This edition of Pulse takes the magic-wand mechanics of Sorcery for a spin. Check out the arsenal of different spells and combos needed to battle with the PlayStation Move controller through this fast-paced fantasy adventure that pits you against trolls, ghostly soldiers, giant spiders, and the Nightmare Queen. Also on deck this month are Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier with over 50 weapons (including lethal remote drones) and PS Vita’s much-talked-about FPS Resistance: Burning Skies.

Pulse also investigates Gravity Rush this month. This physics-bending action game features fascinating and challenging new combat that you have to see to believe. Pre-orders at participating retailers include the military DLC pack featuring two extra side missions, two new challenge missions, and military-themed costume for protagonist Kat.

As we approach the middle of the year, the Top 10 takes a look at the most popular downloads thus far in 2012. And Nicolas Cage rides again in Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, our star new video release.

Watch right here on the PlayStation.Blog or download HD, SD, and PS Vita versions from the PlayStation Store after today’s update.

We hope you enjoy this quick look at what’s happening on PlayStation.

Sorcery is the first of its kind – a full-fledged action adventure created natively for the PlayStation Move motion controller. All of us at The Workshop feel tremendously privileged that we could bring this game to life.

Many of you have been following us since our first announcement back at E3 2010 and we have worked tirelessly since then to meet the expectations that arose from our on-stage presentation. It was a massive effort, and I cannot say enough about of the men and women who gave themselves so completely to the task. I also have to thank PlayStation for their profound commitment and willingness to believe in the vision, even when the road ahead was uncertain.

We all believe the result is truly something special – a timeless adventure and a genuinely new and immersive gaming experience. A real game that serious gamers can sink their teeth into, yet one that casual players can thoroughly enjoy as well, and a welcome addition to any PS Move owner’s library. If you don’t own a PS Move yet, Sorcery is a great reason to give one a try.

In honor of today’s release, take a look at our Sorcery launch trailer above. And for more info on Sorcery, visit the official website.

Sorcery hits store shelves next week, Tuesday, May 22nd. For more info on this eagerly anticipated PlayStation Move title, visit our official site.

In this installment of our “Making of Sorcery” video series, we turn our attention to the music and sound design in this upcoming PlayStation Move title. It was very important to have a Celtic inspired score for this game, but we wanted to do something a bit unusual with Celtic music, almost stretching the use of the instruments where possible in an effort to give the world of Sorcery its own unique sound. As you’ll notice, we have drums, flutes, and other instruments that give the music somewhat of a medieval feel, but at the same time we didn’t want to be limited to that.

We wanted to bring in as many other sounds as possible to create a wider palette. The result is a fusion of traditional Celtic music with more contemporary instrumentation and sound effects that boost the feeling of immersion you get by casting spells with the PS Move controller. Here’s a look, and don’t forget Sorcery will hit stores in North America on Tuesday, May 22nd!

In this installment of our “Making of Sorcery” video series, we take a look at the fantasy surrounding the spell-casting gameplay and tap a few members of the development team (including myself) to discuss the origins of the story. Our key leads at The Workshop and our Santa Monica Studio were able to provide some great insight into the relationship between the main characters, the motivation of our villain, and the inspiration for the world we created. As you know, Sorcery brings the world of magic and wizardry to life using the PlayStation Move motion controller. To give you a quick refresher on the story and gameplay…the Nightmare Queen has broken the ancient pact with mankind and threatens to cover the land in eternal night.

As a young sorcerer’s apprentice, it is up to the player to master the arcane arts and fight back the foul creatures of this magical realm. Sorcery puts the power in the players’ hands letting them conjure and command powerful magic as they brave the dark world of the Faerie Kingdoms. On their journey, players will encounter a multitude of enemies, solve ingenious puzzles, learn powerful spells, and craft strange potions with the in-game alchemy system. With over eight spells that can be used in various combinations and countless items to discover and collect, Sorcery immerses players in a unique fantasy adventure like never before. Enjoy!

