New Preview of “Half-Blood Prince” Video Game on Wii Platform

IGN has a new preview of the upcoming “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” video game from EA online that goes into more detail about the playing experience and what to expect from the game. Based on a preview at this weekend’s
Comic Con in San Diego, CA the article compares this game to the “Order of the Phoenix” game and first says that the “Half-Blood Prince is going to stick with the gigantic, living Hogwarts that you wander around to get missions. The game’s even adding changing times of day so it won’t perpetually be noon outside and different student moods to accompany those times—i.e. a kid who is super-energized in the morning might be rundown by the evening.”

Playing with the Wii version of the game, the preview continues, giving more information on select scenes and tasks which take place during the game. Details on a previously mentioned potions-mixing game of skill are expanded upon in this piece, with the article stating: “Rather than read the text, icons from the pages will rise into the air and you’ll need to either grab the corresponding object or pull off a motion. When I started my pot, a fire icon rose up and I had to shake the Wiimote and nunchuk to generate a blaze beneath the cauldron. As the fire grew, the liquid in the container changed colors. When the fire reached the desired temperature, the Wiimote rumbled and I had to stop shaking. I didn’t stop on my first try, and the pot got too hot. Smoke spouted from the fluid, and I had to wave the nunchuk from side to side to clear the haze.”

The preview then details a mini Seeker game which they describe as a “simplified look at Quidditch.” Quoteage:

“When you begin, you’ll be watching Harry on his broom and need to point your Wiimote where you want to fly. See, the forward momentum is on rails so you don’t have to worry about turning; you just have to worry about getting Harry into the right section of the screen to get through these floating stars that are kind of like racing game checkpoints. If you start missing the stars, your speed will begin to drop and the color of the checkpoints will go from green to yellow to red before you fail out. It probably sounds pretty simple, but this is a Quidditch match, mate! When I took Harry through the paces, I had to deal with trying to get the Seeker back to the center of the screen after some intense speed sequences and worry about the jerks from Slytherin ramming into me and knocking me off course.”

Near the end, comments are made regarding the improved dueling system appearing in this game. Now players will be able to “move while you cast spells, but you can also tap the A button for quick dodge.” The preview concludes with more about the spells available during a duel with Draco Malfoy by saying that “Pushing the Wiimote down and then raising it up [will] cast the Stupefy spell, lifting both the nunchuk and Wiimote into the air called for Wingardium Leviosa, and slashing both controllers in a diagonal line cast a protective spell. Expelliarmus and Petrificus Totalus were also part of my Potter arsenal, but my bout came down to me running from side to side while firing off energy orbs.”

As we reported previously, the “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” video game will be released in November, and is currently available for pre-order on the PS3, PS2, Nintendo DS, Sony PSP and XBOX360, PC, and Wii platforms via our Cauldron Shop.