REVIEW – I really like co-operative games, as they can provide a lot of unforgettable moments. Fighting side by side with our friends, to reach our goals, kill the main boss, and other such moments can make us feel epic. The old PC gamers might remember Arrowhead Game Studios Magicka game, which unfortunately was never released to the consoles. However the current development team, and Paradox Interactive decided not to leave out the console gamers from this co-op sensation, and have released Magicka’s sequel to the PS4.

In Magicka 2 we can relive our childhood fantasy, and become mages with big hats etc. All of the players ( four in total) can control his/her mage that can be specialized in eight spells types. These types can range from fire to death, and all of them include powerful spells. The system for assembling the spells have been seen in other game’s such as Schrödinger’s Cat, or the Raiders of the Lost Quark, ergo the spells can be combined in different ways. For example, water and fire when mixed provides us with steam spells. We can combine five spells per combined spell, which means that the end outcome is limited by the player’s creativity.

Furthermore the spells can be fired in a number of different ways. When using the right analog stick, it casts the spell for far away targets. This method simplifies the gameplay, and creates a fun twin-stick shooter. The spells can be fired on their own, which will be useful for healing and curse removal.

Also we should avoid casting deadly spells on ourselves or to our teammates as it is harmful for our health. There are also short range spells, that are useful when the enemy surrounds us, and we cannot escape easily. It sounds complicated in writing, especially due to the large number of combinable spells, but luckily Magicka has a great tutorial part and eases in new players to the combat.

Mage in a pickle

The player in story mode can try out everything from top to bottom, and they can even find secret rooms to further lengthen the game time. Puzzle solving is not prominent during our adventures, however there are a few that need to be solved, yet it is a game mostly revolving around combat.
What we need to be on the lookout for in multiplayer mode is our comrades, as the spells have the same effect as on the enemies. This means that if we play without looking around then a lot of our friends will die around us when using certain spells against the enemy.

This was a neat idea from the developers as the players will have to think through their actions, and the game does not devolve into mindless giant spell attacks. A big “A” for the developers for this feature. However this also created a problem for the game, as when I did not meet those people online who knew the ramifications of constant spell casting without checking. This resulted in three out of four people dying and a lone mage had to go up against the enemy, instead of reviving the team members. Needless to say it was not a great day, and the end result was disastrous.

If we are lucky however we can be in a great team, but this happened to me rarely, and not a lot of people get Magicka 2 at this point. Still battling with three other competent crazy magicians, against enemies will create epic moments. In these cases remember those people as they’ll be great in future adventures.

Magicka 2 can be played in single player mode, although even in this mode the team based combat is still noticeable. After a few campaign missions the gameplay becomes unmanageable and the enemies will overwhelm us, and our health bar will disappear: first because of the amount of enemies on the screen, and then because they’ll kill us. If there is no second player to revive us our struggles will be nullified. Unfortunately the game does not balance itself towards the number of players, so this mode can became useless after a while.

The magick lasts for a long time

The campaign does not last long, it takes about one and a half hour to complete. It does not mean it has no challenge. There are two difficulty modes, where the normal is offered at first. There is also a way to create your own difficulty setting that can be made with nine item variations. This can items can make the difficulty in a hellish.
There are also two modes besides the difficulty settings.

These are trial and challenge. In trial mode the players can fight against any of the nine main bosses, and the objective is to defeat them as quick as possible. In challenge mode we have to complete seven smaller objectives during our adventures. These objectives range from surviving a specific part of the map, to destroying an enemy group as quick as we can etc. All of the modes are pretty unique, add replayability, and enjoyable.

The spell kicks in

Sadly I have to mention a few annoying bugs that I found ingame. There’s audio issues where the sound lags, at least the music becomes clearer because of this. However I had severe bugs that resulted in slowdowns ingame. Unfortunately this was resolved only by reloading a previous checkpoint. Hope this gets fixed with a patch soon.

In the end Pieces Interactive did a great job with the sequel for Magicka. Progress can be seen, and if we find great co-op partners the gameplay becomes really great. I think the only problem is that it is too co-operative and is unplayable alone at times. If you have a few friends who played Borderlands or Helldivers with you, then you’ll enjoy Magicka 2.

-Malachit-

Publisher: Nordic Games Publishing

Developer: Spellbound,

Genres: RPG

Publication: May 24, 2015