Magicka 2

 PC
User Score
6.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 108 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 52 out of 108
  2. Mixed: 25 out of 108
  3. Negative: 31 out of 108

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  1. ThiagoTitonel
    Jul 6, 2015
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I used to play Magicka 1 loving each minute.... Magicka 2.... is just boring. Magicka 1 was a breakthrough, Magicka 2 is basically the same however, not so funny. They tried to make it more difficult in order to favor the coop experience and probably sell more DLC's with itens or weapons or robes. I am not saying the game have no improvements, it has, but they missed the spot.… Expand
  2. CMX
    Jul 9, 2015
    4
    The game is just way worse than Magicka 1. The devs lost the cool crazyness and instead added things to balance the game out. I would understand if there was a sensible pvp but there is nothing. The game no longer allows you to spam spells - i'm a wizard for Vlad's sake. The original Magicka had crazy robes that made you absorb lightning, Tank, Crusader or even Tentacle robes. Here youThe game is just way worse than Magicka 1. The devs lost the cool crazyness and instead added things to balance the game out. I would understand if there was a sensible pvp but there is nothing. The game no longer allows you to spam spells - i'm a wizard for Vlad's sake. The original Magicka had crazy robes that made you absorb lightning, Tank, Crusader or even Tentacle robes. Here you have fireman's robes that give you +20% fire resistance but -20% something else. It's boring! Where are my cool weapons? Crossbows, Machine guns, Lightsabers? Nope, you again have your boring weapons that have boring small bonuses. The game is small there are way less levels and the levels are way less varied and crazy. I've been in Mexican hell and ancient dwarven ruins in Magicka 1 but here - forests and the castle from the previous game. There wasn't much more than that. The game is short has a few more mechanics (not too many though), has less than 30% the amount of magicks the previous one had and you are really limited by stupid things such as focus regeneration or spell nerfs. There is almost nothing that Magicka 1 didn't have but it's balanced which also means madly limited. I don't recommend buying it for more than the price of a Magicka 1 DLC. Some of them have more content than this game.… Expand
  3. huge
    May 27, 2015
    9
    It's a great game. Easily one of the best coop experiences out there. This is how the original Magicka game should have been.

    However it doesn't feel like much of a sequel as it does a polished recreation. There's some new spells but it's mostly the same and not much in terms of creativity has been added. Also, heads up, a decent group of players can get through the entire game in about    It's a great game. Easily one of the best coop experiences out there. This is how the original Magicka game should have been.

    However it doesn't feel like much of a sequel as it does a polished recreation. There's some new spells but it's mostly the same and not much in terms of creativity has been added. Also, heads up, a decent group of players can get through the entire game in about 4 hours. If you're new to Magicka this may be more like 6-10 hours due to the learning curve. The game can be very punishing if you're new. It depends heavily on your teammates, as it is possible for one skilled player to carry an entire team and rush you through all the chapters. Also keep in mind that this is a $15 game on launch day, it's scope can feel rather narrow at times and leave you wanting more.

    Anyways, the polish that I'm talking about isn't in graphics, bugs, or performance, but gameplay. The original Magicka had some terrible balancing issues. Where a few specific spell combos were so incredibly powerful that they rendered the potentially hundreds of spells you could use down to about 2-3 all purpose kill everything spells. You may see some people complaining about no longer being able to combine lightning, water, fire, and ice the same way you could before. These were the over powered combos that killed every and any enemy virtually instantly. They were so over powered you could kill every boss in the game in a matter of seconds with minimal effort.

    This appears to be fixed in Magicka 2. Enemies seem to come with much more elemental strengths and weaknesses that you have to play to and constantly adjust. That spell that worked really well in the previous area might bring your doom in the next. Fire may have smoked that one bad guy, but it's going to heal the one right next to him. The over powered spells have been either removed or nerfed. As well as many other spells have been tweaked to prevent easy all purpose kills. You now have to constantly adapt, try new spells, and switch up what elements you're using on the fly.

