Magicka: Wizard Wars To Resolve Eternal Rivalries with Spellicuffs

It's a word.

It's been a while since we've talked about Magicka -- one of the most chaotic, purely entertaining games I've ever reviewed -- and now's the time to talk about its successor. Magicka: Wizard Wars is due out for release shortly, as published by Paradox, and still focuses heavily on combinatory spell-slinging combat with heavy collateral, friend-killing damage. That's the fun part.

At Paradox Interactive's convention in Miami, it was announced that Magicka: Wizard Wars would feature four-player oppositional combat in true arena fashion; in 'Duel Mode,' two players out of a pool of four will be selected for mortal one-on-one combat, wherein the best spell combinations (and bouts of luck) will yield a victor. Upon the death of one clearly-inferior combatant, one of the spectators will cycle into the arena and continue battle against the victor. Using traditional knockout rules (see: Shootmania), the bath-robed warrior to six kills wins. See the trailer here:

Via press release, Paradox stated:

"The new Duel Mode update was created in direct response to fan feedback received during the Early Access phase, designed by Paradox North for fans who wanted their conjuring chaos to get a little more personal, with purely skill-based combat uninterrupted by one’s clumsy team-killing friends. Duel Mode also gives new players a new opportunity to learn from expert wizards, watching them in action and studying their moves before their own trial by fire and/or lightning-infused jets of steam."

You can learn more about Wizard Wars here; the game is already available for early access via Steam.

- Steve "Lelldorianx" Burke.