Magicka 2 - Hands-On Impressions

The story of the original Magicka was one of troubled development, a botched launch (online play was almost impossible), a failure to launch on consoles (not for lack of trying), yet somehow it's also publisher Paradox Interactive's biggest success to date with more than 2 million copies of the base game sold and countless millions of DLC packs to go along with that.

The success was by in large owed to the incredibly deep and varied combat system that saw the four on-screen wizards combine elements to cast spells. Add lots of enemies, three friends and friendly fire to that mix, and you wound up with an entertaining mix of mishaps and moments of glory. After producing a couple of DLC packs original developers Arrowhead Game Studios moved on to other projects leaving fellow Swedish studio Pieces Interactive to continue fleshing out the game. And as Arrowhead Game Studios were busy making Gauntlet and Helldivers the honours of carrying on the franchise fell to Pieces Interactive.

The exact reasons why the original Magicka never made it to console are somewhat murky even today, but as a dedicated digital publisher Paradox Interactive simply had a hard time getting onto PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 even with a proven success like Magicka. And the price of admission if going with Microsoft Game Studios was a bit hefty (as many indies found out last generation). Nevertheless the original game was conceived with a controller in mind, rather than the mouse and keyboard combination most PC gamers wound up playing it with and as such the sequel feels very natural on DualShock 4 (we played it on PC with DualShock 4 controllers). Using a trigger to toggle between elements on the face buttons works really well.

If you keep track of the Magicka universe and lore (it's rather tongue in cheek in nature, and should perhaps not be taken too seriously), this game is set after the events of Magicka: Wizard Wars. Those civil wars between robes took a toll on the headcount of wizards in Midgård, and those who remain struggle keep their sanity in check. The four player characters set out to rid the world of evil guided by the always helpful Vlad (who's not a vampire). We got to sample a snow-covered Norse-themed level, and while the environments may differ, Magicka 2 retains the Nordic feel. The concept feels very much the same as the original, but there are a few tweaks such as the Artifacts system that has been designed for replayability.

These artifacts work much like skulls in Halo, as they offer you an opportunity to alter the rule sets of the game. Make it easier with more health or perhaps more difficult with less health, or increase the health of enemies, or... well, the opportunities are almost endless in terms of varying the experience. Great for that couch co-op experience as you're able to adjust the game to suit whoever's playing.

Several times during the demo it was said that netcode had been an early priority for the team and getting online play working from day one and avoiding the troubles Magicka went through appears to have been a mantra uttered over and over again. The concept of Magicka 2: Learn to Spell Again is brilliant, and it appears largely the same as in the original. Perhaps slightly more polished, and with an increased emphasis to facilitate co-op play (checkpoints, hot joins, all modes support co-op, etc.), but one thing is certain - it remains a lot of fun to play.