By Jim Rossignol on March 31st, 2011 at 7:48 pm.
Paradox send word that the mages of Magicka will be killing goblin-cong in Vietnam next month, and this exciting gameplay opportunity will cost a straightforward $4.99. It’s a new campaign setting, but “also contains a new survival challenge map with increased difficulty in direct response to the request from the community.” There is also a spell that calls in an F-15 napalm strike.
I’ve posted the announcement trailer below, again, because it is among the “best things” that are on my list.
31/03/2011 at 19:58 The Army of None says:
Lightning bolts and machine guns, oh my.
31/03/2011 at 20:01 TheSaddestSort says:
Dunka dunka time!
31/03/2011 at 20:01 D3xter says:
Fuck Yeah xD
31/03/2011 at 22:21 Det says:
USA!
USA!
USA!
01/04/2011 at 01:05 DJ Phantoon says:
Magicka has done the impossible in making Vietnam a point of pride.
31/03/2011 at 20:05 Coins says:
This sounds hilarious. I’ll buy it, just to support the developers. sadly, I never got into much Magicka multiplayer, because I’m afraid of goofing up. Perhaps this time!
31/03/2011 at 20:09 Creeping Death says:
Goofing up and accidently killing teammates is part of the fun though!
01/04/2011 at 19:58 GrassyGnoll says:
Goofing up and healing the monsters is part of the enjoyment of this game too.
31/03/2011 at 20:05 Bhazor says:
War… never been so much fun.
31/03/2011 at 22:27 Stompywitch says:
War has only been this much fun twice before.
05/04/2011 at 16:22 vulg says:
Third time it was even more fun.. :)
31/03/2011 at 20:07 gorgol says:
I have had much enjoyment from Magicka, both in singleplayer and in unofficial PvP, but as I’ve said on the magicka forums many times, no official PvP (as promised) and no DLC buy for me.
31/03/2011 at 20:10 edwardoka says:
+100 for remaking Cannon Fodder
-100000 for remaking Surfin’ Bird.
Sorry, Arrowhead.
Sarrowhead.
31/03/2011 at 23:19 Blaq says:
This version is so much better than the original!
“I’m a cow, I’m a cow, I’m a magic cow papa, I’m a magic cow papa, a magic cow…”
31/03/2011 at 20:14 Wooly says:
Is owning the original necessary for this or is it expandalone? Action RPGing in Vietnam peaks my interest much more than the original.
01/04/2011 at 00:16 Rhin says:
*twitch*
31/03/2011 at 20:15 Rii says:
I hate to be ‘that guy’, but the F-15 didn’t enter service till some time after the Vietnam war. The F-15E Strike Eagle variant came along still later again.
EDIT: 1988 for the F-15E to be exact.
31/03/2011 at 20:24 vatara says:
I know right? I’m pretty sure there weren’t any mages there either.
31/03/2011 at 20:51 Rii says:
@vatara
Verisimilitude my friend. Verisimilitude.
31/03/2011 at 20:57 Man Raised by Puffins says:
@ Rii: Well, you can hardly blame RPS for the confusion. The trailer correctly depicts the silhouette of an F-4, which as we all know were used in great numbers during Operation Magic Cow, dropping the napalm. But the final title screen shows two F-22s making a pass. Which is completely farcical, even a rank 3 combat magician knows they didn’t debut until Operation Enduring Cow.
31/03/2011 at 21:08 Hyoscine says:
A wizard did it.
31/03/2011 at 21:22 Xocrates says:
Given the devs comments in a livecast not long ago, I believe it’s meant to be an F-4.
31/03/2011 at 21:32 Rii says:
@ Puffin Man
Indeed the silhouette does appear to be that of an era-appropriate F-4. I hadn’t actually seen the trailer at that point myself, was posting from my phone. Clearly what we’re looking at here is Mr. Rossignol attempting to pass himself off as an expert in these matters based on his time with Modern Warfare. Doesn’t he know we can smell blood from 500yds?
31/03/2011 at 22:53 Dinger says:
So, where in the sequence did the F5 get exchanged for the F15?
Edit: better yet, an F105. The Thud! Now there’s a classic Vietnam fast jet. In fact, I remember an obscure videogame called “Thud Ridge” from ca. 1989/1990. The best part of it was the music (think early 16-bit version of “na na na na, na na na, hey hey hey, good bye”)
Oh wait, the silhouette is just a Phantom. Boo… We all expect better from Arrowhead. Intereference/Interference. Do it.
01/04/2011 at 00:05 President Weasel says:
The Thud was a terrible plane, it was the military equivalent of bloatware – instead of being an agile fighter or fighter-bomber, it was a huge clunky thing so they could squeeze a nuke into it – fighter command trying to get some of that nuclear delivery cash.
Changing the subject, I bought Magicka because of this trailer and Fred Wester’s theory that every game should have a Vietnam expansion. I didn’t actually think it was a real thing. I’ll be buying the expansion even though I’ve still not got around to playing the game.
31/03/2011 at 20:16 Tomm says:
It’s also worth noting that only one of your friends needs to buy this for you all to be able to play it with him.
31/03/2011 at 21:15 subedii says:
Yeah as long as the host has the expansion, all players that join can play it. That definitely deserves a mention.
31/03/2011 at 22:07 shoptroll says:
Oh wow. That’s really sweet.
31/03/2011 at 20:30 Ultra Superior says:
Seems to me like Magicka is getting …. suspiciously more coverage than what it deserves.