    This is how the original Magicka should have been. A game that both encourages and rewards a wide and diverse play style due to it's nature of having hundreds of possible spell combinations.    … Expand
  4. GameKiller1337
    Jun 24, 2015
    9
    Good game !
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    **** DOTA 2 !!!!!!!!!!
  5. Ayvalon
    May 29, 2015
    6
    If you don't intend to play this through purely in multiplayer with a gamepad steer clear of it completely.

    Being a huge fan of the original Magicka with over 90 hours logged I had a certain expectation of quality. I have almost completed the game though I can tell that the changes made to the combat really ruined what made the original such a unique title. The new casting system is    If you don't intend to play this through purely in multiplayer with a gamepad steer clear of it completely.

    Being a huge fan of the original Magicka with over 90 hours logged I had a certain expectation of quality. I have almost completed the game though I can tell that the changes made to the combat really ruined what made the original such a unique title. The new casting system is reliant on a gamepad and has cut out a huge amount of spell combinations.

    Magicka 2's casting system just seems really plain compared to the original, from what I gather they wanted to balance out the casting system by removing overpowered spells to make it more focused around identifying the weaknesses of particular enemies though now the combat feels incredibly slow paced and boring.

    As of writing this I'm 2/3 through the game, the story mode is significantly shorter. Thankfully the writing still maintains the quality it had in Magicka, and the graphics have been updated, but the pacing of the game is just disappointing overall. I hope that the DLCs improve the game though I seriously doubt they will change the core mechanics of the game which they have really gutted.    … Expand
  6. Corsico
    Jun 1, 2015
    7
    The game feels very much like Magicka 1. That is not a bat thing, but one would expect something more than a new story from a sequel.

    Luckily enough, the humor keeps you interested, the action never stops and you feel rather powerful if you already have tricks and habits from Magicka 1 which pretty much are still available. It's a good game, it's bound to lead to many fun hours, but    The game feels very much like Magicka 1. That is not a bat thing, but one would expect something more than a new story from a sequel.

    Luckily enough, the humor keeps you interested, the action never stops and you feel rather powerful if you already have tricks and habits from Magicka 1 which pretty much are still available.

    It's a good game, it's bound to lead to many fun hours, but it still feels more like an add-on than a new game.    … Expand
  7. pizpoppy14
    May 27, 2015
    3
    Please note my English is poor.
    I haven't completed game yet so this review maybe unfair but I am so disappointed and no motivation to play. Because there are too much unnecessary change from Magicka1. I am big fan of Magicka1.
    1:Secondary elements changed In Magicka1, casting Water and Cold and then these two elements are combined and become one element (Ice). Water and Fire and then    Please note my English is poor.
    I haven't completed game yet so this review maybe unfair but I am so disappointed and no motivation to play. Because there are too much unnecessary change from Magicka1. I am big fan of Magicka1.

    1:Secondary elements changed
    In Magicka1, casting Water and Cold and then these two elements are combined and become one element (Ice). Water and Fire and then Steam, too. Ice and Steam. These secondary elements don't have character of water even they are made of water. That is the point. I can combine secondary elements with Lightning so there are many fun combination. But in Magicka2 they are deleted.

    2:Lightning takes over Arcane
    When I cast Arcane and Lightning for example, shot as the Arcane of Lightning. But in Magicka2 on same case, shot as Lightning of Arcane. Effective long range attacks are reduced so much in conclusion with reason1. I miss Steam-Lightning-Arcane.

    3:'Click and move' doesn't suit for this game
    In Magicka1, mouse drag to direction where want to go is the way to move. In Magicka 2, adding to that, one click and auto move. This doesn't suit for this game. In chaos of enemies, mistakes happens so often. I want to disable this or choose one way to move.

    4:Why the hell there is NOT key bind setting
    Totally ununderstandable.

    5:Magics in Hotkeys
    This smashes fun of Magicka game.

