Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is the final chapter in the franchise developed by EA Bright Light. The second section of a two-part third person spelling casting title lets players take control of multiple characters, from the world famous J.K. Rowling novel. Harry Potter must destroy the remaining Horcruxes and face the dark lord, Voldemort himself. Will Harry’s journey conclude on a positive note or will some not be able to finish the story?
Let’s find out by casting off the HOTs and NOTs.
HOT
Gameplay
The most important part of a Harry Potter game is the spells and the casting system that goes alongside them. Spell casting is well designed and definitely feels refined. With simple introductions into new spells and significant stages the gameplay evolves alongside the player development without leaving Harry seem useless. One aspect when it comes to spells which is not only helpful but great fun is the ability to apparate: the only problem is when I first obtained the power, I slightly overused it as it was so much fun and got myself killed.
Naturally the game would become boring if was all the same; fortunately the game is broken up with scenes where the player must escape for example an exploding bridge. This breaks up the gameplay keeping it entertaining and making the game less repetitive.
Presentation
While it isn’t a graphical masterpiece the game still manages to be well presented. With spells being cast in every direction and rubble flying around the game does look great. The spells light up environments, as the fly through the air, then explode as they hit their target like a firework.
All the environments are given their own unique look and truly help players drift into the magical world of Harry Potter. Be it walking through the streets of Hogsmeade or down the corridors of Hogwarts the locations have been well designed and this comes across in the presentation.
The sounds and voice acting of the game also help give players a sense of the story and events. From the little scattering sounds the spiders make along the cave floor to the crumbling of collapsing buildings and walls the sounds draw in the player to the game world. This is then strengthened by the small comments that are made by students in the school or shouting the spells when casting them.
Atmosphere
The team at EA Bright Light have nailed the atmosphere of the key events. The music starts at the perfect time through-out the game whether it’s to add intensity or mellow the situation out the atmosphere it creates is incredible. The best instance of this is the feeling it helps to construct when Hogwarts is in ruins. With an eerie silence it sets the tone perfectly for the events after the devastating battle when Harry must finally finish the journey. It builds up so much that every event seems to be even more important than the last towards the finale.
Storyline
It’s the final part of the Harry Potter saga, the ending chapter that all of the fans will know. While it does come with some slight differences from both the book and the film the majority stays true: most importantly the key events are all included. The game fills in parts of the story that weren’t in the film but while is does add new content they add fun and decent content without ruining the story. A key example is the journey Ron and Hermione take to obtain the Basilisk tooth which isn’t in the film but is a level the game. It builds side story that wasn’t there before and is a nice touch as the level does offer variety to the title.
Challenge Mode
Challenge mode isn’t a new idea by any stretch but without it the game would feel a tad short of content. Players first have to play the storyline and collect orbs to unlock the different levels in challenge mode. It adds more content by choosing small sections of the story and putting them up against a timer. With online leaderboards as well as medals for how quick players are it adds a load of replayability to the title, which frankly was needed.
Not
Storyline Length
Being only half of the last Harry Potter book it was unfortunately bound to be on the short side. If the storyline had been stretched too much more it would almost certainly have lost the games fun factor but it still felt too short. Playing through on normal mode is surprisingly easy which speeds up the process even more resulting in less than 5 hours of gameplay which was a little disappointing. Whilst on Expert mode players can expect to get more time out of the game it still can be completed in approximately 6 hours. Luckily Challenge mode does go some way to make up for the lack of story length.
Predictability
While the gameplay is fun, players will begin to see when spell casting fights are about to happen. This is because the way the cover has been added into environments it is easily spotted. This doesn’t make the game less fun but does take some of the surprise from the title and means players can ready themselves taking the edge off the battles.
Verdict
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is certainly a fantastic and fun game. Whether you play with a controller or use the PlayStation Move the gameplay and storyline are enjoyable. Issues of length were to be predicted and are understandable considering the team at EA Bright Light only had half a book to work with for this title. The other issues are all relatively small and are easily over shadowed by the great experience that is on offer in this final outing for Harry Potter. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is the perfect finish to the series not only for Harry Potter fans but anyone that can let their imagination run wild in a magical world.
[Editor’s Note: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 was reviewed on the PlayStation 3 platform. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]