Or am I wrong and this game is really that great ?
31/03/2011 at 20:41 Meneth says:
The game is pretty great.
31/03/2011 at 20:42 Nosgoroth says:
I’d say it is.
31/03/2011 at 20:47 Bats says:
This is one situation where the attention received is attention deserved as it came out of nowhere and ended up being a surprising everyone with the humor, spell system and goddamn fun it entailed in co-op.
I cannot wait for this expansion.
31/03/2011 at 21:13 MCM says:
This game is amazing. If an MMO had game mechanics like this, instead of retarded “press 2 for fireball”, I would play that MMO for 20 dollars a month.
31/03/2011 at 21:15 Koozer says:
Suspiciously more coverage? My god man, you’re right! Paradox clearly diverted all the money meant for fixing the game up past prototype level buggieness before release into the pockets of RPS.
31/03/2011 at 21:21 Rii says:
I’d play it, but I have no friends. /sad
31/03/2011 at 21:24 Xocrates says:
@Rii: The game is perfectly enjoyable single-player. That said, it does shift a bit from silly fun where you end up killing your friends half the time to a surprisingly challenging game that doesn’t allow for a lot of mistakes.
31/03/2011 at 21:38 Rii says:
@Xocrates
That’s good to hear. The game and most especially this expansion presses all the right buttons for me in terms of concept, presentation, marketing, etc. but that it seemed to be a strictly multiplayer affair kept me from delving too deeply. I shall have to investigate further.
31/03/2011 at 21:41 Jesse L says:
I know I would think it was great if the demo functioned on my computer. I’ve done the obvious stuff, like run the .exe files included with the demo, to no effect. I far exceed the system requirements. In my little research it seems like a lot of people also can’t get the demo to run, and not for lack of trying.
31/03/2011 at 22:48 Mr_Initials says:
I’ll play it with you Rii when i get it (looking for a sale)
31/03/2011 at 23:08 mbp says:
Yup. It really is that good.
31/03/2011 at 23:46 Commisar says:
from my time with the demo, the game is a blast to play and is a great coop game
31/03/2011 at 20:36 shoptroll says:
Cow cow cow I’m a magick cow.
31/03/2011 at 20:45 Wulf says:
Indeed! That’s one of the more catchy tunes I’ve heard in a while.
31/03/2011 at 21:25 jon_hill987 says:
On the subject of Magic, Catchy Songs and Cows:
http://gprime.net/flash.php/magicaltrevor
*crosses finger for a DLC where you play as Magical Trevor.*
31/03/2011 at 23:17 Tacroy says:
There’s a longstanding tradition of magic cows in games; for instance, Baldur’s Gate had the spell “Summon Cow”, which would summon a magical paratrooping cow (sans parachute).
31/03/2011 at 21:11 Fumarole says:
Smells like victory.
31/03/2011 at 21:24 Colonel J says:
They were gonna make me a mage for this. And I wasn’t even in their fuckin’ army any more.
31/03/2011 at 21:21 7rigger says:
Suprinde!
This looks all kinds of awesome. The news (Thanks Tomm+Subedii) that everyone doesn’t need the expansion is brilliant. Everyone who plays Magicka with me will be buying it anyway though!
31/03/2011 at 22:37 Robert says:
BANANAS!
31/03/2011 at 22:45 nemryn says:
I wish I could play Magicka. It sounds like loads of fun.
31/03/2011 at 23:35 JFS says:
So do I. It always keeps starting to lag and then freeze on my machine, at least the Steam demo. The wish to investigate whether that bug was present in the full version as well wasn’t strong enough to have me buy it.
01/04/2011 at 10:02 pepper says:
Unfortunately the current version is completely buggered for me. even after re-downloading it keeps insisting that my content is modified..
31/03/2011 at 23:23 Bahumat says:
“If you ladies leave my island, if you survive hedgemage training… you will be a weapon, you will be a minister of death, praying for war. But until that day you are pukes! You’re the lowest form of life on Earth. You are not even human fucking beings! You are nothing but unorganized grabasstic pieces of goblin shit! Because I am hard, you will not like me. But the more you hate me, the more you will learn: I am hard, but I am fair! There is no racial bigotry here! I do not look down on elves, dwarves, orcs, or centaurs; here you are all equally worthless! And my orders are to weed out all non-hackers who do not pack the gear to serve in my beloved Corps! Do you maggots understand that?”
01/04/2011 at 03:11 Pijama says:
There is already a megathread over at the paradox forums DEMANDING for the tutorial to be like that!
31/03/2011 at 23:29 LemonyTang says:
I hope you guys are spotting a similarity between the poster for Magicka Vietnam and this; http://www.gaming-graphics-cards.com/images/battlefield-bad-company-2-vietnam-575×321.jpg
Excellent parody
01/04/2011 at 09:42 Hmm-Hmm. says:
I believe that was spotted in the earlier blog post about Magicka: Vietnam. So.. yeah, pretty much.
01/04/2011 at 06:35 Jonathan says:
Run to your brother, zap him with a spell
Leave him lying in his wizard robe, dying in the sun
01/04/2011 at 09:41 Hmm-Hmm. says:
..tastes like chicken!
01/04/2011 at 10:17 Kirioth says:
I’ve been gagging for a release date for this, it’s going to be bloody awesome
02/04/2011 at 07:36 sirdodger says:
I wish they would fix/improve the gameplay on the engine first.