The game started me off by teaching me the basics and it takes a little while to actually get it down. In fact, after I had “finished” the tutorial round, I got up, grabbed a pad and pen and started the tutorial over again so I could write down the different commands and combos I would need in battle.

There are three different game modes in Magicka: Wizard Wars but they all basically lead down the same path. While I said this game was DOTA-style, it doesn’t have a bunch of different characters to choose from that all come with different abilities. I got to change up my wizard character a little bit, but all the players in the game are basically faceless wizards in different colored robes. There are different abilities I could eventually gain and choose from, but really there are a couple of very basic attacks and defenses.

"It would be nice if this training ground mode was more than just shooting spells at a dummy because it didn’t really get me sharpening my skills."

Starting off, I was able to shoot a laser beam, an ice beam, a blast of fire or throw a giant rock. What makes this game both awesome and annoying is that once I took those four attacks, I was actually able to combine them with each other in order to hurt my opponents more, or combine them in such a way that I was actually able to protect myself against the attack. For instance, when someone started blasting me with flame, I could hit the right keys in order to douse myself with cold water and put myself out.

There are other combinations that were built in the game that allowed me to deflect other kinds of attack. Of course, this is also where the game started to grind its gears for me. The action moves quite quickly and for someone who hasn’t devoted their days to DOTA 2, trying to get better in Magicka: Wizard Wars is pretty hard in the heat of the moment.

This is likely one of the reasons the game has a Training Ground mode. It would be nice if this training ground mode was more than just shooting spells at a dummy because it didn’t really get me sharpening my skills. The other modes are Soul Harvest, which is one version of capture the flag, Wizard Warfare and Duel. The first two modes involve eight different players online in two teams of four. Duel was just me and one other person, having to fire off one attack or another and taking down the opponent as quickly as possible.

"In my time with the game, I enjoyed Soul Harvest the most, mainly because I could hide my shortcomings inside of a team, while also learning how to stand on my own. "

In my time with the game, I enjoyed Soul Harvest the most, mainly because I could hide my shortcomings inside of a team, while also learning how to stand on my own. The basic point of this round is to kill as many NPC monsters on the map as possible and every time I killed a couple, I could take their souls. Once a team gathers enough souls, their opponents totem loses its magical protections and is open to assault.

This is the same kind of totem that you see in DOTA 2, but instead of having a bunch of different turrets I needed to get through, the totems would fire off bursts of energy blasts that killed me quickly, if I attempted to attack before enough souls had been collected.

Team play also comes in handy because every wizard starts the game with a healing beam. I can heal myself as well, but it was much quicker to stick close to a teammate and have them blast me with healing power while I blasted them. Being able to heal up a teammate is actually a pretty big deal because I could also hurt anyone and everyone. Friendly fire is a real concern in all the team based games, especially when I was throwing around the beam or the fire blast. Many, many times one of my teammates would walk in front of me because they were either going to battle with another team’s wizard or an NPC monster and they’d pay the prize as I fired off my killing beam at whatever moved.

"To make up for the lack of characters, the game allows players to upgrade their wizard using coins earned through gameplay."

There are ways to communicate with teammates through the keyboard, though action is moving too quickly most of the time for it to matter. It’s possible that if I had enough people who were playing Magicka: Wizard Wars this might have been useful to form a real strategy. Because we were all strangers, everyone was running hither and yon and I didn’t even have time to type “sorry” after I killed one of my allies.

To make up for the lack of characters, the game allows players to upgrade their wizard using coins earned through gameplay. I could also purchase in-game currency using real money, if I wanted to give my guy a boost ahead of time. Better weapons, armor and spells are all available in the store and all of this continues to make the game look as though it really wants to be a kind of Dota 2 knockoff.

There are plenty of shortcomings with the game. Like a ton of other MOBAs, there aren’t a lot of maps to play. The three different game modes gave me some difference in maps but there wasn’t a whole lot to be impressed with. As far as MOBAs go, Magicka: Wizard Wars was plenty fun, but there wans’t enough new or innovative to make me go back into the game after a couple of rounds.

This game was reviewed on the PC.

Not all wizard duels are as serious, or as intense, as the one between Harry and Voldemort. Some of them can be downright goofy and silly. And that is the aspect of wizard duels that is highlighted in this launch trailer for Magicka: Wizard Wars, the free to play spin off of Paradox and Arrowhead’s irreverent and zany co-op action game that launches for PC today.

Magicka: Wizard Wars is not Magicka 2 (that full fledged sequel to the original game comes later this year, by all accounts). Instead, it is a multiplayer arena shooter that will offer three separate modes- 1v1 duels, 4v4 team battles, and Soul Harvest, which seems to include NPC players, tower defense, and cooperative play. But even though it’s not a ‘mainline’ Magicka,’ all the chaos that defines that game promises to make it into this one intact.

You can play it on PC right now. Stay tuned for more coverage.

Magicka: Wizard Wars, the riff on Paradox’s popular series which sees players duel each other, will be leaving Steam: Early Access for an official release later this month, Paradox has confirmed.

The full version of the game will be far more full featured than what we have right now in Early Access- will have a new Soul Harvest game mode with new maps, longer rounds and more potential spell-based accidents, among other things. There will be an update to the Early Access version on April 14th that adds a few new things, including a new progression system, a revamped in-game economy and a new spell trial system.

The game itself is free to play, and will remain free to play, so you can go on and check it out right now, if you wanted to, without giving up a dime.

Magicka: Wizard Wars is not Magicka 2- that game is a more traditional sequel to the original, and it will be launching on May 26 on PC and PlayStation 4. Stay tuned.

Paradox Interactive has announced the addition of a Duel Mode to its Magicka: Wizard Wars, which will essentially throw four players into an arena and let them battle their differences out using their characters and builds.

Duel Mode will see four players step into an arena; two randomly chosen players will begin the battle in a one-on-one format while the others witness the carnage. When one wizard falls, a spectator will take their place, with all four players cycling into the game until one robe warrior has scored six murders – making them the champion. Duel Mode will not be available with the game from the get go, and will be added in the near future.

Created in response to player feedback during the game’s Early Access, the PvP mode is for players who want to fight it out in personal one on one skill based combat without any team dynamics.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage.

Paradox is currently inviting participants for the game’s Alpha, which you can sign up for here…if you dare, of course.

Here is the full blurb from the press release:

” New York — May 15th, 2013 — Paradox Interactive, a publisher of games and a shooter of screens, today released the first-ever screenshots for Magicka: Wizard Wars, the 4-on-4 team-based PvP title from their new studio, Paradox North. Using an untested image-capturing spell that may or may not have stolen the souls of every wizard pictured in the new screens, Paradox is more than willing to take that risk in order to give the world its first look at Magicka: Wizard Wars in action.”

“In Magicka: Wizard Wars, two teams of four wizards each will tangle, tango, and possibly ingest tangy tangerines in pitched battles, utilizing the iconic dynamic spellcasting of Magicka along with some new tricks. In true Magicka fashion, wizards who can think fast and aim away from their allies’ faces will win the day. With short battles, skill-based spellcasting, and an overabundance of marvelous robes, Magicka: Wizard Wars aims to provide multiplayer aficionados with a new option for PvP mayhem.”

First Screenshots below:

Are you looking forward to  battle with your friends in some PvP combat with your buddies in Magicka: Wizard Wars? Let us know your thoughts on the game in the comments below.

Check back on GamingBolt for more news and updates regarding future titles from Paradox Interactive.