Game Review: Sorcery (Playstation Move)

Following on the heels of the Harry Potter crazy you can imaging the demand amongst younger gamers for a title that puts you in the shoes of a would-be wizard and sets you off on a grand adventure.

Enter Sorcery on the Playstation 3, utilising the Playstation Move and first announced back in 2010, the title has finally made it out to release - but does it furfill the hope of wannabe wizards?

Sorcery follows the story of an apprentice sorcery named Finn, who has a natural talent for messing with things and getting himself into trouble. This only grows when he borrows one of his masters wands and sets off on a grand adventure with only his wits and a talking feline companion named Erline to guide him.

The Playstation Move acts as the primary wand controller, allowing you to flick powerfull spells or levitate objects with easy motions, while the Nav controller or standard controller is used to navigate Finn around the landscape.

The key thing that makes Sorcerys controls work is that they are simple and intuative, but also seem to help the player out a bit with aiming, to combat the inevitible innacturacies with motion control. Spells can be cast at both ground level and at raised enemies with curved shots also available to take out those behind cover.

While the concept itself is simple, complexity builds by introducing not only additional types of spells, but environmental factors that can then change the outcome of spells. For instance, firing a basic spell bolt over a campfire will transform it, mid-flight, into a fireball - useful for blowing up explosives or killing enemies who are vulnerable to fire.

The game features boss battles which spice things up a bit, each requiring a specific technique to overcome but for the most part the majority of the game's combat is fairly straight forward and repetitive. Not that it is a bad thing given how well the controls work and the target demographic of the game.

The graphics and environments in Sorcery are pretty impressive and what you would expect for the genre. Levels are linear for the most part with occasional areas to deviate - usually to find a chest or reward of some sort, which may limit replayability enjoyment.

For such a linear game the camera occasionally struggles to keep in a useful angle, and a few times I had to run Finn in the opposite direction from the enemy or way I wanted to go, just to get the camera to back up to a better view.

The voice acting is surprisingly good and builds a nice atmosphere and comradere between the main characters which keeps the player engaged in the storyline.

Sorcery also features a basic crafting system where ingredients that are discovered during the game can be mixed together to create a potion which unlocks special character enhancements for Finn. While this is a fairly basic system in concept, it adds an extra bit of variety to the game that helps keeps things interesting.

Potions in game have to be mixed before drinking by shaking the move controller and then upending it to make Finn drink the potion, which can be difficult when you are desperate for a health potion in the middle of combat, but again, it keeps things challenging.

Sorcery isnt a perfect game by any means, but it definitely does what it claims to. It is a solid magic adventure that is easy and enjoyable to play and appeals to not just the younger gamer demographic.

If you have Playstation Move, this is one that is well worth looking at.

Graphics: 7/10

Sound: 8/10

Gameplay: 8/10

Lasting Appeal: 6/10

Overall: 8/10