    Conclusion:
    I love Magicka's creativity. I love it requires skills and practicing,too. Strong Magics are very complicated to cast, hard to remember. Simple combinations do very little damage but some very complicated combinations are so much powerful and fun and so creative to fight.

    But in Magicka2, many of them are so simplified. It maybe nice change for Biginners,Wizard Wars players,controller users and PS4 players, but for fans of Magicka1.

    Only nice soundtracks remind me of Magicka. But this is more like nightmare.
    Thank you for reading.    … Expand
  8. vulthime
    Jun 10, 2015
    0
    Distrugge ogni singolo aspetto positivo del primo magicka, peggiore in tutto, difatti non è della arrowhead. Non so cosa sia venuto in mente alla paradox di darlo a qualche itta sconosciuta, neanche mi interessa, comunque il gioco è uno spreco di soldi, scaricate il 1 con tutti i dlc, vale 1000 volte questo acquisto.
  9. Westernfist
    Jun 10, 2015
    9
    This is a really great game. For anyone saying that magicks on hotkeys ruined it, you can still cast magicks like in the first game. Life Lightning Spacebar is still Revive. Also, about the other changes, just give it a little time to get used to the changes to the elements. Once you do it is just as good if not better than the first Magicka. For anyone who has not played the firstThis is a really great game. For anyone saying that magicks on hotkeys ruined it, you can still cast magicks like in the first game. Life Lightning Spacebar is still Revive. Also, about the other changes, just give it a little time to get used to the changes to the elements. Once you do it is just as good if not better than the first Magicka. For anyone who has not played the first Magicka, Magicka 2 is a great game. There is a fun spellcasting system that makes combat extremely enjoyable, and there is plenty of great humor throughout the game.… Expand
  10. Irwin
    Jun 1, 2015
    2
    It's already on steam, but I really want all the neighbors to see this.

    THIS IS NOT THE MAGICKA I FOUGHT DAEMONS FOR Here's a trillion reasons why this game sucks. THE SPELLS The spell system has been lobotomized - there are now no efficient ways of killing anything and the skill cap is barely half an inch off the ground. The whole point of getting good in Magicka was knowing good    It's already on steam, but I really want all the neighbors to see this.

    THIS IS NOT THE MAGICKA I FOUGHT DAEMONS FOR
    Here's a trillion reasons why this game sucks.

    THE SPELLS
    The spell system has been lobotomized - there are now no efficient ways of killing anything and the skill cap is barely half an inch off the ground. The whole point of getting good in Magicka was knowing good spells, improvisation and casting fast enough to heat the keyboard to thermonuclear levels. There is no fast casting now, everything is charged or channeled, even the damned mines have to lie there for a while before they are of any use. There are no good spells because every spell is equally pathetically weak now. There is no flexibility because no matter what you cast it just works the same, that is barely even works.

    Projectiles suck because you have to charge them for eternity to actually hurt anything.

    Charging mines suck because nobody ever used them as actual mines anyway.

    Fire sucks because everything regenerates and anything but focused fire does jack sh*t.

    Freezing sucks because frozen things are now stupidly hard to kill. Especially in singleplayer it's just unusable.

    Steam sucks because its only purpose was to boost lightning.

    Not being able to extinguish oneself while having water immunity sucks.

    Lightning sucks because it can't be added to beams. Arcanized lightnings have no sense, it's just adding plain, boring damage to a spell which already is all about damage. The whole point of adding arcane to lightning was increasing the range.

    THE ENEMIES
    The enemies suck too. They shifted from crowds of cannon fodder to being the freaking Terminator. The goblins in Magicka 1 were not there to be a threat, but to be bombarded with fireballs and run around screaming in a kinaesthetically pleasing way. The trolls, orcs, beholders, mages and all the rest - they were the real enemy. Now not only the trolls, but also the regular soldiers, the goblins and even the damned peasants are made of kevlar. You're no longer a powerful wizard, you're an idiot in a bathrobe throwing colorful lights at things.

