Sorcery

Sorcery is a title that was shown at E3 a few years back, disappeared off the radar and had a sudden, unexpected release, looking quite different and with a budget price tag. None of these signs bode well for the title.

I can't believe that I'm still talking about "waggle" in 2012, but I can't help but feel this would have been a more playable title with regular controls. But this might have shown it to be more generic too.

There's errors I wouldn't have expected from Sony's usually excellent Santa Monica studios- it starts repetitive, early bosses see an alarming difficulty spike and the controls feel sloppy.

It's frustrating to find you can upgrade your accuracy later in the game- trying to hit the right targets was the fault that was most likely to make me quit near the start.

Similarly, taking a health potion involves pressing square, shaking the controller till the potion is ready, and tipping it back to represent drinking the potion. You don't want to be doing all of that if you are being attacked and near death.

Once you've got used to its idiosyncrasies and you've powered up more, it can be quite enjoyable. It almost feels like it starts as a tech demo and only becomes a game part way through. I didn't find the game as short as some had suggested, although I probably only put around 6 hours into it and there's no multiplayer. It's hard to even recommend it at its budget price, although people who feel their Move has been neglected might find a weekend rental justifiable.

6.5/10