Magicka

Magicka
Developer(s)	Arrowhead Game Studios
Publisher(s)	Paradox Interactive
Engine	Microsoft XNA
Platform(s)	Windows (.NET)
Release	January 25, 2011
Genre(s)	Fantasy/Action-Adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer, cooperative

Magicka is an action-adventure video game based on Norse mythology and developed by independent developer Arrowhead Game Studios. It was released via Steam for Microsoft Windows on January 25, 2011. A free demo was also made available for download. The game was developed by eight students at Luleå University of Technology in Skellefteå, Sweden and sold over 200,000 copies in its first 17 days on sale.

In Magicka, up to four mages of a sacred order travel to fight against an evil sorcerer and his creations. The game world is based loosely on Norse mythology, drawing inspiration from other fantasy games like Warhammer and Diablo, while also making regular use of comedy and self-referential humor. The game also takes liberties when it comes to the classic fantasy setting, at one point supplying the players with an M60 machine gun. In expansions the game also explores a Vietnam War setting as well as the lovecraftian Cthulhu universe.

Gameplay

Magicka is an action-adventure game played in a 3D environment from an isometric perspective. A single player or up to four simultaneous cooperative players take on the roles of wizards tasked with stopping an evil sorcerer that has thrown the world into a state of turmoil. The main adventure campaign consists of 13 levels.

In contrast to role-playing game mechanics that traditionally dominate among magic and wizardry-based video games, Magicka has no character class structure. Similarly there is no "mana bar", or energy meter that limits the use of special abilities, as magic spells can be cast without limit and do not require the consumption of any finite resource. The game is also exceptionally scant in its utilization of powerup items, as one of the developers' goals was to shift focus away from the acquisition of material goods, or "loot", as player motivation.

Spells and Elements

The game contains ten different elements (eight base elements and two that result from element combinations), up to five of which can be used simultaneously, in nearly endless combinations, to cast a spell. Each element comes with specific effects. Additionally, certain pairs of elements automatically combine into a single new element, occupying one slot, when both are chosen for a spell.

Four players attack goblins in the co-op campaign, casting a mix of Arcane spells.

When casting a spell composed of multiple elements, there is a set hierarchy which determines the type of the spell cast. Shields take precedence over projectiles, which take precedence over beams, which take precedence over sprays/arcs. For example a spell consisting of fire would be a spray of flame. A spell of fire and earth would be a fireball projectile. A spell of fire and arcane would create a flaming beam. A spell of fire, arcane and earth would create a flaming, arcane rock projectile. A spell of fire, arcane, earth, and shield would result in a flaming arcane rock barrier. The order in which the component elements of a spell are summoned has no effect on the type or power of the spell, and does not matter, except when attempting to cast a "Magick" as opposed to a regular spell.

Each spell can be cast in four different ways: as a ranged projectile or beam, as an area effect weapon, as an enhancement in wielding the player's secondary weapon (i.e. sword), or on the players' own bodies. All elements tend to cause damage, except Life, which heals (this is reversed for Undead enemies where Arcane heals them and Life damages them), and Shield, which creates barriers. This can also affect what spell is cast, for instance casting Shield + Arcane as an area of effect will create a circle of arcane mines around you, however; casting it on yourself will instead cause you to have an Arcane immunity aura making you invulnerable to spells with an Arcane element.

To cast a spell, the player first sequentially presses the associated buttons for the desired elements (for example: q, w, e, r, a, s, d, and f, respectively, when playing using a qwerty PC keyboard) in order to "gather" them, which show up as icons on the screen as they are pressed. The player then casts the spell with Right Click (cast forwards), Shift+Left Click (imbue weapon), Shift+Right Click (area of effect) or Middle Mouse Button (cast on self).

Certain combinations, particularly those including earth or ice, require a charge-up period. Certain combinations also result in no spell at all, as one can be said to cancel the other out: for example, Lightning and Earth cast together don't produce any effect, since Earth grounds Lightning. A physics system is included in the game, and certain spells and explosions will send enemies and wizards flying across the screen.

Elements also interact with each other: If the player is wet, trying to use Lightning magic will hurt the player and abort the spell, while using lightning based spells on wet enemies causes extra damage. Using Fire on oneself when wet makes you dry, but using fire on oneself while dry sets your robes ablaze. Using Cold on a character while wet freezes them in an ice block, while using Cold on a dry character chills them and slows them down and using Cold on water or lava in the environment will freeze it and Fire will do the opposite.

