Game review: Sorcery

'Sorcery' gives budding magicians the tools to dispose of even the ugliest foes. Photo / Supplied

Great PlayStation Move titles are few and far between, and players have been waiting an eternity for this one to arrive. First announced in 2010, Sorcery was expected to be the game that justified the Sony controller that resembles a neon icecream cone, and now that it's here it is almost everything it promised to be.

Rooted in Irish myths and folklore, the tale of Sorcery follows the path of a sorcerer's young apprentice as he sets out to banish the darkness befouling his land. Finn is a character who is easy to warm to because he's the kind of cocky little idiot who makes adventuring such fun. Finn's guide, a sassy cat with magic powers named Erline, goads him into stealing a wand from his master's cabinet and getting up to increasingly risky acts of mischief.

When Finn commits to ridding the world of the Nightmare Queen's evil, Erline realises she has taken the joke too far. Not one to be cowed by petty things like logic, reason, and a regard for personal safety, Finn swears he's up to the task, and then your adventure begins in earnest.

Most of the game's actions are performed with Move controller gestures, and they are as functional as they are fun. When it's time to drink a health potion, you must shake the controller as you would a bottle, then raise it to your mouth to take a virtual swig. Ahh. To unlock a door, mend a broken structure, or throw an obstacle out of your path, rotating your wrist will apply the right kinetic or telekinetic actions.

But, as befits the title, it's the spellcasting that gives Sorcery its true magic. Combat is easy and most lateral spellcasting will hit the mark. What's cool about the motions is that you can arc your shots to hit enemies and objects lurking about the battlefield's periphery, and what's less cool is that aiming upwards yields mixed results.

Sorcery is better played with the direction pad-enabled navigation controller, but it doesn't take long even for ham-fisted players to get comfortable with the dual-handed option of a Move controller in one hand and the standard DualShock pad in the other. Even a clumsy househusband like me felt more powerful than all the young wizards in Hogw - sorry, wrong title - after 20 minutes of shooting spells and dodging missiles.

If 2012 is the year motion gaming makes its first serious stab at home console domination, then Sorcery might be remembered as one of the bravest warriors of the vanguard. It has a lively lead duo and the controls are almost perfectly precise.

Questions surround its longevity, and it is unlikely that adults will go back to complete the relatively short quest again once the story is over. But for kids who insist on viewing the same Pixar movie every rainy weekend, the wands and wonder of Sorcery may be their new obsession.

Stars: 4/5
Platform: PS3
Rated: PG