EA is the world’s biggest games publisher, and they have recently announced that they will be releasing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in stores worldwide this week. As with any big name releases, this title will make an appearance across multiple platforms, although it is rather strange that the game is out before the movie, as normally such huge tie-ins, what more for a successful franchise like Harry Potter, are often simultaneous to create the greatest impact.

In the game of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, players return to Hogwarts – reproduced from movie blueprints in exacting detail – to help Harry survive a fraught sixth year. Players will be able to master gesture-based spell-casting as they explore the Hogwarts school grounds, from the heights of the Astronomy Tower to Professor Slughorn’s Potions classroom in the depths of the dungeons and iconic locations in between such as the Gryffindor common room and the Great Hall. For the first time players can move and cast spells simultaneously, creating intense and fast-paced wizard duels as the champions from each house line up to challenge the Boy Who Lived. Players can also chase down the Golden Snitch as they take to the air as the Seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. In addition to spell-casting and flying, players can put their potion-mixing skills to the test when they learn how to mix and brew magical ingredients in Potions class. Players may even get sidetracked by Ron’s romantic entanglements as they journey towards the dramatic climax and discover the identity of the Half-Blood Prince.

This title was developed by EA Bright Light and will be available on the Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, PS2, PC, Mac, DS and PSP platforms. Through experience, probably the PC, Mac and home console versions are worth looking at – the handheld versions tend to be more filler than killer.

Press Release

You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Add to Del.icio.us