    The enemies are also really boring, you fight the same generic dudes in pointlessly fancy armor and glowing weapons 90% of the time. The other 10% is bugs. Magicka 1 had orcs, daemons, dwarves, bugs, undead and several tricky monsters too. There are no cool bosses either. Where is the Reaper, the Fafnir, the Jormungandr of this game? Only the final boss is actually interesting.

    Everybody has elemental attacks too. I get this was supposed to make the game more challenging, but instead it's just annoying because it DECREASES THE CONTROL THE PLAYER HAS OVER THEIR WIZARD. 90% of the time you're trying not to be burning, wet, chilled, on the ground or in the air just for a freaking second instead of ACTUALLY FIGHTING. There is no way to defend from the bombardment of annoying crowd control attacks, because the shields and armors barely block anything now, the walls are weak and the auras only really protect from one element.

    Except from the disruptor magick, which blocks casting, in a game built entirely around casting, and so just pointlessly stretches the fight.

    Enemies have way too much health too, killing them is just slow and tedious, especially and lower difficulties. Adding a weakness to one element fixes nothing because it rewards using the same one or two spells over and over again.

    THE GEAR
    The eqipment sucks. Magicka 1 had a helload of weapons which were mainly here just for sh*ts and giggles. Most of them were useless and that's why obtaining a strong weapon felt like an achievement. Now every weapon is close to useless because of the balance this game never needed.

    The robes suck as well. Magicka 1 had robes for everyone - some were there just for the looks (if you wanted to look sleek without any side effects), others could change the game completely. Magicka 2 robes just shuffle around some resistances and that's it. They're also not as varied and crazy as Magicka 1 robes.

    The magicks suck. They can't be cast in quick succession anymore, further reducing the reward from memorizing and learning to cast quickly while also slowing the game down. There's too few of them too. Magicka 1 allowed to completely change the playstyle just by using some magicks one normally doesn't.

    THE CONTROLS
    The "click to go" movement sucks, it feels unresponsive and more like Diablo than the top down shooter Magicka is supposed to be. It's also annoying when you automatically send your wizard into a crowd of enemies just because you put the cursor on them to aim better.

    The menu sucks, it's not ergonomic at all on PC.

    NON-GAMEPLAY THINGS
    The humor sucks because there barely is any in the latter half of the game.

