Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1

The newest installment of the series steps away from the open world approach of the last games and narrows itself to dull, repetitive rail shooter missions. The graphics are not even noteworthy while music and sound are superb as ever. Overall, the game feels extremely simplified due to the restrictions of Microsofts Kinect technology.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is not convincing as an action adventure, but as a pure-bred action game it's entertaining.

Like a Quidditch player falling from a broomstick mid-match, this installment loses all forward momentum and goes plummeting toward a faceplant at top speed.

The game is full of good ideas tethered to a slop of bugs, but more significantly it's never much of anything. It's never varied enough to have interesting combat; it's never open enough to let you explore; it's linear but never driven enough by its narrative to be an enthralling, story-driven title.

While the third-person shooter aspect of Harry's latest adventure can be fun, the game's story elements fail to live up to those of its literary namesake.

It was a good opportunity to reinvigorate and polish the series and adapt to the final adventures of this characters. But the changes have been executed poorly, and that results in gameplay defects.

A disappointing tie in. Lame gameplay, artificial unintelligence and a lot of issues with the controls will spoil the fun event for the most hardcore fans.

Dark, confusing. [Jan 2011, p.96]

A couple hours in, and you're starting to feel pretty stupid yourself! [Jan 2011, p.118]

Thumb-numbing repetitiveness. [Feb 2011, p.86]

Unfortunately there are too many mundane missions and not enough variety throughout the game to make this an exciting shooter and the distinct lack of collectibles (something that the previous games prided themselves on) is also disappointing and makes exploring the bland levels pointless.

Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows - Part 1 does not succeed in enchanting us with great quality. The terrible gameplay completely ruins this game and will keep you from spending a lot of hours on the latest adventure of the young wizard. Harry Potter fans should stay away from this one.

Potter fans will be disappointed by this lazy attempt that is substandard fare and lacks options. EA Bright Light will have to revolutionise its approach if the franchise is to end on a high.

Avada Kedavra… EA casts the spell and takes the series in the third person shooter genre. The result is the worst Harry Potter game of all times, a game you'd better close in the tallest tower of Hogwarts.

This Harry Potter game is one of the worst games in 2010 for the PlayStation 3. The graphics aren't very best, the gameplay is annoying and the camera doesn't work. Go watch the Movie and don't ever buy this game, it isn't worth your money.

Maybe EA Games could rename Part 2 "Harry Potter and the Multiple Revenue Streams". Because if we are going to be honest, that's all this title really is.

With poor visuals, flawed gameplay and a narrative that fails to adhere closely to the source material, Deathly Hallows Part 1 is a colossal disappointment for gamers and Harry Potter aficionados' alike.

Quotation forthcoming.

Harry Potter turns into a wannabe third person shooter, and the result is abysmal. Movie-based games get a bad rap, and its because of titles like this one. We can't think of anything nice to say about it, not even when playing it with Kinect. It's a bad game from end to end, and has no redeeming qualities. Avoid at all cost, even if (or maybe especially if) you're a Harry Potter-head.

So much in this game speaks to either a lack of time or pure laziness on the part of the developers.

We can think of no good reason to buy this. [Issue#200, p.94]

Seriously, EA?! Why do you insist in crapping all over the franchise during its final hours? The game takes about 5 to 7 hours to complete, but frustration kicks in after the first 20 minutes of play.

Garbage.

The best book in the Harry Potter series has become the worst game. This is just a horrible buggy mess with no entertainment at all. Just move along to the next game.

If you're an moldu who's super-fan, be sure that I understand you, but don't be fooled. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 is clearly underwhelming, and doesn't compare in any way to any other TPS in terms of quality. Imprecise, slow, poorly designed, we can't even recommend this Harry Potter game to the most tolerant fans.