Magicka

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Yuuki
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Joined: Wed Nov 28, 2007 4:52 am
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Magicka

Post by Yuuki »

Hey, Yuuki's back, and I assure you, she is not a Vampire!

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If anyone knows Magicka, then they most likely know that it is pretty much a reference pool. This game is similar to a DS game I once played called Lost Magic, but is far better. It is set in the land of midgard(surprise surprise), where you play as a mage, being sent to help the king stop the invasion of the goblins (though the overall story is...far stranger than that...)

Magicka uses a battle system of combining different elements to create different effects. The base elements in the game are(by control) q:water w:Light e:Shield r:Frost a:Shock s:Arcane d:Rock f:Fire. Steam is made up if you combine Water and Fire, Ice is made up if you combine Ice and Water, and these two are treated as a single element on their own. Each element has a unique attack type, while combining them create different effects. With rock, you sling a rock (duh), but with a Rock Fire Combination (usually Rock, Fire Rock for more power), you create an explosive fireball. Similarly, Arcane is a lasor; so combining Lighting and Arcane creates a Lighting Laser.

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(The spell metre can be seen here, with me doing a Fire Arcane combo

It should be noted that this games frame rate is extremely smooth, which adds a lot of quality to the game)

The possibilities are endless. It is possible to case 5 different combinations in one spell. I have heard that the most powerful combination is (Fire+Water=) Steam, Lighting, Lighting, Arcane, Lighting. Steam is Fire Plus Water, dealing light damage while making the enemy wet, while Lightning deals double damage to wet enemies, shot as a laser beam with Arcane. What adds more to this is that you gain a spell book, that give you spells such as haste, Teleport, Meteor Shower(The first spell you gain btw), rainstorm, Thunder Storm, Blizzard, Summon (death, Elemental, undead), Implosion, etc, which are made up of a certain combination of elements.

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(A screenshot of the console version with what seems to be a far more complicated execution method)

These seemingly endless combinations are the basis of this beyond Genre savvy game. The games voicing is probably the best part of the game; Combining English, German and what appears to be a Sim Greek spin off to create an hilarious script. One of my favourite lines, which is something that is repeated through out the game is "Grazz. Minen Vlad, ughnt Naugt Vampire" The text box saying "Hello, I am Vlad, and I am not a vampire" Another funny example is: "Its' OK, I sent him this way instead, They say that the Orc army has infested the mine, but i reassured him it was safe"(Lord of the Rings Reference) While the character speaks something like "Etuten Run-Run, bypassen ugn nazen douch, un Crap Army nan naugh safe" Though it probably looks weird, I assure you, the games script is not only hilarious to read, but hear.

The general story of this game is quite amusing, as most of it does not make sense, especially as you run though the world as a mute mage, who is innocently put through a lot of peril, and faced to fight many recognizable creatures from general Fantasy and Myth (usually with varied names i.e Beholded-> Holden)

The main thing, side the awesome multi-player, game mechanics, and somewhat decent graphics, has to be the amount of references. This game is crawling with references around every corner and every speech. There are so many references, that you'll most likely find at least one in every paragraph of speech in the game. I'm generally not very good at giving reviews for anything, but this game is priceless in so many ways. The game play if fun and challenging (you die a lot, in very gruesome ways), and will make you smack your head against the table with each passing reference (one of my favourite being the Sparda Reference), and with each passing stereotype.

Oh, and by the way, I heard some references to Star Trek and Monty Python, so these aren't just RPG and fantasy references, especially the final boss shouting "DO NOT WANT".

One last thing, however, that I do find rather strange, is that despite the light hearted script and somewhat non-serious characters, the story is actually very epic. The same with the music. The game gets quite morbid under its' layer of light heartedness, while also getting quite bad-ass with its' soundtrack nearing the end of the game (in which you do twice due to certain circumstances)

The multi-player in this game is usually essential, and is also very fun, as you can experiment with opposite elements. Though of course this can turn around very quickly, as when two opposite elements make contact in anyway, you will both die from the result, lets just leave it at that. I tried multi-player, and it increased the utilisation of the game mechanics a lot, while also promoting quite a lot of co-ordination. Because in this game, not co-ordinating is certain death.

For its' price, Magicka is a game that is definitely worth anyone's time. It's funny, innivotive, unique, and definitely fun.

Though I've never reviewed a game before, I would give this a high rating to be sure. Its' jsut pure, light hearted fun, with a little bit of epic mixed in with it.

And remember.

Vlad is NOT a vampire.

(I definitely do not claim ownership of any screenshot, side the first game play, which was taken from my computer)
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