Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the USA, like me! Today we have a wonderful review of the newly released Wonderbook: Book of Spellsfor Playstation 3 by our very own Patrick. The game was released last week in the UK and the US.  Fans in the US may order the game at Target and fans in the UK can purchase it at Amazon.

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It should be said that I am not very good at console games and from what I saw at that the Wonderbook: Book of Spells launch party, the kids there took to it like kelpies to water, so I knew it was going to be a bit of challenge, but a challenge I was more than up for!

The technology behind the game blew my mind even before I started the game, the fact that a book blue in reality could be transformed into a spell book, that was visible onscreen and with myself in the frame was so cool. The wireless control, that onscreen was a wand, fitted perfectly into my hand, and once I had the hang of was easy to use!

The game is truly wonderful in the fact that it is clear to see the involvement that JK Rowling had in the creation. Not only are her spell’s used, but quite of few of them featured stories and fables like those seen in Tale of Beedle the Bard that tell the tales of the spell’s creation. Through a clever use of graphics and a small puppet theatre that pops straight from the pages of the book, the stories unfold require a few helpful swishes of the gamers wand to select missing words, and to cause special effects to happen on stage!

The layout of the game is very simple and perhaps a tad repetitive. A spell is introduced by the Hogwarts Professor who acts as the guide; some words on its uses, occasionally a pop up story. Then the incantation is learnt, where the gamer must speak it loudly and clearly enough for the PlayStation Move camera to pick up the sound. Next the wand gesture is shown; first the gamer follows a guide line, but then must repeat it from memory. Most often the next page will feature a situation in which the spell must be used practically; like using ‘Lumos’ to find lost items in a dark and dirty library, or summoning scattered cheese pieces with ‘Accio’ or for the grand finale fending off Dementors with ‘Expecto Patronum’. It was these parts that impressed me.

Unfolding from pages of the book, the gamer is transported to a practise space, be that a classroom, the greenhouses, a library. All the while a section of the screen remains with the Move camera’s view of yourself, so as to allow you to see yourself performing the magic in real time! Once a task is completed house points are awarded, and a video of your spell casting is visible. However I did find myself wishing for more varied situations, Niflers and Gnomes in the greenhouse can be a little tiresome after a while.

It must be said that this game is designed for a mush young age-group than myself, which I am very happy about as it’s given a new generation of fans to experience the magic of JK Rowling’s world in the closest way possible. But I also believe this could be the cause of some of my frustrations with the game. In the heat of the moment in a chapter test when trying to perform a spell as quick as possible, the game would not read my fast movements, or activate my spells, saying the gestures were incorrect. I think it just proves that younger ones have more patience and take a little more time, whereas I, believing myself to be quite the skilled wizard, would try to react as I would if the situation was real. A small annoyance, but one occurred more than once, to my dismay.

Overall the Wonderbook: Book of Spells, is a great game. It’s enjoyable on many levels; the chance to learn the spells we have only ever read or seen on screen, the carrying on of our time at Hogwarts, and to allow a new generation to fall in love too. It was the little things that I liked the most, such as my saved game appearing on the menu screen like a moving Chocolate Frog card, and the interactions with the book; blowing off dust and wiping away leaves or the way one can link the game to their Pottermore account. From this game alone it’s easy to see how the PlayStation Move system could continue to develop more games like this for the Harry Potter universe, (cross fingers a duelling one for adults) but for the time being Book of Spells is the closest we can be to attending Hogwarts, and for reason alone, it’s pretty great.

Huge thanks to Charlie Vance for giving us the chance to review the game, and his patience with my way too busy life!