"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!"
Was my initial thought when Paradox announced that their would be a Magicka 2, I was fucking ecstatic, I mean seriously like Child in sweet shop that has been told they can have whatever they want, happy. I was so excited to the point that I pre-ordered the game considering I had played its predecessor to no end racking up 45 hours playing mostly single player, as most of my friends are boring.
As you can probably tell I was reaaaaaaly looking forward to this game, and I legitimately had a calendar reminder set so it would come up on my phone the day it came out. I jumped aboard the Hype train and rode that son of a bitch as far as it would go. I was really looking forward to this game.
Emphasis on was. I downloaded it, and was greeted with the vaguely familiar menu (I had played the sneek peek) booted the first mission and played it. I enjoyed it. Then the second mission. and the Third. Then I got to the fourth and stopped. I realised that I wasn't having fun.
For you to understand this I must really explain why I became borderline obsessed with the original. In the first moments of the game you realised you were a wizard, and you could cast spells so overpowered you were in danger of killing yourself if you were not careful. It added an element of pure overpowered destructive danger to the game which could lead to stupidly hilarious deaths, such as an exploding ice wall launching you into the air to land on some lava, or simply being crushed to death by your own giant boulder.
I never really feel this in Magicka 2. Don't get me wrong, I by no means feel like I am not a powerful wizard. but I don't get the sense that I have the ability create dangerously destructive spells anymore.
The new casting system feels like it has been developed for console, and has been ported from Wizard Wars, Which I enjoyed but never really got into. You can now no longer create the elements of ice or steam, but instead Fire and water now take up 2 slots in your spell bar and cast steam when cast. This means my main spell from the original game, I aptly named "Wet Lighting" no longer exists, as when you try to add lighting to the mix the water is cancelled out.
I like the addition of now being able to collect staffs and robes and weapons, but that also detracts from the game, as now I no longer feel any real reason to be careful, as I can just respawn with my weapon, instead of having to slug all the way back to get it. I now feel like a fully disposable hero, whos death doesn't matter as I can just re-appear like jack shit happened.
The addition of new familiars is good too, as it provides even more variety than it predecessor, but I cant help feeling it was unnecessary to add the new ones. The Fairy from the original only resurrected you when you died, at the cost of its own life, in single player. The new ones do that, on top of providing bonuses, making the fairy absolutely 100% useless, as the Pit manager and this ghost thing (I CANT REMEMBER THE NAME) give bonuses, on top of the resurrection ability. The ability to take no Familiar with you is also new, meaning that the Xxx_MLGProWizard_xxX can try testing their skill as a wizard, with insta-death.
The Graphics have been fixed and the game is no longer as bugged as the one that came before it, but honestly, I think that was part of its charm, as bugged games can easily become cult classics, i.e Goat Simulator. Also im going to give it a whole level more for one little tiny reason. The semi-dated pop culture references, they are pretty funny, and they actually are probably the best thing about the Magicka series, as you can obviously see the studio standing up and giving the finger to pretty much everything.
In short the graphics are good, the music sounds okay, the gameplay is somewhat flawed, and the new casting system will never quite hold that special spot in my heart like the original did. I would seriously recommend playing the original over this, but Magicka 2 could have been a whole lot worse, and as far a sequels go it isn't half bad. I would take the Original over this any day however.
I don't feel I should but here, Store page link (for the sake of being fair): http://store.steampowered.com/app/238370/
Level: 6
I had a change of heart and updated my opinions, read it here : http://lvlupreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/magicka-2-episode-2-attack-of-spell.html
Dan.
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