Thanks to Christopher for writing in about taking part in a competition by EA Bright Light for a chance to check out the upcoming Deathly Hallows: Part 1 video game and go behind-the-scenes at their studios in Guildford.
You can watch a video of his visit below:
Also our correspondent, Jacqueline, visited EA Games for a preview of the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 video game and you can check out her report below by clicking the "Read More" button.
Pictures can be seen here!
EA Games wants to keep the excitement of the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 video game as high as possible. And because of this, TheDailySnitcher.com got a unique opportunity to attend a special game preview event in the middle of Epping Forest in London.
The Game:
It all felt surreal and top secret, since you could get to the location only by coach and then walking down a long path into the forest to a large white tent. Inside, you were met with large cardboard posters of the cover of the
game-- Harry with his wand stretched out looking ready to battle. Along one of the walls were numerous television screens and XBox 360s with the demo game play set up. Near the back was an even larger one with the Kinect! That was definitely the most impressive and exciting way to play the game.
The Kinect scans your body and once it has it identified, you can play the game from Harry’s perspective. It is made up of a bunch of mini-game challenges where by raising your right hand and jabbing it, you are able to
cast Stupefy and attack Death Eaters, placing both hands in front of you calls up a Protego, and there are many other more spells. Basically, it feels as though you are actually casting spells and if you have a wand, you’re definitely going to want to use it as you’re playing. Furthermore, you can play with another player where they can choose to be either Hermione or Ron, a choice that the normal game does not allow. You also have the
ability to upload these scores online and can challenge others as well as your friends.
As for the actual game, they’ve divided it into two sections: one is the linear play, where you have the set story line and go through it like in the book, and the other is a section devoted solely to mini-games. The demos
they had at the event were the mini-challenges, where Harry had to do a series of things, like try to sneak into Umbridge’s office in the MoM without being detected or fighting off a certain number of bad guys at the
Burrow. Either the challenge is timed where you try to do the mission as quickly as possible (which is fun in case you want to throw down the gauntlet with your friends or online) or you have a time limit where it
counts down the minutes you have to complete the challenge. You can only play as Harry, however, because the developers felt that DH is such aHarry-centred book so it was only obvious the game would be all about Harry.
When you do the challenges, you are able to choose the spell from a wheel that comes up on the screen: among them Harry’s signature spell Expelliarmusand other basic ones like Stupefy and Petrificus Totalus. There are a few more other really cool ones which I’m sure everyone will like.
There is no health bar on the screen. Rather, when you’re about to die, the screen starts going grey, as though you’re about to pass out. Very cool but it does have the disadvantage about not knowing how close you are to passing out and therefore don’t know if you should take a healing potion or not. Also, the characters change clothing many times to give a sense of time actually passing by, instead of previous games where they kept the same outfit throughout most of the game.
The DS version was pretty amazing, too. The top screen had a map and the bottom was the game play. It was very interactive because of the stylus pen, with a simple and clear interface. Very easy to understand how to play, how to use the Invisibility Cloak, and how to pick up potion items. The potion items take you to another screen where you are able to see what potion you are able to brew with the number of items you have picked up. If you have enough, you are taken to another screen where you yourself brew the potion using the stylus pen to chop, pour, and stir the potion!
Overall, it’s a very cool game, rated T, and will probably keep you occupied for hours.
They wouldn’t tell me how much Voldemort is in the actual game, but from pestering some of the developers and P.R. people, they confirmed that he was definitely more in the second game than he is in this first one.
Oh, and Scrimgeour looks exactly like Bill Nighy, who is playing him in the films!
The Toys:
Tomy was there to showcase some of the Harry Potter toys in their line. They are fantastic! One of my favourites was the Monster Book of Monsters. It is basically a safe box, where you are able to set your own combination-- the number of strokes you give it’s spine is the code! If you get it wrong, the teeth closing the box growls at you and bites. Another really cool interactive one is the Voldemort bust. He comes with a wand and you get to duel him using a number of combinations with the buttons on the wand (the combos are included in the manual). There are a number of levels, and the higher you get, the stronger the spells. Voldie’s face moves and his eyes get red-- very cool.
You also have the basic action figures where the characters are dressed in the clothing from the film and they have puzzles with the posters from the first film, among other images. Also, they had a pack of dueling wands where they light up when you’re waving one to the other.
It was a great event and everyone seemed really excited about the whole thing. They were really strict about filming, though, so that was a shame. But everything was great. The Harry Potter cupcakes and the Chocolate Frogs were delicious. All that was missing was the butterbeer, though. Also, felt a little like a celebrity, though, because they had a photographer constantly taking pictures... almost like a paparazzo!
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