“The Book Of Spells Wonderbook PS3” – Product Review

We were luckily enough to be selected by Mumsnet to attend a “Wonderbook: Book of Spells” event in Central London last weekend.

At the event, as well as receiving 1:1 tuition on this fantastic new game, we were given a PS3 (playstation 3), a copy of the game, a Playstation eye and a Move motion controller:

We’ve really enjoyed testing the game out this week and here are some photos and our review.

To set the game up is very easy.

The Playstation eye needs to be at head height for whomever is playing (ideally sitting on the floor) and the Wonderbook needs to be on the floor, with the Wonderbook clearly visible on the screen. The room also needs to be as brightly lit as possible.

Now you’re ready to play!

The first screen, choosing your wand and having your picture taken:

You should hopefully be able to see from the second and third pictures that the Move controller changes into a wand on the screen.

Once you’ve chosen your wand, you’re taken to the library (see the screen) and given permission to take out the book:

Now you’re able to cast some spells! What we really liked about this game is that the words are highlighted on-screen as they are said and the instruction for casting the spell is repeated if the action isn’t performed correctly or quickly, with a reminder of the action to use in the bottom right hand corner of the screen.

The following pictures show T mastering a spell:

He really liked the graphics and the fact that you say the spell’s name as you cast it, again the instructions are on the screen and are repeated as many times as you need.

The above instructions were for a Levitation spell, which T used to pop some plants (with little beasties attached) into their pots:

My little stat-man also liked the fact he got house points at the end of the task!

That was the first spell but as you can see from the notes T made in the booklet, there are many more and as you progress further along in the game, there are tasks which use a combination of spells. Again the instructions are there at the bottom, with vocal prompts.

I also wanted to highlight the fantastic graphics, there are little humorous stories and poems as you work through the tasks and in some of them they use old fashioned-type theatres. The book can be rotated to show a different angle of the theatre, fascinating to see on-screen:

The illustrations and graphics are amazing, the first time you see the game on-screen you’ll be blown-away (not literally, the game is not that interactive) but the attention to detail is wonderful.

The game has a classification of 7 years and over and I think that’s about right. The Playstation eye and the Wonderbook need to stay in the right positions for the game to be played, anyone toddling off with the book would not be popular!

Its going to appeal to anyone over 7 years old and especially Harry Potter fans. The enjoyment of casting spells with a wand you can see on-screen is something that T and D really enjoyed. For D, it was very helpful that the words were highlighted and the instructions repeated – in a very nice accent too.

We really enjoyed testing the game out and are very grateful to Mumsnet Bloggers Network for selecting us and the tuition given to D last week by Sony.

I am a member of the Mumsnet Bloggers Network, a group of parent bloggers picked by Mumsnet to review products, services, events and brands. I have not paid for the product or to attend an event. I have editorial control and retain full editorial integrity.

Thanks for reading.