Motorbike Escape
- Brand
- Harry Potter
- Year
- 2010
- Objective
- Awareness
- Industry
- Entertainment
- Mechanic
- Arcade & Action
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- Watson/DG
Objective
Warner Bros. built the game to build anticipation ahead of the November 19, 2010 theatrical release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, letting fans relive the film's marquee chase scene for themselves before seeing it on screen. Sharing a score to Facebook and other networks was built into the promo page as the campaign's own word-of-mouth engine.
Solution
Players ride along as Harry, seated behind Hagrid on Sirius Black's flying motorcycle and sidecar as it streaks low over London. Aiming a wand, they fire Disarming Charms at the Death Eaters chasing them down while dodging incoming spells and weaving through the air to scoop up bonus pickups. The flight is scored as it goes and synced to the film's soundtrack, so a run plays out like a piece of the movie itself. Once the chase ends, players can post their score straight to Facebook or send it out via Twitter, StumbleUpon, Delicious and Digg from the same page.
- 1
The game opens on a promo page branded for the film, with a release-date reminder and social share buttons; playing requires installing the Unity Web Player plugin first, and the game will not start without it.
- 2
A brief setup frames the premise: Harry must escape Death Eaters on the way to a safe house, and the player boards a flying motorbike to make the getaway.
- 3
In the core loop, the player rides as Harry in the motorbike's sidecar while another character pilots, aiming a wand reticle at pursuing Death Eaters and firing a Disarming Charm to knock them out of the chase.
- 4
Death Eaters that get a spell off before being hit send a projectile at the player, which must be dodged.
- 5
Hits and dodges earn points on a variable scale, with the running score displayed on screen throughout the chase.
- 6
Along the route the player collects pickups: one grants an extra life, another boosts the bike's speed.
- 7
The chase's setting shifts over the course of a run, dropping from open sky to a low-altitude stretch past bridges and traffic while the combat and dodging continue.
- 8
The run ends with a scripted crash on the final approach, closing out the chase regardless of performance.
- 9
After the run, the player is prompted to post their score to Facebook, alongside additional share links back on the promo page.
