Magicka

Whenever I see a game on Steam for $9.99, it always makes me a bit suspicious.  “You get what you pay for” is still a very true statement, and is also true in this case…but not as much as you might think.

Magicka is an RPG game that parodies all RPG games that came before it.  Every fantasy-based idea and concept that you've ever seen will be jabbed at here, and each one is charming and will make you, at the very least, giggle a bit.  For example:  I happened to find a secret area containing a sword in a stone.  Upon looting it, the game gave me an achievement and stated I just looted Excalibur.  I looked at my character, and he was now wielding the sword…complete with the stone still stuck to it.  There are endless more of these humorous moments scattered across every pixel of this game, and they give the whole package an attitude and flavor that makes it very enjoyable to experience.  Another really funny moment happened when I stumbled upon a woman in the game with a big exclamation point over her head.  Naturally, I thought, “Oh, a questgiver!”  Upon speaking to her, she proceeded to thank me for killing the goblins I had encountered on my way there, and that she would give me some coin, except that she can't because the game doesn't have an inventory.  She then commented on the fact that she wishes she could get rid of the big exclamation point that's been following her around. 

Obviously, this isn't a game with a deep and engaging storyline.  But nevertheless, it's surprisingly entertaining.

Now for the combat.  Where the story and content of the game left me amused and chuckling, the combat left me intrigued, challenged, sometimes mildly annoyed, but mostly entertained.  The idea of it is that you have base powers that you then combine into any myriad of combinations to make spells.  Fire + Earth = Fireball for example.  The challenge comes in when you learn that every base has an opposite.  (You can't use fire and water together, for example.)  And, some mobs are impervious to certain types of magic.  This means you're left with only a few seconds when you encounter a creature to figure this out and decide what kind of spell you're going to create to defeat it, preferably before it eats you out of your pretty robes. 

Put both of these together, and you're left with quite an enjoyable indie game that is well worth the $10 to get it.  The game has some problems as it stands now, and I've noticed it's been patched every day since I've purchased it.  I think a lot of these problems lie in the multi-player aspect of it, and they're working to correct these quickly.  If they do, I think they'll have a really solid game on their hands.  Add a working multi-player aspect to this game, and you've got something that is quite the deal for the price, and surprisingly enjoyable for how simple it is. 

Below are a few screenshots I've taken, with comments below each one.  Enjoy!


When you start the game, you're introduced to Vlad.  Who continuously tells you he's not a vampire.  It seems he has everyone else convinced as well. 


The spell animations are very good and fun to look at.  The sounds are decent as well, and give the spells the needed OOMPH required to make you feel like a badass.


Your head my explode from all the parodies, especially if you have a vast knowledge of the Fantasy RPG genre.


I wield the sword in the stone.  With the stone attached. 


Pew pew!