Developers: The Workshop and SCE Santa Monica Studio
Platforms: PS3
Cert: 12
Genre: 3rd Person Fantasy

As Sorcery was one of the most anticipated Move exclusives, probably because it is the only title that can really be called a ‘proper’ game, it was a pity that this was not in the initial line up. Sorcery is a fantasy adventure (influenced, superficially at least, by Irish mythology) which focuses on young wizard apprentice, Finn, and his feline companion, Erline, who in the opening levels accidently bring back the Nightmare Queen herself.

Gameplay would be very standard for a third person fantasy bar for the controls. The remote acts as a proxy for Finn’s wand, swinging it cast spells and care must be taken to ensure that the correct spot is attacked. By and large this feels very natural (I would say far more so than if attempted with the Wiimote) but you will occasionally end up frustrated that the game did not correctly interpret your moves and you’ll need to re-calibrate once or twice to ensure that the game does not lose its responsiveness. Spells can be combined (for example mixing fire and wind) but in order to facilitate the motion controls this is a very simplified system. I think it a necessary sacrifice for efficient controls but it cannot be denied that it hurts the replay factor.

Sorcery, however, suffers the same problem afflicting a lot of Wii adventure titles. Camera control is limited to centering the camera, and the inability to look around can, frankly, be maddening. A more avoidable issue is that a number of the motion controls are forced and unnecessarily time consuming (not to mention physically draining). The most obvious example is in creating new powers from items found. Creating these spells is vital but when you spend what seems like an eternity waving the remote in the air to sprinkle graveyard dirt into a cauldron only to realize you have two more ingredients to go for this spell and two more spells to make, it can be a bit disheartening.

Initially, I was quite disappointed graphically with the game, considering it a high res PS2 game, but as I progressed I was surprised to find some very striking background environments and overall was quite satisfied with the games aesthetic. The major issue with this title however is the amount of gameplay you get. Experienced gamers can polish this of in 4 or 5 hours and for average gamers probably under 10 with no great difficulty. There is very little offered in terms of exploration and, as mentioned previously, due to the simplified spell combinations, there probably is not much incentive to replay.

This was never going to be a killer app for the Move, as even with the faults removed, it’d never justify buying the peripheral in of itself but it almost was the must have for existing Move owners. I still feel it is, by far, the best Move exclusive but at 40 Euro (for the download) it is too expensive for the amount of gameplay offered. At a slightly cheaper price or for younger gamers, however, it is highly recommended.

Rent or Buy: Rent
Graphics: 3.5/5
Gameplay: 4/5
Replay: 2/5
Overall: 3.5/5

Reviewed by Jack Gallagher