Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Posted: 07/14/11

The interactive version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is upon us, and this magic-powered, third-person shooter sticks to the action-oriented style of its predecessor. Borrowing a few more pages from other genre stalwarts, does Harry finally have the magic to rise above the mediocrity of his past games, or is it a big pile of Hogwarts?

Deathly Hallows Part 2 is more of an adaptation of the upcoming film than a faithful recreation of the seventh book. After overcoming the hardships of being on the road, Harry, Ron, and Hermione are closing in on destroying the remaining Horcruxes and confronting Voldemort in a final battle to determine the fate of the wizard world. The game's version is light on the plot development and skips key chunks of narrative, gutting the dramatic core of the series in the process. Those wanting the full experience had better hit the book. Or at the very least, see the film first. You don't want major plot points spoiled for you in such a half-baked way.

Shamelessly imitating other third-person shooters, Deathly Hallows turns casting spells into modern warfare. The game's broken up into several linear levels where you take cover, engage in a shootout with enemies, and progress. Hidden collectibles serve as dangling carrots, tempting you to explore every nook and cranny to ultimately unlock underwhelming extras. The rewards are disappointing as the most substantial bonus is the ability to replay levels in challenge mode to compete for faster times. Despite the addition of a few new elements like chase sequences, there's not enough to hold your interest beyond the first play-through.

The game begs for multiplayer, but even the tame co-op mode from the previous entry is absent here. Instead, you're joined by useless AI partners that barely know their wand from their elbow. Allowing human players to team up with you would have greatly increased the game's appeal. While there are online leader boards for your best times in the challenge mode, the lack of any form of multiplayer really hurts the overall package. What's left feels like a rushed, soulless cash-in on a popular license.

Though you're primarily in control of Harry Potter throughout the game, you'll change between various characters as you progress through the story. There's little point to this, however, since there's absolutely no variation in how they control or what abilities they have. The mechanics are standard fare for a third-person shooter, and you'll learn new spells over the course of the game, which adds a small degree of strategy to the otherwise repetitive action. Despite some variety in your attack methods, the second take on Deathly Hallows is a repetitive shooter that just feels awkward.

The game falters even with the basics as selecting the spell you want is troublesome and unwieldy. Low-level incantations are mapped to face buttons for easy access, but the more advanced spells are accessed by double tapping these same buttons. It's confusing and takes more time to adjust than it should. On higher difficulty levels you'll need to quickly change between spells, and with no option to alter your controls you're stuck with a setup that's simply inadequate.

Though the PS3 version includes Move support, this certainly doesn't make the game any easier to play, and the 360 version is not Kinect-compatible. With almost every aspect of gameplay coming up short, any potential Deathly Hallows Part 2 had is squandered thanks to its poor execution.

The one thing Deathly Hallows does get right is the atmosphere. Environments look like they were pulled straight out of the films, drawing you deeper into the increasingly dark and perilous world of Harry Potter. The illusion doesn't last long, though. Aside from Harry himself, character and enemy animations just don't look right, and the dialogue is halfhearted, B-level material. The soundtrack is too soft and contains only a few tracks, failing to match the sweeping scores from the films.

EA's Harry Potter series unceremoniously bows out in this final game. While the previous games were also disappointments, this one sinks even lower to full-on cash-in status. What you're left with is a confused mess parading around as a barely-competent third-person shooter.

Reviewed on Microsoft Xbox 360.


Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Release Date:
DS, PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360
Movie-Based, Adventure, Action
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