After a dozen movie tie-in and spinoff games, Harry Potter still hasn’t graduated. While the motion control in Harry Potter for Kinect manages to be a bit more enjoyable than that in 2010’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 — one of the series’ biggest missteps — it never feels anywhere near the top of its class.
HPK does do a great job of condensing 20 hours of film into 27 minigame sequences with roughly an hour’s worth of cutscenes — you’ll find most major movie moments Kinect-ified. Some minigames are fun, too: we found ourselves grinning while planting mandrakes and navigating the Triwizard Tournament maze. Unfortunately, the game is oddly difficult for kid-skewing fare, as many minigames (like one where you free underwater captives during a swimming section) have unclear objectives, while others (such as a far-too-tactical Basilisk battle) present odd difficulty spikes. You can also do multiplayer duels and Quidditch matches, but both are shallow and overly complicated, requiring too much space and movement.
Power struggles are the one part of the duels that actually works.The game is worse during the many one-on-one duels that pit you against the series’ biggest villains. Aiming and shooting while moving is far tougher than it is during targeting games, and you’ll have even more trouble getting the correct spell for your fight, as neither spell-picking system — be it placing your arms in hard-to-remember directions or barking spottily detected voice commands — is very reliable.
It’s a shame Harry Potter for Kinect doesn’t quite pay proper homage to the series: the game has plenty of moments that would’ve been enjoyable if they weren’t fettered by uneven difficulty and broken combat. As a game not matched up with a movie release, it should’ve been held back until it felt more magical.
Quidditch can be surprisingly violent. We’d totally buy a broom-based Road Rash, BTW.PUBLISHER: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment • DEVELOPER: id Software • ESRB: Everyone 10+ • MULTIPLAYER: 2 in local co-op • ACHIEVEMENTS: Mostly easy • COST: $50 • RELEASE DATE: October 9, 2012
+ Manages to make quite a few Potter-related activities fun.
– Dramatic shifts in difficulty levels might alienate young-adult fans.
– Duels are a complete mess due to terrible spell-switching options.
? Will this be the last Harry Potter game ever? Pretty please?
