They want to keep away from that label and so prefer to describe it as a ”fast-paced action PvP title,” where skills get barbequed kills. They have also simplified spell casting.
It became a ”deliberate decision” to remove the more fanciful Magicka combinations from the original game.
”Obviously we look at what other PvP titles are out there, but we were definitely not trying to be a MOBA-clone. We want to distance ourselves form that label… we consider ourselves a fast-paced action PvP title, that’s a lot more skill-based, and to basically take Magicka PvP to the next level,” John Hargelid told us in our interview.
With all the focus on player versus player, it wouldn’t do Wizard Wars much good if only those who could memorise the numerous combinations for special spells could dominate the game. Instead Paradox North wants to reward skill, and not just combo executions.
”One of the things we thought was that it was completely unbalanced,” he said, referring to the original game’s PvP.
”Another thing I requested is that anyone can pick up this game and play it in ten seconds. You can imagine the looks I got “What do you mean, ten seconds?” But if you pick one, two, three, four etc… fire elements in your spell, it obviously affects damage. But you could quite easily reduce that to three.”
”We also wanted to make it more focused in what elements you pick. If you have five elements in a queue, not all of them are really going to make a difference. I know some members of the community are probably wondering what I’m talking about, but if you want a fast-paced PvP game, you can’t stop and think “Oh, what was that combination again?”. You need to act on instinct,” Hargelid continued.
”I would say the complexity and combining elements in each spell still makes a lot of sense. As you get better and start facing off against better players, you’re forced to delve deeper into the chemical complexity of the game.”
”…we wanted everyone to play on an equal playing field. Anyone can do anything – you don’t have to learn a specific combo to trigger a meteor shower. That’s why we pulled out the Magicks and put them in a different bit of your ‘armoury’. Right now we’re just starting with four specific Magicks, but we could introduce more further down the line – you’ll have to choose which four to take into a fight.” Check out our full interview with Paradox North’s John Hargelid.
Magicka: Wizard Wars releases on PC this Winter.
