REVIEW: ‘Magicka’ makes spell casting of mass destruction fun again

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Video games let us do all kinds of incredible things, most of them involving maiming.

But even tossing a humongous glob of flame at a horde of foes quickly loses its luster when all it really means is selecting a bad guy and pressing the “Fireball” button.

“Magicka,” a $10 downloadable game from Swedish developer Arrowhead Game Studios, makes you fight for your fireworks.

In the game, up to four players belt up the hooded robes of nondescript wizards tasked with saving the world of Midgard from, well, something. The story isn’t important — though it is refreshingly humorous.

What really matters is the combat system. “Magicka” is all about spells, but it is no typical cast-and-quaff-mana-potion affair.

Instead of stringing out a series of preset attacks, the system allows for the on-the-fly combination of eight different elements, each with its own characteristics and strengths.

For example, a tried-and-true fireball is just earth and fire; a volley of electrified icicles that explode on impact is water, frost, electricity and arcane.

Not only is the potential for combinations amazing, the abilities themselves can be cast in several forms: A straightforward attack, an enchantment on a melee weapon, or a room-sweeping area blast, just to name a few.

Players will inevitably settle into a few favorites from their own combinations as well as the game’s more formal spell book selection. But the missions do an excellent job of shaking up previously unstoppable formulas by introducing new environments, enemy resistances and tactics, opening the door for new inventions of magical trial and error.

Fighting as a freewheeling bartender of magical destruction — with fire beams and freezing electrical mines for mixed drinks — is a tremendous breath of fresh air one might only find in an indie game such as this.

Unfortunately, the effort bears a few other hallmarks of a modest budget and tiny team: Poor optimization and spotty bug fixes made the game slow significantly on a PC that handles much more graphically-intensive titles just fine.

It can also make its multiplayer focus painfully apparent with huge battles coming several in a row before a checkpoint to restart at in case of defeat; easy with friends, but frustrating by one’s lonesome.

The game’s unflagging sense of humor, however, is aware even of its faults, with fearsome spells like “Crash to Desktop” and genuinely chuckle-worthy dialogue rounding out the inexpensive package. And don’t forget its upcoming downloadable content, “Magicka: Vietnam,” which is exactly the perplexing but promising expansion it sounds like.

“Magicka” is the sort of underdog it is hard not to root for, and its inventive approach to sorcery is something to which the big guys will hopefully pay close attention.

After scalding my last goblin with an off-the-cuff geyser eruption, I don’t think I can ever go back to stuffy old magic missiles.