Sorcery

Sorcery embraces the Move's functionality to deliver something only possible with gesture-based controls, even if they're still not quite optimal. It's unfortunate that Sony couldn't muster a more complete package with extra content and incentives to come back after completing the single player mode.

As a single-player thing, Sorcery is just okay. You run, you stick your shimmering shield up if things get hairy, you wave spells at shambling horrors, and a lot of the time our boy Finn does something completely mental because the control scheme is a very delicate thing indeedily. It's simple but frenetic, with some surprisingly nutty moments and even nuttier boss battles. [July 2012, p81]

Ambitious game makes you find your Move controls useful again. Pity there is no multiplayer option – the campaign soon becomes boring for grown-up gamers. [June 2012]

PlayStation Move has struggled to find defining software that justifies its existence, but Sorcery represents the most ambitious attempt yet. Its seamless integration of natural motion controls makes it the best example of Move's potential to date, and while the campaign lacks replay value, it's still worth experiencing if you want to put Sony's underutilised wand to use.

Anyone with a Move controller and even a marginal interest in fantasy and magic should give this a shot. It might not be the best game around, but it is one of the best Move games, especially for the younger players.

With Sorcery, the PS Move comes back to life, offering a diversified gameplay. Despite some minor problems, the title remains entertaining thanks to the great use of the PS Move controller and a thrilling adventure. Sorcery is not the best game of 2012 on PS3 for sure, but from now on, players have good reasons to get the PS Move out of the drawer.

It's got decent motion controls that give you a unique handle on the action, and while the cartoonish nature and linear structure won't put this game anywhere near the likes of Skyrim (or even Fable) on the RPG halls of fame, PS Move owners have plenty of reasons to go ahead and give Sorcery a go.

Sorcery is a good game that - despite low expectations - brings a fresh breeze into the genre and perhaps will become a source for new solutions in arcade games in general. PS Move's potential is used almost in its entirety and hopefully it will mark the beginning of high quality games for this controller.

Truly the best "real" game PS Move has seen since its release. Too bad it's quite short and it doesn't deliver the full-scale of its creators vision.

Sorcery is truly a game for people who want to get the most out of their PlayStation Move peripherals. And if it's just that you want, you'll no doubt love the eight or so hours of gameplay on offer. If you're more interested in a deep, magical experience then you might feel somewhat short changed – throw away the motion controls and you're left with a good, though not brilliant, and quite linear romp through this mythological, magical world.

If anything, it's the Move controller rather than that clumsy apprentice or his mysterious cat that emerges as Sorcery's true star. If you're an eight-year-old kid, this short burst of adventure is going to offer you an afternoon or two of vivid fantasy with a wand in your hand and an arsenal of spells in your head, and your only major complaint will be that it doesn't last a few hours longer.

Sorcery is a charming adventure. But in the end you'll remember too much hectic destruction and too little mysterious magic.

I like Sorcery, but the Move controls hold it back. It could have been a fun action game with an engaging story and environmental puzzles (I use the term "puzzle" generously, as they are all incredibly simple). Instead, Sorcery prepares you to hang framed pictures in your house by making you pretend to hammer a wall for five or six hours.

Sorcery is not what we are waiting for. The magic wand works, unfortunately terrible camera and a short and boring campaign ruin the well devised combat system.

Sadly, the combat mechanics do not match Sorcery's good presentation values and most hardcore gamers will notice this; however, the younger target audience may be more willing to overlook this fact.

The controls are not only responsive, but they show a subtlety we don't normally see in motion-controlled games. It's just too bad that what could've been a fun, magical romp is deflated by generic fantasy tropes and equally uninspired visuals and sounds.

As it stands, it ably showcases the potential of motion controls and takes you on an enjoyable ride, but it's a ride that ends all too soon and that doesn't give you much reason to go around a second time.

Explore a fantasy world, create potions and battle monsters in this motion controlled adventure game. The Move controller actually works fine until it has to be used in battle.

In the end, it is a charming, refreshing look at a Move-world, that could have been. But presumably - maybe out of fear of its own target audience - it refrains from realizing its potential and lets you go a little bit enchanted, but also decidedly unsatisfied.

Move's killer title it isn't, but there's some fun to be had out of the spell combos and potion-mixing.

Sold at quite a reasonable price, Sorcery is a very nice little game for kids, with nice music melodies, pretty environments, and fun gameplay mechanics. The PS Move still remains somewhat imprecise sometimes (even though the game does most of the targetting for you), but the most important shortcoming of the game is probably its lack of variety.

The gimmick driven combat system holds Sorcery back, as fun quickly turns to frustration after each misfire from your wand. And this is a shame given the predictable, but charming story that Sorcery tries to tell through vibrant characters and the beautiful world they occupy.

The best non-sports game so far for the PlayStation Move, but there still seems to be plenty of magic left untapped on what is an unnecessarily brief experience.

On paper Sorcery is a game that seems perfectly suited for the launch Playstation Move, not a game to come out for the platform two years after its release. Sorcery ends up being held back by a lack of creativity. It manages to use the Playstation Move pretty well but everything else is easily forgotten.

Sorcery could have been a good game to prove that motion controlled gaming still has a chance; unfortunately, Santa Monica Studios has chosen to use PlayStation Move just as an alternative to a button to mash furiously to cast spells. Not exactly what we were expecting.

For those desperate to use their Move controllers in something exclusively centered around the Move, Sorcery provides a few hours of inanity that can be gratifying, if in a slightly underwhelming way. Still, the game's chaotic camera and unwieldy controls can frustrate, not to mention the alarming tendency for the PS Move to need consistent recalibration.