While some motion-controlled games feel like you’re playing “Simon Says”, the gestures in Sorcery are fluid and organic. Aiming spells and chaining them together into powerful combos requires both creative thinking and quick reflexes. Here’s a look…

Sorcery will be available in stores in North America on Tuesday, May 22nd.

A lot of the details of the story grew organically out of gameplay. The team would have a cool idea for an enemy or a puzzle or an encounter and I’d weave the rest of the narrative around it. For example, the civilization of the bogeys (an early-game enemy) is crude and brutal because that’s how they behave when they attack. And a lot of the mythology of the Faerie Forest had its roots in the boss battle you fight there. We wanted the player to feel like there was a tight link between the story and the gameplay. Everything you do and see in Sorcery ties into the world or narrative in some larger way.

As development progressed, the story became more streamlined. Finn’s backstory – where he came from, how he became an apprentice – was pared down because it was getting in the way of kicking off the action. There was a whole sub-plot about a guild of fame-hungry rival sorcerers that just got dropped. And, as other elements fell away, Finn and Erline’s relationship moved to center stage. At its heart, Sorcery is a road movie. You’ve got these two mismatched characters who’ve been thrown together on a quest to save the world and they’ve got to learn how to get along.

Stay tuned for more on Sorcery as we move towards our May 22, 2012 release.

We are pleased to announce that one of the most highly anticipated titles for the PlayStation 3 home console and the PlayStation Move motion control peripheral, the fantasy spell-casting game Sorcery, will be available in stores in North America on Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012. The game is an action packed magical adventure where the PlayStation Move is your magic wand and only you, a sorcerer’s young apprentice, can harness the true power of magic to save this mystical realm from the darkness of the Nightmare Queen.

Ready to get started? here’s a quick summary of the story from Brian Upton, Creative Director on Sorcery.

Finn is in trouble. First, he accidentally blew up his master’s alchemy lab. Then he’s let Erline, his master’s magical cat, talk him into trespassing in the realm of the dead. Now he’s unleashed an ancient universe-destroying evil that won’t stop until everything he cares about is utterly annihilated. It has not been a good day.

Even though he’s only an apprentice, Finn must find a way to defeat the Nightmare Queen before she destroys the human world. To do this he must plunge deep into the realm of faerie — the Endless Stair, the Faerie Forest, the Slumbering Palace. With Erline travelling at his side he must master powerful and arcane magical spells, and use them to overcome the strange and twisted servants of Nightmare. He must solve challenging puzzles, and decipher the mysteries of alchemy. He must discover the secrets of the Nightmare Queen’s power and undo the damage that she has wrought.

And, above all, he must earn the right to be called … sorcerer.

As the showcase title for motion-controlled gaming, Sorcery is a third-person action/adventure game in which players control the awesome power of magic by casting spells with their PS Move motion controller. To help tide you over, check out the all-new screenshots, environmental shots, and creature renders from the world of Sorcery!

Sorcery is running on a heavily modified version of the Unreal engine, and the art direction has progressed by leaps and bounds since its last showing. The game now skews a bit older, with nastier monster designs and edgier spellcasting combat. Watch the video, read our full Q&A, then let us know what you think of Sorcery in the comments!

PlayStation.Blog: I’ll cut to the chase: Why have we had to wait so long to see Sorcery again?
Brian Upton, design director, Sorcery: Coming out of E3, we knew there were some things we weren’t happy with. We really wanted to re-tool the game’s look, its world. We had the gameplay we wanted, but it just wasn’t ready for public consumption.

PSB: Tell me a bit about the character and quest. What’s changed since the original debut?
BU: The hero is Finn, he’s a sorcerer’s apprentice and a real hothead: he’s always trying to learn things he’s not ready to learn yet. When the game starts, your master’s magical talking cat, Erline, dares Finn into venturing into the realm of the dead. Finn, being the guy he is, can’t resist.

In the realm of the dead, you accidentally unleash something very, very bad. The consequences are dire for you and the entire world, so the quest is to undo the trouble you’ve caused. You also begin to realize the Erline is much more than a magical talking cat: she’s central to the whole problem that you’ve created. You’re cast somewhat in the role of Erline’s protector, you’re trying to get her from the human world to the heart of the faerie world to fix this problem.

