Hey casual gamer! Here's a stylish platform adventure about wizards, nifty upgradeable special abilities, and running around red-colored landscapes zapping things with lightning! Created by Spelgrim, Hey Wizard drops you in the shoes of a wizard trying to get his abilities back from the evil Megagate. Using little more than spell physics to fling yourself around the landscape, destroy all of his evil minions while upgrading your abilities with each trophy you grab.
The goal of Hey Wizard is to find every enemy spawn gate in each level and destroy it. Stages are constructed in an open-ended kind of way where you're free to roam around and carve your own path, though apart from completing your task there's very little else to do. As you defeat foes you earn ability points that can be used to upgrade spells and one or two general stats. Nothing complex (or even numbers-based), just good old fashioned power-upping.
In Hey Wizard you are unable to jump, probably because of those knobbly wizard's knees attached to your scrawny wizard's legs. Instead, you use your magical abilities to go airborne. Your skills are displayed at the top of the screen and are accessible via the [1], [2] and [3] keys. With the lightning ability selected, press and hold the left mouse button to charge your wand and aim it at the ground. Release and the wizard goes flying. Your second ability, fire, works like a jetpack and allows you to hover around for a few seconds. The third spell, necrohand, has a number of creative uses that you'll have to find on your own! All spells have a time-limited meter and take a few moments to recharge after use, so don't think you can just run around blasting everything like a maniac.
A short, text-light tutorial helps you grab the basics of this unique game, so be sure to give it a quick runthrough before diving in. In addition to the main adventure, Hey Wizard also features 60 or so achievements you can unlock for doing normal/strange/stupid things. Be sure to check them out!
Analysis: Hooray for adventure-based platforming games! Hey Wizard throws its hat in a crowded ring of genre-crossing games such as Iji. It doesn't share too many similarities with its bretheren, however, and the physics-based skills and easy-to-use upgrade system are a welcome change of pace.
Here's the only downer about Hey Wizard: there's a learning curve. A slight learning curve. Getting used to the spodgy (that's not even a word, but I'm using it anyway!) physics takes time, and even when you feel confident, strange things will still occur. Switching between lightning and fire to blast-jump and hover can be tricky, as your momentum carries over and affects how the "jetpack" physics function. But, as they say in competitive glass eating competitions: practice, practice, practice!
The game isn't without a few minor glitches as well, and on more than one occasion I found the wizard "sticking" to certain parts of the terrain or even walking on his own! A quick lightning bolt discharge usually dislodges him, so it's little more than a minor annoyance. I also take issue with the red bats disappearing in front of the red landscape when I'm trying to zap/run away from them. A little highlighting would go a long way in this case.
Hey Wizard gets a lot of things right in the "exploration-based upgradeable skills platform adventure" category. The sense of humor sprayed on the menus and text screens is a nice touch (the "awesome" button on the game's intro text is gold), and you'll have a ton of fun zapping your way around the levels and growing stronger with each enemy you destroy.
The game is really cool. Everybody should try it out! ;)
Another game that seems to fall into the "needlessly complicated controls = challenge" category.
I like the game.
But I, like the reviewer, don't like the red bats disappearing into the landscape. Plus...they get to go thru walls?!?! But you can't fire at them until they emerge, which means they usually get a free hit or two in on you if they come from underneath.
If you put a necrohand on lightning duty, it can shoot through walls, but I wouldn't rely on it in certain crazy situations with more than five monsters in the area...
How do you "gib" an enemy?
how exactly does the necro hand work? I've never been able to get it to do anything but make a barrier
To use the Necro Hand offensively, plant it and then hit it with lightning or fire repeatedly. It will get a symbol in its palm and attack your enemies for you. Fire is especially effective on large groups.
I like this game, but I'm stuck on Level 9 - cleared all enemies but can't get out/win the level. Annoying!
Ooh good tip James.
I can't kill the plant on level 9, the last root is encased in red! Anyone killed it?
I'm with everyone who can't beat the flower.
Am I also the only one who is bugged by how it doesn't acknowledge levels you've beaten?
This was not that difficult of a game, though very absorbing. I have yet to get 4/5 accomplishments. For those of you complaining about being stuck or even stuff in walls, keep in mind that an 'imbued' necrohand can shoot through walls. This applies for both lightning and fire.
Of the three powers, lightning is by far the easiest to level up, and is extremely good when done so, and can even provide a 'flight' effect.
Necrohands is the best, when maxed. At it's max necrohands shoots up to 3 huge hands that can shoot lightning/fire, very good for the Arena.
Finally, fire, I have been having a lot of trouble maxing, mostly because the propulsion is at odds with its damage effects. Though, beating boss levels certainly help.
Overall, this is a very good and well made game.
The game looks original, and not beeing able to walk normally, but using special skills is altough not the very first time seen, a welcome change to standard platforming.
However IMHO the game is buggy and unbalanced. And from some of the text ingame it seems the author knows about it, and doesn't care that much. For example the necro hand can easily make you fall into floors or worse through them, the text in game says (don't make hands to close, you don't want to be gripped by them), is just trying to make a bug to a "feature". Having upgrade items in the map level is also some hint, he doesn't even care too much about normal leveling, just start a level, end it, grep the chalices around, rinse and repeat a few times and you soon have top HP and top movement. Similar with the hand upgrades, just start the arena, make a hand set it on fire... wait until it goes, remake a hand set it on fire... you will soon die, but you got half a dozend or more points on hand, repeat 2-3 times, and your hand is fully upgraded....
Also the owels in the background is bad, the big ones with eyes is okay, since you can see them. But the little ones is really over the top a pain, as it comes completly invisible through the wall.
a + for idea, and being non-standard platformer
a - for bugs and unbalanced gameplay.
To Gib is to make explode into pieces urban dictionary I also can't beat level 9 WHATS UP?
to pass level nine just destroy the blooming flowers next to the hole where you find the roots
This and hey wizard 2 are AWESOME.
One thing I like more about HW1 is the necrohand. It's fun to summon a massive hand that attacks. xD
HW2 is fun in that you can mix and match for new spells, but most of them are useless at times, and the massive levels can get confusing.
Overall, good games.
It seems the Spelgrim team have moved on to pastures new so this link does not work for the game any more.
Thanks for the note, yaddab! I've hosted the game here, so the links should work again for this one. :)
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