Magicka 2: Video Review Games

There are games that get unconditional recognition of critics and gamers. Not too often, but come across.

Other games “Take off the bank” from experts, but there are pretty cool reception among the public. Also rare but possible option.

There is a third type of success – folk recognition for reserved reviews of game journalists. This is how in 2011, the year was accepted an unusual action with a view from above called Magicka. Most of the authors of the reviews put the game about wizards without facial assessment at about 7 out of 10. Reduced points mainly due to malicious “funny”. Simple Keyboard and Mouse users Magicka loved, especially after the output of patches fixing flaws.

Without any connection with all the above, the coming appearance of the sequel caused certain concerns. Justice for the sake of notice that concerns always arise when the original project is transferred to the new team of developers. Arrowhead Game Studios no longer has a relationship to Magicka: The creation of the second part was done small, but proud Pieces interactive.We all learned not to stand on fire. But in the case of Magicka 2, we will have to forget all that we were taught in the school of gaming survival.
And no vampires

We are encountered by an old familiar – Vlad, never-non-vampire, who and in the first part performed some plot-guide for the nameless hero or the team of heroes. According to him, since the first Magicka In the magical world, something rotted and sufficient. Magi untied civil war, put each other, and rare survivors became so strange that they began to avoid them in a decent society. The ancient castle of Aldheim, in which the representatives of different elementary schools used to decline earlier. Against this background, a bright spot is highlighted by a prophet named Nostrir, who predicted the coming on the Earth of the Great Witch, able to combine all the elements and generally bring order in the world called Midgard.

Our character was not lucky: It was he who must find a child from the prophecy to protect him from the malicious … In general, mulk every1. Deliberately uncomplicated plot tie, of course, has a very indirect attitude towards what we will do in Magicka 2. Because, in essence, we are talking about the fun from the series “Kill everything that moves, and unlike himself countless times”.

We wish you a pleasant death

Speaking about “countless times”, we are not too exaggerating. An attempt to go through the game alone even at the normal level of complexity will be long, painful and unfortunate. The complexity grows from the head to the chapter, the enemies are becoming more and more. Fires of small goblins at the beginning of our journey are easily sent to the world of different when selecting adequate combinations of elements. But already on some third level there, we begin to deal with such impressive colonies of various creatures at the same time, the process of passing turns into torture and a serious blow to self-esteem. Only the support of comrades – that is, a cooperative – can save us from depression. Provided that we ourselves are not flashed, and the comrades can play.At first, the gigantic crab seems difficult to pass the “boss”. This is later, we find out that we will actually have such crabs to be almost packs to kill.
In some sense Magicka 2 became a little less “piano” than its predecessor. If in the first part we could apply any spell only using a key combination, sometimes it is not obvious, then we are allowed to hang on the “hotkeys” to four “Magic” to use them a little faster and more convenient. This innovation could be called “fastening” if the word “casual” and Magicka 2 generally wanted to become one row in one phrase. Developers could not disinterestedly simplify our life and nowhere to put a pig at the same time. All the finished spells like a fiery rain from heaven or “hurry”, allowing to run faster, now they must cool a little before reapply. While such a forced pause lasts, we can well play in the box. So no one has canceled the old good combinations of elements – it is impossible to survive without them.

Nurse combinator

Basic Mongue Magicka 2 still gives the broadest opportunities of the combination of spontaneous elements. Mechanics slightly changed in this regard: for example, it is no longer possible to in line with combined phenomena like a couple, as we did it in the first Magicka. But still there is still there.

We can collect up to five different elements in one sequence. Some solutions turn out to be very successful – as, for example, a wall-shield from frost, lightning and death. Others work worse: say, fiery balls are good only on a small distance. However, the game always leaves a lot of space for the experiment, the more involuntary that our own spells are capable of excellent way to harm us and our unlucky allies.A rare bird flies up to the middle of such a path of magic barriers.
In the gameplay relationship somewhat sadness, perhaps, only the tactical monotony of battles. Regardless of whether we fight with the “boss” like a gigantic crab or with clouded small monsters, we have to cut circles on the ground, trying not to allow opponents at all, constantly treated and in the breaks to try to kill someone there. The area on which we can run – very small. The triggering of the next script not only causes the crowd of opponents to life, but also closes the path for us to retreat, not allowing you to return to where we just were. Mages are completely “rags”, no damage for a long time to withstand – and this parameter cannot be “pumping” because “pumping” in Magicka 2 Traditionally practically absent.

From time to time we give out some new weapons or mantle – and some of these items can even be useful. Most, however, are not only useless, but also harmful: they make us more vulnerable or cause a weaker damage than the sword and staff that are issued at the start. Otherwise, no progress game does not offer. Developers hint: For the “pumping” of the character and a tree of skills – somewhere else, please.

Two hundred percent comedy

In addition to useless weapons and stupid clothes, we have time from time to time to open artifacts – usually they are given them after passing any chapter. Do not think that we are talking about real artifacts that improve the character parameters and adding it any dexterity, endurance or health. These modifiers are created rather in order to cause interest in re-passing. They do not affect the hero, but on the whole gameplay as a whole. One adds health to enemies, another teleports of the magician to the point of death of each monster, the third increases the comedy of passing up to two hundred percent.Mojito is not only a mint drink, but also many tons of very dangerous live weight.
Although, according to conscience, speaking, even with a pitiful one-stop comedy, the game seems rather ironic and funny. Developer’s change was not at all affected by humor. Standard fantasy-clichés are still ridicule. The local atmosphere is still involved on the absurd and exaggeration. Unfortunate peasants, oppressed by goblines, regret that they missed the lessons of the Obzh. At the entrance to the cave there is a wooden shield with the inscription: “We did not want to add a cave level, but the publishers insisted”. The characteristic exclamation mark above the head in NPC does not mean that we can get here any kind of quest – and where we could write information about him, since we do not have a diary nor the journal of tasks?

All this would be very nice and cute, if life did not spoil periodic bugs. Alas, together with the advantages of the original project Pieces interactive grabbed his main disadvantage. In a number of scenes, the hero can easily fly through the whole area, which was normal to overcome, killing enemies. Bright and accurate graphics would seem even more accurate if the resolution periodically did not change in itself. At the same time return everything you can only reboot the game.The problem is not a lot of crabs. The problem is that their stream does not stop if not to do something that is not related to killings.***
We will be frank: Magicka 2 – all the same Magicka, only with a new number, new, very unpretentious plot and some cosmetic repair. As a rule, there are not enough such innovations in order for the sequel to be good. However, in the case of Magicka Rules just do not work. The second issue turned out at least no worse than the first, and this is already very good.