Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 Xbox 360 Review

Publisher – EA – Developer – EA Bright Light – Genre –  Action – Players – 1 – Age Rating – 12+ – Other console/handheld formats – PS3, Wii, DS

It’s a shame that EA couldn’t of held off and combined the final two films of the Harry Potter series into a single game, as creating two games was hardly the best option to go with. The original Deathly Hallows was overly repetitive, but was certainly decent enough for what it was, and, well, the sequel is also overly repetitive and just not the game it could have been if things had been better thought through.

The story mimics that of the film and book of the same name, bringing an end to the very popular Harry Potter saga. While I do think that Harry Potter games will continue beyond this point, this final film tie-in could have been a lot better, perhaps not up to the critical standards of the final film, but it still could have been a lot more interesting than this half hearted attempt.

As this is the final film tie-in, you get to control a number of characters throughout its duration. Alongside Harry, characters such as Hermione, Ron, Neville, Minerva, Seamus, Molly and Ginny are also playable. But you may as well be controlling the same character with a different skin, given their lack of differences. Fans will nevertheless be happy to be controlling these characters in the final chapter of the series, and it certainly makes things feel all the more dramatic and important because of it.

Yes, Hogwarts makes its return, and in the game it’s a triumphant return, as it’s nicely detailed.

Deathly Hallows: Part 2 plays a lot like Part 1. Indeed, it once again looks nice enough; there is lots and lots of spell chucking, a decent cover system and the same repetitive nature that hurt it the first time around. But in a number of ways this is a better game: it gets rid of the sections that had you doing random things outside of the main storyline, the controls have been streamlined, which makes switching spells to be a much smoother action, and Harry and company shout out spell names far less often this time around.

I’m not lying when I say this, but Deathly Hallows: Part 2 must have taken me a paltry three or four hours to complete, and most of the time it had me doing the same thing over and over, with little pause for breath. Don’t get me wrong it’s enjoyable enough in a largely dumb and mind numbing manner, but it also could have done with more variety. Rare chase moments and quick time events hardly do the job to make things more interesting.

If you like Challenge modes, then this will add to the lifespan, and as you have to find the challenges in the story mode, you may want to return to find those that you may have missed in you first journey through the game. But these challenges are just portions plucked from the main game, which is yet another missed opportunity. No Kinect mode this time around either, if you’re wondering.

So, like Part 1, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is not a terrible game, but fans certainly deserved a better one to finish off the film tie-ins. In fact, there have been far better games in the series, which makes it all the more depressing that EA couldn’t have ended the gaming series on the same high note that Warner Bros. managed with the film series.

5/10