    Even the world sucks. Gicka 1's Midgard was a simple and full of cliches old enough not to be annoying anymore. It had barbaric orcs, sneaky goblins, evil warlocks and ugly demons. It was simultaneously a parody and    … Expand
  11. renatov
    Jun 10, 2015
    0
    Clumky controls, over simplistic story, terrible gameplay experience, servers are always down... it's like a remake of Magicka 1, but worse. This game is bad and developers should feel bad.
  12. Telimakar
    Jul 4, 2015
    10
    10 to balance the negatives, but it still is an awesome game. I wish I knew about Magicka 1, I've wanted a game like this forever. Please do yourself a favor and give this a go if you're as wizard mad as me. Takes practice to get good since there are so many combinations and then still remembering them in battle takes time, but wow, very very cool experience.
  13. BrainAndSoul
    Jun 13, 2015
    9
    It is one of the greatest game of the year for someone who didn't play first Magicka
    And it is the greatest disappointment of this year for people who played original one.
    Nothing to say more.
  14. iseeall
    Mar 15, 2023
    5
    Action game where you're supposed to cast a huge number of different spell - that simply doesn't work because you can't cast those spells in a comfortable way. You have to press sequences of keys for EACH spell cast, and you simply forget those sequences. There is a lot of humor in the game as well but I didn't find it funny or smart.
  15. Zerg_King
    Jul 14, 2015
    7
    Hard to tell if I love this. There are many things that were upgraded from the original, but still something is missing. Not sure, this is cute, allright, and Vlad is back, but I just couldn't get into it.
  16. sinisterrainbow
    Nov 6, 2018
    10
    Who should, and why should you, purchase this game? Easily one of the most fun, and unique, games out there. It's lively fun, does not take itself overly seriously - but delivers a world you can escape in - it's challenging for gamers and casual players alike. If you have a library like mine of hundreds of games, this is a MUST PURCHASE. It does not have the replay value of games likeWho should, and why should you, purchase this game? Easily one of the most fun, and unique, games out there. It's lively fun, does not take itself overly seriously - but delivers a world you can escape in - it's challenging for gamers and casual players alike. If you have a library like mine of hundreds of games, this is a MUST PURCHASE. It does not have the replay value of games like shoot-em-ups, but it is worth the admission of a movie ticket - because you'll get more satisfaction and a lot more hours out of it than the best movies you've seen. If you can only afford 1 or 2 games and play all year, I would feel sorry that you're missing out, as the game play here is unique and FUN FUN FUN - something that many games miss out on as they just slightly modify well-known genres. This game is a GENRE almost all on its own. If you thought Naruto spell casting was awesome - this game is the logical version of it with regards to powers! To all whom have played the first and complained - I do not understand your complaints other than you played the other too recently and had false expectations. I absolutely LOVED the first one as well for many of the same reasons - and I found this one unique and fun by itself. If you thought Terminator 2 was supposed to resemble Terminator 1, or T3 the other 2, you are fooling yourself. Each is a unique experience and should be taken as such - you will gain the full experience and pleasure of it then, just as the very intelligent game developers intended. Before Magicka 1 I was working on a 3d version in CryEngine for power combinations like naruto and these.. I never got it launched, and I am more than happy that someone approximated what I wanted to do and in a top-down fashion. I have nothing bad to say as this is the top 1% of fun games available --- hands down.… Expand
  17. Tilt1k
    Feb 5, 2019
    4
    Its like Magicka 1 but worse... in everything. I donť feel it as with the older prequel.
    Honestly i dont know whats wrong. Its just somehow clumsy and boring. Its not funny anymore. Story, jokes and easter eggs made Magicka so great and they just put everything away.

    Game which lost its beauty and its sad :(.
  18. IMR707
    Sep 4, 2022
    7
    Pro
    - Character are silly like the first game
    - Creative spell combat

    Cons
    - Story not memorable
    - Control is quite convoluted for controller use.
    - Need to finish it as soon as possible to not be forgotten and left behind unfinished..
  19. BLurii
    Oct 20, 2020
    8
    Sad to see such a good game with such potential getting a worse score because of the lack of game play time, it is a very short game, but you can see that many people putted a lot of work to this game, many Easter eggs that make you laugh a lot, impressive game mechanics and artworks. The music that follows you throwout your gameplay just makes it perfect. In my heart, I really want toSad to see such a good game with such potential getting a worse score because of the lack of game play time, it is a very short game, but you can see that many people putted a lot of work to this game, many Easter eggs that make you laugh a lot, impressive game mechanics and artworks. The music that follows you throwout your gameplay just makes it perfect. In my heart, I really want to give this a 10, but the 6 hour game play is holding it to the 8.… Expand
  20. toto07
    Oct 28, 2021
    9
    C'est quoi ce metascore interdit ? Le 69 c'est pas une note autorisé pour ce jeu, je vois plus du 89.

    - Expérience jouissive fait pour jouer à plusieurs - Un des rares jeux pc à proposer du spliscreen (jusqu'à 4) - un système de spell franchement très sympa, fait pour être combiner et être tester ensemble pour une sainte croisade contre tout un pays. - une histoire comique qui adore    C'est quoi ce metascore interdit ? Le 69 c'est pas une note autorisé pour ce jeu, je vois plus du 89.

