Lift Your Wand And Cast A Spell For This Wizard 101 Review

From Kingsisle Entertainment comes the massive online multi player role playing game Wizard 101. For anyone that adores magic and using wands, Wizard will have you submerged in hours of fun. The game is aimed towards children but do not let that discourage you, it offers crisp graphics, interesting missions, and addictive mini games that can keep players of any age entertained.

Role players take on the persona of a young wizard or witch who has just started a semester at the Wizard Academy. Players can select whether to study spells of fire, ice, storm, myth, death, balance, or life. A lot of unique abilities are offered in Wizard, each power has their own school on the campus of the academy. Although players have to decide what type of spells to study, they can still learn a spell or two from other schools. Students of the academy are giving their own dorm room in which they are able to buy items to decorate it.

Free Play
The game offers a free version for players who can’t afford a membership or who are simply trying it before committing to a monthly payment plan. With this version you are limited to a few areas and items but it still offers a great play.

Your Look

Customization of your character is easy although a bit limited. In the beginning you will have trouble finding many different faces, hair styles, outfits, and colors. As the game goes on you can buy more items to make your identity more unique.

Naming Your Witch Or Wizard
Unlike other rpgs, this game does not allow you to simply type a name for your character into a text box. Instead you are forced to pick a first name, then combine two names to form a last name from a preset selection box. Your character will be called by the three names that you select. So for example your character can be called something like Rudy SunFeather or Lori ColdStorm. The identity system is a tad dull but since the game is aimed towards children, it is understandable why things are this way. After awhile you will look past the names and focus on creating powerful spells.

Point A To Point B

Moving around the Wizard world is done with the use of the arrow keys. A big on screen arrow points you in the direction of missions, points of interest, and buildings. You can travel through the world on foot, fly on a broom stick , or ride on the back of a pet. Some characters travel around on tigers while others travel on dinosaurs and other animals; the pets are very diverse.

The Spells

Each spell is designed like a collectable card. Each card will display information such as: the overall percentage of you casting the spell correctly, the power points it will cost you to cast the spell, and the damage it will do to your opponent. In a battle you will be able to pick a card from your deck and cast a spell. If your deck is filled with cards that contain fire spells and you select a card with the picture of a fire cat and cast it, an actual fire cat will appear and attack your opponent. As the game goes on and you learn more spells your deck can be upgraded.

Communication
What you can say in the world is very restricted; this again is due to the fact that the game is aimed to children. If you are a player that does not focus on chatting with others in the game world, then you will not have a problem with this.

Graphics

The graphics are impressive for a game that gives away a lot for free. The world and characters are designed to resemble a 3D cartoon, this gives the game a delightful appearance. In the photo above a casted spell is about to do some damage to the little wizard, notice the beautiful detail that comes with the spell.

And The Verdict
For kids and adults, this is a fun game to play. You will find it charming to see the creatures on the cards in your spell deck come alive and attack your enemies. If this game was rated with stars, it would receive a four out of five.  The game would not get a five star rating due to the dull naming system and communication restrictions. Four out of five stars is still an excellent score, so go ahead and give it a try.