Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 video game

"Harry Potter" fans can now finish Harry’s story on their own terms with this movie game. Deathly Hallows Part 2 faithfully follows the actual scenes from the movie, which was surprising considering most movie games veer off topic quicker than a faulty broomstick. The cut scenes and even a lot of the dialogue came from the movie itself, which really made me feel like I was experiencing the events of the film.

It was also a pleasant surprise to get to play as characters besides Harry, including Hermione, Professor McGonagall and Neville. I was a little disappointed that the actors didn’t reprise their roles for the game, but the actors who did the vocals did a fairly good job of imitating their big-screen counterparts.

While the story of the game was enjoyable, a few aspects of the game play kept me from being fully immersed in Harry’s world. The game uses a duck-and-cover system similar to big-ticket action games like Gears of War, but without the added finesse. The game’s checkpoint systems, coupled with some unfair enemies, are sure to lead most gamers to more than a few cheap deaths. Many of the game’s enemies are smart enough to take cover behind certain objects, but there are always some who lumber blindly toward you with complete disregard for their own lives. These enemies make it especially hard to recover from attacks when they run straight at you.

Most players will probably tire of the cookie-cutter enemies that are all too numerous throughout the course of this short game – by the time you finish, you’ll probably have blasted 400 or more of the same faceless Death Eaters. Other than that, would-be wizards and witches will enjoy spending a few more hours with their favorite magical teens.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is a fun, if not short-lived complement, to the movie it is based on. Incredibly faithful cut scenes and decent voice acting are marred by so-so game play and some unfair encounters with enemies. This is probably a good weekend rental for Potter fans that aren’t quite ready to say goodbye to their favorite boy wizard after the movie reaches its conclusion.

RATING: Teen
PLOT:  Epic finale of the Harry Potter series
DETAILS: Xbox 360, PS3, Wii
BOTTOM LINE: Fun but short-lived complement to the movie