Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 review

Formats: Xbox 360, PS 3,  PC, Wii, Nintendo DS
Format Reviewed: PS3
Publisher: EA
Developer: EA Bright Lights
Made2Game Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 review score: 5 out of 10

EA have given us a fare share of games based on my second favourite wizard (Wizbit being number one) over the years, mostly in close proximity to films releases and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is no different, however with lots of new technology on the market how does this fare to the average previous releases.

The first surprise is that this time around it's not an adventure/platform game that we have seen many times in the past based around Hogwarts and the schools inhabitants, this time Deathly Hallows plays more like a third person shooter and whilst initially it works, the game ends up being a bunch of half ideas with a very disjointed story.

The game starts well with a high speed bike chase with Hagrid driving and Harry shooting from the sidecar in this action packed on-rails opener, flying through clouds and a busy motorway fending off Death Eaters, Harry then arrives at a wedding, which Voldemorts minions crash.

The game very quickly changes from an on-rails shooter to a little walking around chatting to characters at the wedding and then to a cover based shooter when the attack starts. Then the three main characters start teleporting all over the place and that's when I lose track of what's going on as there is no real explanation and since I have not read the book or seen the film the plot makes little sense, leaving you to just do what's asked of you with Harry and pals transporting from one scene to the next.

The variety of levels are initialy fresh but actually playing them is another matter entirely; the on-rails levels just allow you to take in the scenery whilst rapidly pressing the trigger button to lock-on and shoot, offering nothing special, but fun to play non the less. The third person shooting levels make up the majority of the game and involve you running around taking out Death Eaters and Snatchers whilst dashing for cover, just don't expect Gears of War wizard style here. Harry's magical repertoire increases as you level up, starting with a simple powers and gradually upgrading to more powerful magic and shields, all of which are accessable via an easy to use radial menu.

The game then turns sour with the stealth levels; these are presented in first person mode where you don Harrys cloak and sneak around, avoiding bumping into people or running out of power; whilst this sounds fun it turns out to be more like a series of mad dashes to the next checkpoint as this is quite boring with lots of backtraking and too many elements of chance.

The part weakest is the exploration mode which is a mixture of the two main modes, with a first person viewpoint for the action whilst trying to find clues which tend to just glow so you can't miss them. Again there is lots of backtracking in these levels and I can't quite see the reason why it's first person rather than third? To add some longevity to the game you have Challenges that restrict your powers and set you goals like stealth runs, survival and time attacks. A sensible move is making the game Kinect compatable but this only unlocks an extended list of Challenges.

The action this time is more akin to an on-rails shooter, with you standing facing the screen, pointing your right arm to perform wand movements and zap the foes, add an underarm throw to utilize your potions that act as bombs and throw both hands in front of you to create a shield when you are under heavy fire

. Don't hold your hopes on a Time Crisis for wizards as there is no real fine aim, just waving your arms around gets a suitable reaction with the game making sure you hit your target.

Graphically the game is very dark, with lots of woods, warehouses and houses to battle through but it generally looks OK, sadly the cutscenes are pretty awful, with each character quite poorly represented, especially Ron, who looks like he has a serious skin disease.

I commend EA for trying something a little different with the Potter franchise but with a few control issues, a bewildering story that only fans will understand and a half attempt at making an on-rails shooter it's too many ideas in one package that altogether sadly fail to impress. Oh well, only one more to go.

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