Two-player co-op has been described as "lethally chaotic." I can imagine 4 is much worse.
I feel, having played Alien Swarm, I am sort of prepared for this game. What no one is prepared for is testing spell combos, or miskeying and launching the wrong attack.
On the playability front, I'm reading that this game had serious netcode issues in a prior build. The retail version is also NOT being shipped atm because some problems remain unresolved.
I found this (unlinked) statement about the game, supposedly from a dev:
So here's the deal. The Steam version of the game is ready and shipped (steam will activate it on the 25th or 26th).
The non-steam version is not ready yet, we still have a few network issues to resolve.
I won't get into the technical stuff too much but the steam version uses steamworks (game browser , LAN, and direct IP) and the non-steam has another solution for online play (which supports LAN and direct IP).
We decided we didn't want to release the non-steam unless it was as stable as the steam version). We don't think it's fair to you guys to start selling a game unless the online play works fine.
So we offered our partners a choice, wait for the non-steam version (no ETA atm) or take the steam version. Most opted for the latter since that'd mean they'd can be a part of the release.
We'll get back to you as soon as we can with more info. But this week is steam week if you want to play Magicka.
I know this will piss some people off, I'd be pissed too. But I know that a lot more people would be pissed if there was no release at all.
Regards,
So, for Steam users, I would expect some problems. The fact it uses Steamworks for its MP is not a guarantee of smooth sailing. There may still be slowdowns, problems communicating through Steamworks, ect....They claim the Steamworks version is the "most stable", but not that it is "completely stable." I.e, the reason for releasing the Steam version first, in my mind, is because of the ease of patching that will doubtlessly occur in the next few days.
So I would strap in for some netcode funkiness.