Magicks

Special spells called "Magicks" require specific combinations and produce unique effects, and also require the acquisition of the corresponding Spellbook in order to become available to the player. Spellbooks are placed throughout the campaign levels, but are also dropped by "Sapient Pearwood Luggage" (a low level enemy that resembles a chest) in Challenge and Versus (PvP) modes. Examples include "Haste", which allows the player to move quickly for a limited time, (Lightning + Arcane + Fire + space bar) and "Summon Elemental" which summons a dormant creature that can then be given life by casting an element on it - casting fire on a dormant elemental results in a fire elemental (Arcane + Shield + Earth + Steam + Arcane + space bar). Magicks also exist to cause a rainstorm, lightning strikes, turn the player invisible, revive others and teleport players among many more. There are more than 20 Magicks in the game so far, and the player can see a list of available Magicks by using the scroll wheel on a mouse.

Items

Though not the primary method of combat, players will always have a weapon in their left hand and a staff in their right. The player can use their current weapon by pressing Shift + Left Click. Weapons vary from regular swords with no special effects, to a magical mace that sets enemies ablaze with fire, to an M60 light machine-gun. Staves usually have some magical effect which can either be passive "always-on" abilities (such as an aura that heals nearby players) or active abilities which have a cooldown time and are used by clicking the Middle Mouse Button (for instance one staff summons a friendly tree monster, and another causes surrounding enemies to run away in terror).

Expansions, DLC and new content

The game's first expansion is Magicka: Vietnam, a short themed co-op campaign and a single challenge map which was released on April 12 for $4.99 on Steam, GamersGate and other digital distribution channels. The expansion takes its artistic liberty further by setting the background in the Vietnam War and fighting Vietcong-themed enemies (Vietcong Goblins, for instance) with weapons in that era (e.g. AK-47). Players also have access to a new napalm magick, which takes the form of an airstrike. The expansion was intended as reference to Battlefield: Bad Company 2: Vietnam as can be seen from the promotional trailers/posters.

Magicka: Marshlands, released April 26, 2011, adds two new challenge locations; a haunted marsh involving waves of undead (paid DLC), and an underground cavern where the players fight goblins, trolls and dwarves (a free update).

Magicka: Nippon was also released, which adds a kimono robe, a katana and a bamboo staff. For a limited time 50% of the revenue from Magicka: Nippon sales goes towards the Japanese Relief effort.

A PvP (Player vs. Player) mode was released on June 21 allowing players to fight against each other 1v1 and 2v2 matches. Several new maps specifically for the PVP mode were also released, some for free and others as paid DLC.

As of November 2011, many new maps and new player models (new robes) have been released - some paid and others for free including a robe referencing the buggy state of the game at launch (Patched Robe with Bugged Staff, and the Crash To Desktop magick) and more referencing Warhammer 40,000 and Star Trek among others. In addition, on November 16 a large technology update was released for the game which updated the engine and graphics, fixed bugs, and added a Fairy Familiar to revive players who are playing through the adventure mode solo. The Familiar is intended to parody N'avi in the Legend of Zelda series of games.

On October 27, 2011 Magicka: The Stars are Left was announced as the game's second expansion - this time much larger and including an all new story/adventure mode. The expansion has a Lovecraftian, Cthulhu theme and is reported to include 2 new robes, 2 new bosses, 7 new enemies and considerably more than 2 new items and magicks. The expansion was originally intended to be called "The Stars are Right" however due to a last minute discovery that the copyright for that name was already held by another game; the name of the expansion was changed 12 hours before the announcement.

A new expansion, titled Magicka: The Other Side of the Coin, has been announced and will release some time in the second quarter of 2012.

Comedy and references

Magicka features many in-game references to various other media titles including The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40,000, Star Wars, Star Trek, World of Warcraft, Counter-Strike, The Legend of Zelda, Neverwinter Nights, 300, The Lord of the Rings, The Colour of Magic, Castlevania, Highlander, Platoon, Indiana Jones, Tron: Legacy, Moonstone: A Hard Days Knight, Portal and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Its achievements provide further references to Queen, Fullmetal Alchemist, South Park, Unreal Tournament, Harry Potter, Metal Gear and Diablo. Minecraft is in The Stars are left.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator	Score
Metacritic	74

Review score

Publication	Score
Game Informer	7.5

An early incomplete version of Magicka was named Game of the Year 08 at the Swedish Game Awards 2008.

As of January 2012, the game has sold 1.3 million copies worldwide; over 4 million expansion packs have been sold, with Magicka: Vietnam having reached over 500,000 sales.

External links

• Official site
• Game Page at Paradox website
• Magickapedia.net - Unofficial Magicka wiki
• MagickaMod - Unofficial Magicka Modding Community
• Make your own Magicka robe