Magicka - Vietnam Review @ GameSpot

Dhruin

Dhruin

SasqWatch
Joined
August 30, 2006
Messages
11,842
Location
Sydney, Australia
GameSpot has reviewed the Vietnam expansion to Magicka. The score is a lowly 5.5/10 mostly because of extreme difficulty:
Vlad and his cowled little buddy are off to the jungle in Magicka: Vietnam, a downloadable content pack that shifts the arcane action of Magicka to a fantasy-styled Southeast Asia. It goes without saying that this is a decidedly goofy premise for a role-playing game that is all about casting spells and killing fantasy foes. However, the notion of a wizard heading off to fight the Viet Cong somehow seems appropriate here given the anything-goes nature of the original game. Unfortunately, the oddball nature of the add-on is its biggest plus. The idea of running through the jungle blowing up orcs and trolls is a lot more appealing than the reality, as the lovable melee mayhem of the original combat has been replaced by frustrating difficulty and some odd design decisions.
Click to expand...
More information.
 
Joined
Aug 30, 2006
Messages
11,842
Location
Sydney, Australia
I picked up just 'cuz the expansion. The game would have AWESOME except for two major, major problems:

#1 - No mid-mission save. Period. And the missions can get long.

#2 - A really nice bug that failed to end a mission for me, leaving me trapped in a boss area. At the end of a mission. With no mid-mission save to back up from to try again.

So instead of awesome, it's ... well, I want to still call it "good," but I'm all nerdraged at it right now.
 
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
624
I thought it was a great little concept but I'm not very far into it because of the lack of saves. Getting enough time to finish a mission and being good enough to get through an entire one are too much for me.
 
Joined
Aug 30, 2006
Messages
11,842
Location
Sydney, Australia
I have to say I agree with the text of the review. Single player balance was pretty bad in vanilla as well. The game is a lot more enjoyable in multiplayer where dead wizards can be revived..
 
Joined
Nov 4, 2006
Messages
2,013
I guess this game is rather an MP game, then ?
[Cynism]One of the examples (like DS1) where the SP part rather feels like being tacked on ?[/Cynism]
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
21,952
Location
Old Europe
It's a shame because I played the demo singleplayer and enjoyed it a lot, so I bought the game. Then I come to discover with the real game that it's only really balanced for multiplayer.

Hopefully they work on singleplayer in further patches.
 
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
1,830
I'm picking this game up a little later because of the review from the Angry Joe show. The gameplay footage he shows looks great and the unique way of playing is too good to pass on.

I figured this one was just another action rpg, but from the sounds of it they at least tried to do something different with the magic side of the game.

Too bad about the bugs. I hear they're quick with the patches, but maybe they should have waited a little longer before releasing it. Having to play through a whole level and get stuck by a bug would annoy the heck out of me.
 
Joined
Feb 3, 2007
Messages
5,347
Location
Taiwan
Alrik Fassbauer said:
I guess this game is rather an MP game, then ?
[Cynism]One of the examples (like DS1) where the SP part rather feels like being tacked on ?[/Cynism]
Click to expand...

That is a bit unfair. Magicka was advertised as a fun hotseat/MP game from the start. Magicka is not a RPG, but rather a light-hearted modern descendants of old side-scrolling shooters.
 
Joined
Nov 4, 2006
Messages
2,013
Okay, I see, my mistake.

it's only that I'd like to try it out - but the lack of balancing really puts me off - and it just fuels my bitterness regarding SP games.

With MP as a modern - as I call it - "indirect DRM", SP might even vanish at one point in the future.
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
21,952
Location
Old Europe
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom