XBOX 360 Review: HARRY POTTER and THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2

So that's it. Last night at five past midnight, the first UK ticket-buyers (including myself - I opted for 2D, and had to travel 40ish miles for the privilege) - sat down to watch the end of a cinematic mini-era. After ten years, and five directors, the first Harry Potter movie franchise came to its explosive, emotionally loaded conclusion, and while those adaptations are now put to bed there was still the small matter of the tie-in game released to coincide with the finale's cinematic bow. But is it any good? Well the precedent isn't all that grand, given how low the scores have been so far for the other games in the series, with the penultimate game representing a particular low-point in the series. I have to admit at this stage that despite my fervent fandom of and loyalty to the film franchise, I was never wholly taken with the game series - thanks in part to my presumption that they were no more than the typically mere morsels of games put out under the "film tie-in" banner, and also on a very brief play-through of The Order of the Phoenix game which did little to inspire any contrary notions, and killed my association with the games dead. The earlier, more puzzle-lead games appealed to me far more than those that came later, which always seemed more content with simply matching everything that happens on-screen while making sure never to steal the lime-light by - God-forbid - actually matching or being better than the films. But thankfully, this last tie-in does arrest the slide into mediocrity that seems to have afflicted the series recently, though it is far from good enough to match the films. Part of that up-lift in quality is to do with the appropriateness of the source material to the medium - in the past, particularly in that last offering, developers have had to shoe-horn in new action scenes, so gamers weren't just watching the three young wizards trudge joylessly through fields in their fruitless quest for the Horcruxes. But here, thanks to the comparatively higher-octane pace of the final film, and the bias towards action set-pieces, there is plenty in the source material for a straight retranslation. Beginning with a reasonably impressive looking extended prologue scene (if you ignore the slightly shapeless looking natural backgrounds), taking events from Voldemort's theft of the Elder Wand through to Harry, Ron, Hermione and Griphook's forced entry into Gringots it's a case of getting down to the action immediately. Unfortunately, it's all a little easy really - but then I suppose it fits the demographic - and the fight mechanics are extremely repetitive when facing large hordes of enemies. Crucially, and rather criminally, there never really seems to be much immediate threat to Harry's health when fighting even the more prestigious enemies, which is rule number one to avoid in this sort of dressed-up hack and slash. What is a lot better is the spell mechanic, which replaces the wheel set-up from last time out, and takes the form of a far more simple, but significantly more clever face button selection format, where each button has an allocated spell (or two as double pressing brings up an alternative pick). This makes changing spells during combat an easier and quicker thing, which is invaluable for removing the frustration factor of having to stop midway through a duel, and creates a better, more natural flow to the combat, even if the potential for mistakes to begin with is hard to get away from. The voice-work ranges from good to terrible, but then so does the acting in the films, and more often than not the worst delivered lines in the game come from those chiefly responsibly for similar crimes in the on-screen version. And thankfully the cut-scenes feel like they've been consciously limited to keep the game flowing. Everything looks pretty impressive, especially the recognisable settings of the filmic universe, though more generic backgrounds do tend to suffer by comparison. And characters, particularly in cut-scenes have come along leaps and bounds since last time out, which gives the tie-in a little more authenticity. Despite those reasonable positives, the game does suffer rather badly for its toothlessness - as I've already qualified, the feeling of immediate danger is removed by a relative impenetrability in battle, as well as the ease with which most of the Death Eater foes that come your way. But as if throwing a bone to gamers who like a bit more of a threat, the game gets the covering system completely wrong, and it is infuriatingly easy to either run into cover unintentionally and occasionally impossible to get there when really necessary. It might be a simple thing, but in a game that otherwise flows pretty well, it stands out like a sore thumb. What is less simple a problem is linked once more to the toothlessness - the final boss, which surely should be the ultimate pinnacle of the series is a huge let-down, and even during that battle it is difficult to feel particularly threatened. And the over-riding feeling is that the combat is all very much too similar all the way through to inspire. There is little variety in the gaming experience - and no multiplayer content to address that problem unfortunately - and overall, the game ends up being little more than a generic hack and slash/FPS dressed up in Hogwarts robes. While it has its undeniable flaws, it's hard to hate the game at all, because it is a marked improvement on its predecessor, and there are some definitely admirable points in there, it's just difficult to feel anything like the kind of engagement or excitement that comes with the film franchise. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2 is available to buy on XBox360, PS3, Wii, Nintendo DS and PC now. Click your chosen console to take a portkey to the relevant Amazon UK page.