it’s easy to say that playing with a controller is a lot easier than the keyboard set-up. Whilst some buttons on the controller will serve a double function, by holding another button, things might be a bit hard at first, but again it’s a matter of getting the hang of it. Whilst aiming might not always be easy with a controller, movement is much more responsive and precise when playing with a gamepad.
Overall Magicka 2 is a really short game, as you’ll be able to complete the story mode in roughly three hours, but the unlockable items, as well as the fun co-op action, be it local or online, create a lot of replay value. Even though the game is the most fun when playing with other players, it’s quite annoying when you are the host of a game and other players are able to skip all the cutscenes, making you miss the story. It would have been great if there was a replay option somewhere in the main menu, not forcing you to play the same level all over again.
Conclusion
Magicka 2 proves to be a fun, simple to learn (except for some spell combinations) and cute looking game. Whilst the story portion of the game is flimsy at best and the overall length is short, you’ll be offered solid co-op action as well as a reasonable amount of replay value. Add some of the iconic humor to the mix and you’re in for a decent adventure.
,
No Comments