PSB: Once I got my hands on Sorcery, I was particularly surprised by the intensity of the combat. What does spellcasting bring to combat?
BU: We noticed that with a lot of motion-controlled games, it works a bit like Simon Says: you’re told to do something and you do it. But that’s not how action games work. Action games let you be creative, to craft your own solutions to the problems you face. So we wanted a game that taught you easy gestures, which became tools that you can use in combat. You can use basic spells in a variety of ways, but you can also layer them on top of each other to create more complex and powerful spell effects.

PSB: I noticed that when I combined the cyclone spell with the fire wall…
BU: Yeah, the Firenado is great. It’s one of the more powerful spells in the game. But there are lots of clever ways to use it: you can pick an enemy up with a cyclone and push it through a campfire to create a Firenado. Or you can cast a fire wall, shoot arcane bolts through it to create fire bolts, and aim them at a whirlwind to suck your enemy in and incinerate him. There’s a whole array of ways to inflict damage in this game.

PSB: Tell me about Sorcery’s approach to motion controls. What’s your philosophy?
BU: We wanted something very accessible, something you can pick up quickly. The very first spell you learn, arcane bolt, is very simple to use because you just flick it forward. It’s like throwing stuff at your enemy. As you keep using it, you start to realize its depth: you can curve bolts and arc bolts around obstacles. When you start using ice magic, you can slow down enemies, or freeze them repeatedly and smash them with another spell.

PSB: How do the gesture-based puzzles fit into Sorcery?
BU: We don’t want you fighting all the time, partly because it’s a gesture-based game and you’d get tired. So we try to mix up the intense combat with puzzles to solve. The gestures are pretty simple: You mend things, move them around. It’s less a question of figuring out how to do something; you might see something you can get on top of, and you’ll wonder how you can get up there, what you can rearrange. They aren’t intense brainteasers, but it does change the pace in the overall game.

PSB: I noticed that Sorcery employs an automated camera, a bit like God of War. How does it work and why did you take this approach?
BU: We want to keep it simple: If you have to do camera maintenance all the time, it really sucks. We’re not a shooter, but we do learn a lot of lessons from shooters. In a shooter, on a basic level, you want to establish an interesting shooting gallery and let players be absorbed in it. When you encounter a new group of cameras, the auto-camera will shift to focus on them. It’s a function of trying to streamline the game as much as possible.

PSB: Will there be any RPG elements? Will Finn be able to upgrade his abilities over the course of the game?
BU: There’s an alchemy system. As you travel through the world, you’ll discover magical ingredients and you can use them to research new magical potions. There are roughly 56 magical potions in all, and every time you drink one, it gives you a permanent upgrade. You’ll have about a dozen opportunities to do it, so these potions basically become your build tree, your stats, the way you customize Finn. Do you boost your health or your ice powers? Or maybe make your shield bash more damaging?

PSB: Is Sorcery a shooter? And if not, what is it?
BU: As a designer, I used a lot of the principles of shooter design. I have a shooter background: I worked on Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon. Coming from that shooter background, I learned a lot of lessons about how to build an encounter. But Sorcery is not a shooter. Your fire rate is much lower, you have to deal with Mana limitations, you can curve and arc your shots…we used shooter gameplay as a touchstone, but then we took it way beyond what shooters do.

PSB: Earlier you mentioned a shift in the game’s tone since E3 2010. Could you shed any light on that?
BU: What we showed at E3 was largely organized around a dungeon crawl, and we realized we didn’t want that. We wanted a full-blown fantasy world, not a series of tunnels. A lot of our re-tooling involved moving the action gameplay into a more free-flowing space. The E3 version also had a much younger hero, and the enemies were a lot more cartoonish. We though, “you know, we have a game here that would appeal to a hardcore PlayStation gamer…and it looks a little bit like Spyro!” [laughs] We didn’t want people to get the wrong impression, so we wanted to bring the visuals in-line with the gameplay.