[Review] - Magicka: Vietnam DLC

[Kevnvek]

Developed by: Arrowhead Studios

Published by: Paradox Interactive

Platforms: PC

Players: 1-4

You already know we here at Gamercide love Magicka. But does the new DLC stand up to the greatness and originality of the main game, or will it just leave you with nightmarish Vietnam flashbacks?

Magicka: Vietnam is a fairly small DLC. It consists of two new Challenge maps, and adds nothing to adventure mode. However one of the challenge modes is structured similarly to adventure mode, with three screens you must make your way through to complete the level. The other mode is a new arena with just one small area to face waves of the new enemy types just like the other arenas

The biggest change of course is that guns are much more prevalent. All of the enemies now wield guns ranging from AK-47s to RPGs, will attack you from a distance, and have humorously been renamed to the Goblincong. There is fitting new music that blasts as you make your way through the jungle, and now you have the mildly useful ability to crouch behind cover. You can still use all of your normal spells, but in the Vietnam Rescue Mission challenge you don't get most of your spellbook spells aside from the obligatory revive, haste and time warp which must be found throughout the level, and a new spell you can use to call in an airstrike. You probably won't have much time for anything fancy anyways with all the incoming gunfire.

The rescue mission solo can be pretty challenging, as there are no checkpoints. I found myself using rock shields much more often, as opposed to only really using them to wall off dangerous ledges behind me. A useful strategy was to create a makeshift pillbox by surrounding myself with a rock shield and shooting powerful beam attacks out of it. I could manage to make it all the way to the final part of the mission in about 20 to 30 minutes, then get completely overwhelmed at the final part where you must hold out until the chopper arrives, with dozens of enemies focusing fire on my position. Co-op is a different story though. With three other players who somewhat knew what they were doing I was able to complete the mission, including all objectives (which mainly consists of blowing up buildings and towers, and rescuing soldiers), in around 15 minutes.

It is a very short DLC and definitely left me wanting more. As I completed it, having played Magicka for the first time in a couple months, it made me think of how great it would be for something more substantial to be added, such as a new adventure mode with a full story and more than the handful of lines of dialog that Vietnam had. All of the humor was in the setting, with very little dialog. There is value in the replayability of the DLC, though, especially in the new arena challenge.

I honestly found the new arena more entertaining than the rescue mission. It is structured the same as all of the other arenas, where you hold off against 20 waves of enemies and get random spellbook spells, weapons, and staffs from chests, but set in the new Vietnam setting with the new types of ranged enemies. It essentially changes the way you have to play in order to survive, when the enemies don't have to reach you to damage you. I found myself not using my favorite icicle shotgun or cannon spells from the main campaign much, although a strong beam attack is still one of the most effective ways of taking down enemies assuming you are properly shielded from gunfire.

When I ended up in the arena with one other player, and we were both summoning hordes of lighting elementals, then protecting ourselves with rock barriers while setting off lightning storms that not only blasted apart the enemies, but healed the elementals at the same time, I was reminded of just how much fun Magicka could be. Magicka: Vietnam was short and entertaining, but seriously left me wanting more. I hope in the future an actual expansion pack is released which possibly adds a whole new adventure mode to the game. But for the low price of five dollars, this DLC adds a decent amount of new content to the game in the form of new challenges, particularly in the arena with the new types of enemies to face.

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