Magicka

**Be sure to check out the video review!** 

I generally try and mix up the kinds of games I play, so that one genre doesn't get worn out. It helps that I'm also up to try games that would normally be outside my niche of action/shooters. Sometimes I just pick something up because I've seen friends play it, or it's a top seller, or its under $2, and the results can be anything from mind blowing to regret. Such was the way I came to pick up today's game, Magicka.

Magicka is really an odd game, and does not fit in with anything I've ever played before. According to the Steam store page, Magicka is an RPG/Action game, and I guess that is as good of a classification for this as anything, though even that isn't totally accurate.

You see, Magicka is a game about, surprise, magic. Specifically, there are 8 different elements, and the game is all about how you combine different ones together to forge your way though the game's levels. Fire by it self does a nice little jet of damage in front of you, but mix it with the earthen boulder, and maybe charge it up a bit, and you've got a fireball. Mix in some additional earth, since you can combine up to 5 elements into one cast, and you create a flaming boulder that will bounce through several enemies. Or maybe you'd rather soak an enemy using a water ball (earth + water), followed by electrocuting them with lighting. Enemies got your health bar down? Well, you could just cast a heal on yourself, but if you would rather be creative, mix life with shield, do an AoE cast, and watch as you create tiny landmines that heal anyone who steps on it. Replace life with arcane, and that's landmines that definitely do not heal you.

Meteor Shower Death - an all too common sight in my playthrough.

There is much more to the game than simply mixing up spells, though it's no simple matter to learn all the various combinations of elements, which elements cancel each other out, which produce additional elements - such as combining fire and water to make steam, and finally learning how your method of casting (self, AoE, in front of you) can make a huge difference in what you get. There are certain combinations that, after you have discovered the spell by uncovering a special book, allow the execution of magicks. Normally mixing lighting, arcane, and lighting together would make for a nice bit of damange, but if you have learned that magick, and cast it as such, you're suddenly teleporting around the screen. Or maybe you summon down a meteor shower, or a phoenix to revive a dead teammate, or death it self to take care of some of the nastier badies.

So you set out on an adventure across 12 levels, which are named in parody of popular movies, such as "Raiders of the Lost Ruins" or "A Fancy Menace," and which are pretty indicative of the kind of humor you'll encounter during the game,  to journey to the ends of the earth to uncover what is going on with some evil wizard that is supposed to be locked up. Along the way you face classic fantasy enemies, such as orcs, goblins, and trolls, as well as plenty of special bosses, usually due to your inability to communicate that you're actually a friend in need of help, since you seem to be mute.

The first 6 levels are all Star Wars. That gained it a couple of points.

Now the key to getting through this game, besides being able to quickly hammer out A-S-A-Space (teleport, and a life saver when you're doing this solo), is the rpg elements of this game, specifically, learning what combinations of damage works best against the foes you're currently fighting. Fire, and by extension fireballs, do wonders against goblins, but are pretty ineffectual when face with tougher opponents like armored orcs. In that case, you might want to whittle away their armor with boulders, using the physics of a charged up shot to knock their steel away until they are vulnerable to other attacks. Still other enemies, more ethereal ones you encounter later in the game, can only really be damaged by a single element, and you don't find out what that is until you wake them up. Or, since every game has zombies now, you might consider what's the better course there - fire, or life? All things to ponder as you are running around casting spells, desperately trying to avoid getting overwhelmed, attempting to make sure everything dies - but you.

I spent 12 hours or so on the basic adventure, though there are a couple of DLCs out now that add additional story content, while most others focus on survival or add new playable characters. However, if you're better about not teleporting off a cliff, or getting blown to bits by your own meteor shower, or dodging enemy wizards who combine their beam attacks into a potent insta-death ray, you should finish the game faster. Near the end of my campaign, they added a Navi (from Zelda OoT) like fairy that does two things: annoy you with useless information, hence Navi, and revive you if you die once per checkpoint, a very nice feature since I look any kind of friend to bring me back to life when I die. Still, there is plenty of difficulty in the game, but you can usually figure out a cheesy way to beat even the hardest bosses, such as tricking death into one shotting him, or kiting him around the room while you drop landmines behind you.

They actually mixed a 300 reference with Star Trek.

Back in June 2011, I was able to get the Magicka complete pack for $7. Since then they've added a lot more content, specifically two DLCs that add campaigns rather than just new robes that make fun/pay tribute of things like Star Trek, Day of the Tentacle, or Warhammer 40k. So what you'll want to do is make sure to get the complete pack, and even then you'll still need to keep an eye out for any one of the 14 DLCs you might have missed. Even so, Magicka was a really fun experience, though there were more than a few times I wanted to break something as I managed to get a huge wave of enemies down to the last one or two guys, only to kill myself but not realizing I was soaking wet while trying to cast an electrical attack, making my health bar for from 100 to 0 in 3 casts flat. The periodic humor helps take the edge off though, so I'll score it well - 9 out of 10

So, the final breakdown.

Score: 9/10

Suggested Price: $10