Part one of the final chapter in the Harry Potter saga, released in November 2010 by Electronic Arts takes you through the darkest moments of Harry, Hermione and Ron’s adventure to find and destroy the remaining horcruxes.
Complete quests to progress through the story, finding out new information about where the final horcruxes are situated. Along the way you will learn new spells to aid you in the fight against dementors, death eaters and various other creatures.
A single quest is completed before you can progress to the next; using the four points spell (press “B”) you can see a glowing line which will direct you on your journey in order to complete them. Throughout the quests you will come across various people/creatures/obstacles in which you will need to overcome before you can continue on your way to the quest destination. The are 10 spells which you are able to use, these are;
• Stupefy – Stuns target
• Expelliarmus – Disarms the target
• Protego – Creates a magical barrier protecting the caster
• Petrificus Totalus – Body-binds the target
• Cunfundo – confuses the target
• Confringo – makes the target explode
• Impedimenta – stuns target
• Expulso – releases short sharp shots from the wand
• Expecto patronum – repels dementors
• Wingardium leviosa – levitates objects, which can be used to block incoming spells
Each spell will be more affective in different situations, using the spell wheel (hold down “RB”) you are able to quickly select the spell you want, or you can press “RB” to cycle through them.
At some points in the game you are given mini levels which are to be completed before you can get back onto the main story. Most of the time the mini levels involve rescuing ‘muggles’ from the hand of the dementors in a tough yet enjoyable area. On some occasions the mini level involves getting past obstacle such as a dragon, hiding behind objects to avoid the fire.
Some levels may require the use of your invisibility cloak, which is used by pressing “Y”. Doing this puts you in first person mode. In this mode you walk around a busy location, filled with dementors, wizards and witches where you are to try and get to specific locations without being noticed. There is a triangle in the bottom left corner of the screen which will tell you when you are close to being noticed, with blue meaning not close and red being very close. Once a spell is used the invisibility cloak comes off and you become visible to the surrounding environment, so it is crucial to make sure that you are not surrounded by too many people.
Throughout these levels are three sets of collectables for you to find, Potterwatch’ (passwords to unlock programmes and listen to broadcasts on the current situation in the wizarding world), Periodicals (‘The Quibbler’ and ‘The Daily Prophet’ keeps you up-to-date with the wizarding world) and Deathly Hallows Symbols (collect these for an achievement). These items are found in suitcases lying around, so exploring each level is advisory.
Throwing potions are essential for aiding you throughout levels, without these it may become tricky to overcome some situations, for example; defeating Doxy’ (sprites) is very hard without Doxycide. There are four potions, garroting gas (a gas causing bystanders to become unconscious), Exploding Potion, Peruvian instant darkness powder (makes an area dark causing spells to be less accurate) and doxycide. As well as throwing potions, you can so come across consumable potions; these will also aid you along your journey, by increasing your strength, healing injuries, etc.
The controls for this game are like that of a first person shooter, with the “LT” button for aiming and “RT” for shooting. Along with this the following are the controls for the game;
• “A” for running or to pick up an item
• “Y” puts on or removes the invisibility cloak
• Analogue sticks move the character
• D Pad selects different potions
• “LB” uses the spells protego and expecto patronum
As well as using the controller, the game is also compatible with the Kinect sensor, using different gestures and movements to control the character. Being able to do this draws you in and makes you part of the game, although it may take a while to learn each gesture once they are learned the fun would be endless.
Along with the story mode there is also an opportunity to play online, in this mode you complete different challenges in the quickest time possible to get put onto a leader board. There are a variety of different challenges involving different obstacles.
Graphics
The graphics in this game are very soothing to the eye; they are very realistic, which helps with the game play. Saying this, on occasion there are a few moments were an enemy is stuck in the wall, but none the less it is still a very nice looking game and nothing bad comes of them being stuck in a wall.
Sounds
The sounds are good, but not to the best I feel they could have done. The voices are exceptionally good but at times become out of sync, but return to normal a few moments later. The music along the quests is fitting to the scene, but can become lost amongst the fighting, which is disappointing as I do like the music for Harry Potter.
Game play
Overall, I found the game fun but at times it was very hard to complete a level due to becoming overwhelmed by the mass of enemies fighting you at one particular moment. I mainly only found this to happen when doing the mini levels, as you are on your own but it did put a bit of a damper on the game having to try a level more than 5 times to complete. On the other hand, having some challenge aspect to it made me want to complete that extra bit more.
Closing comments
I enjoyed this game thoroughly but at times did get a bit stressed at not being able to complete something, this is however what the world of gaming is, a challenge. Being an achievement hunter gave this game that little something extra with the masses you can obtain throughout the game. All be it fun and exciting, there was one thing that bothered me which was that you could not save when you wanted, you have to wait for the auto save to do it for you. Which meant I had to continue until this happened before I could turn the game off. Apart from this the game was good and I look forward to playing the rest of story.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
