With a new "Harry Potter" movie coming soon, it's hardly any surprise that EA has revealed a new game based on it. At the company's recent Summer Showcase event, we got a chance to try out the boy wizard's latest adventure for the DS. During our demo, we didn't get a chance to see much of the game's main adventure. Instead, we were shown a few of the mini-games that flesh out Harry's adventure to stop the dark lord, Voldemort.
The main game, as well as the mini-games, are designed to take full advantage of the DS' touch screen. Although you can control Harry with the d-pad, the game's isometric design seems better-suited to the stylus control (a la The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. As you roam the halls of Hogwarts, Harry's school of witchcraft and wizardry, you should swipe the stylus across just about everything you encounter. This casts spells on objects, which usually reveals collectible items that can be swapped with other students to earn new goodies.
The first mini-game we tried was a game of Gobstones, which is the fancy wizard way to say "Marbles." The stylus offers great control as you pull back to determine how much strength you wish to use as you knock your marble into the circle in an attempt to knock out more of the spheres than your opponent. We then got to play some Exploding Snaps, which is a variant of the old Memory card-matching game. The trick here is that the cards are constantly bouncing around and randomly flipping themselves over. A keen eye and a steady hand are required to complete this game.
We then headed into Professor Slughorn's potions class for a mini-game that recalled Cooking Mama. In order to whip up a perfect brew, the stylus is used to start a fire under a cauldron, shake and pour ingredients, crush and collect ginger root, and clean up unexpected messes. If the potion gets out of hand, the screen will fill with smoke that must be blown away by means of the DS' microphone.
The final mini-game that we got to play was a wizards' duel. Here, you face off against a wide selection of students in a one-on-one battle. The action occurs on the top screen while you input spells on the touch screen. Tapping the different corners of the touch screen casts offensive and defensive spells in both the high and low position. Your opponent lobs matching spells your way, so quick judgment is required to successfully counter their attacks. Shouting out spell names as you cast doesn't have any added effect, but it certainly makes you feel more powerful. To pull off a more elaborate spell, you simply need to scribble on the touch screen.
These mini-games seem like they're going to make a fun distraction to the main adventure, which we're hoping lives up to the source material (and turns out better than the previous "Harry Potter" title for DS). We're bound to find out more about the game as the movie comes closer to its release date. Let's just start hoping that you get to play as Severus Snape during the last level as you face off against the, um, final boss.
