Not outstanding from its gameplay point of view, the game yet allows to accompany Harry in his most important adventure
So Stupefy acts as a short-range pistol, Expulso as rapid-fire machine gun, and Petrificus totalus like a long-range assault or sniper rifle; Confringo works quite like a grenade-launcher and Expelliarmus disables enemies' shields, while Impedimenta allows to missile-target up to six enemies at once. And whereas most of those offensive spells have to be gradually unlocked during the game, the always available Protego serves to shield oneself as well as a friend but can also back-deflect incoming spells to their caster when sufficiently close. Used one by one or in combination, the gun-spells are also thought to permit individual "casting tactics" adapted to each situation to counter appropriately the enemies' casts.
With all this and the game's being classified as "Fantasy Shooter" one should keep in mind that it still belongs to the category of casual games aiming at a teenage public –above all, the Harry Potter readership–, so applying hardcore shooter expectations to this game might certainly be inappropriate, albeit some of the spells work surprisingly well with the advantage of never being short of ammunition, though one might face some temporary loss of energy or accuracy through overuse.
So true Harry Potter fans will surely be disappointed, has been said. But why, as they have the possibility to accompany their idol in what may be the most important events in his life: finding the last Horcruxes and with this, the truth about his own identity in order to put an end to Dark Lord Voldemort's evil aspirations. With the Wizard school halfway destroyed, several former classmates will be missing in the end, while others turn out to having been failing out of cowardice rather than true malignity, like headmaster Severus Snape who sent to death through Voldemort's snake Nagini does even get nostalgic at the sight of Harry's eyes reminding him whose once beloved mother Lily.
While it is evident that casting the 'Alohomora' lock-opener spell to open the gates on the friends' way may take its time due to gaming purposes –more time signifies more enemies and thus more risk to losing someone's life–, waiting for scripted events being triggered may be tedious at times, especially in timed mode, though here also the cutscenes are needed to glue the whole story.
And it is true that some of the chapters are a bit lengthy while not providing sufficient or varied action, like the Trio's battling against hordes of generic Deatheaters in the streets of Hogsmeade, Ron and Hermione fighting giant spiders in the Chamber of Secrets tunnels before reaching the Basilisk fang, or Seamus' planting timed crystal charges on the covered bridge's struts protected from above through his sniper-turned friend Neville, although the game is a bit short-lived anyway. Others however provide quite some nice challenging fights as for instance, the way to the Boathouse and the missions around Hogwarts, in particular Ginny Weasley's courtyard battle, or Harry's five consecutive duels with Lord Voldemort, on a changing scenery requiring another strategy each.
This is no outstanding game, but one of the reasons making it worth being played is the possibility of 'visiting' closely the different places –Gringott's, Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, the Forbidden Forest– known from the novel/movie, all film-like rendered graphically like the cutscenes, and accompanied through excellent music – James Hannigan, John T. Williams–, the different titles of which can be replayed separately through the music list in the Main menu. From here the different missions may also be tackled as timed Challenges, and the personal results compared with those of one's online friends, but as always challenges here might be of individual interest rather and don't contribute to the story as such.
On PlayStation 3 the entire game can be played using the Move Motion and Navigation controllers, which might add an additional challenge when aiming/firing in close fight scenes while switching between spells for players less accustomed to this device, yet also provides useful flexibility when needing to escape in the FCA interludes.
The game does also permit playing as the novel's different protagonists in some of the missions, like Ginny and Molly Weasley, for instance, or the combative Professor McGonagall in her duel against Snape or when defending Hogwarts against Deatheaters and Giants on the Viaduct, one of the outstanding scenes perhaps due to its changed structure.
The final cutscene reunites the numerous Weasley Family in the train station promising continuity to the literary wizardry, and is followed by several selected scenes from the previous Harry Potter games allowing the player once again to see Harry growing up along the different stages of his magic becoming.