    - Expérience jouissive fait pour jouer à plusieurs
    - Un des rares jeux pc à proposer du spliscreen (jusqu'à 4)
    - un système de spell franchement très sympa, fait pour être combiner et être tester ensemble pour une sainte croisade contre tout un pays.
    - une histoire comique qui adore taquiner les langues occidentales.
    - L'audio est bon, la musique un peu en retrait, pour laisser place à la communication entre joueurs sans doute
    - Bien étalonné pour un jeu de 2015, jeu divisé en zone, elles ont un peu le même feel chacune, certaines se démarquent. Les sorts jetés éclatent dans tous les sens, c'est un feu d'artifice de couleur.
    - On prend un temps à comprendre les combinaisons et connaître les raccourcis pour les jeter, les swarm d'enemis ont raison de vous presque à chaque zone, et c'est un peu en tant que die n' retry qu'il faut prendre le jeu sinon la manette peut vite être cast elle aussi. Le jeu est difficile et j'aime quand c'est aussi spicy, n'ayez pas peur d'amener vos potes pour 1000x plus de fun (friendly fire "on" s'il vous plait)
    -court, mais semble avoir des atouts de re-jouabilité avec plusieurs modifiers qui permettent de personnaliser la partie
    -Progression ressentie à travers l'apparition de nouveaux ennemis caissons, la création de sorts ultra puissants, quelques bâtons débloqués mais pas très sexy à utiliser et aussi des robes. La vraie progression c'est quand le joueur et ses potes commencent la maîtrise des sorts et décident de génocider la map entière avec quelques essais nucléaires et orages, et ca, ca n'a pas de prix.
    La physique, fondation du jeu, rend le gameplay dynamique et fun, j'aurai aimé encore plus d'intéractions avec l'environnement (feu sur les plantes, tremblements de terre change la map...)
    -Je me suis éclaté et c'est grâce à ca que la note vole si haut, mon expérience utilisateur était quasi parfaite.    … Expand
  21. Oshiri_Maeda
    Jul 9, 2022
    7
    Somewhat short, fun co-op game. Nice humour here and there. Don't even bother playing it alone.
  22. exnesteroff
    Aug 7, 2021
    10
    Великолепно. В эту игру стоит поиграть, не знаю откуда вязлось так много хейтеров. Если у вас есть друг или девушка/молодой человек, зовите их в эту игру смело. Только относитесь к этой игре проще, не как к какому-то священному испытанию, иначе можно начать ругаться друг с другом из-за косяков. Если партнер по игре адекватный, то и игра вам обязательно понравится. Если играть одному, то яВеликолепно. В эту игру стоит поиграть, не знаю откуда вязлось так много хейтеров. Если у вас есть друг или девушка/молодой человек, зовите их в эту игру смело. Только относитесь к этой игре проще, не как к какому-то священному испытанию, иначе можно начать ругаться друг с другом из-за косяков. Если партнер по игре адекватный, то и игра вам обязательно понравится. Если играть одному, то я считаю только в рамках челленджа (пройти всё на самом сложном и выбив больше ачивок), но это скорее на любителя. Играть на нормальной сложности одному крайне скучно и смысла не имеет. Всем удачи!… Expand

Awards & Rankings

99
#99 Most Shared PC Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
69

Mixed or average reviews - based on 37 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 37
  2. Mixed: 24 out of 37
  3. Negative: 1 out of 37
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    Sep 1, 2015
    80
    Magicka 2 is like its predecessor, in good and bad alike. Feels like Magicka 1.7, not 2.0. [Aug 2015]
  2. Level7.nu
    Aug 26, 2015
    70
    A great experience and one that stays true to the Magicka franchise. Not a lot has happened since last time though, and some minor issues keep the game from reaching the same levels as the original.
    Read full review
  3. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Aug 21, 2015
    61
    Game’s derivativeness doesn’t diminish despite developer’s diligence: the humor is noticeably stale, and game situations lack variety. There’s just no progress in the series, which in itself is a step backwards. [Sept 2015, p.83]
See all critic reviews »