Hogwarts Legacy Gamescom trailer introduces wizard zombies

A new trailer for open-world Harry Potter-verse adventure game Hogwarts Legacy premiered today during Geoff Keighley's Opening Night Live show, and it's easily the darkest look at it yet.

The trailer centers on the dark arts, a forbidden realm of magic that players will apparently become experts in (against the wishes of your professor). We see the player casting Crucio, a spell better known in the wizarding world as the Cruciatus Curse.

According to the Harry Potter wiki, it's one of the three Unforgivable Curses used to inflict "excruciating pain on a victim." It's the spell of choice for those nasty Death Eaters that Harry faces off with in Prisoner of Azkaban, though the Crucio cast by the player in Hogwarts Legacy looks a bit different. This version is red and distinctly evil-looking, which you'd think would be a good hint for our young protagonist to stay the heck away from it. Though, it wouldn't be a Harry Potter story without kids getting tempted into the dark side.

We also see the player face off against what I can only describe as wizard zombies, something I didn't know existed in the world of magic until now (though I really shouldn't be surprised). I don't mind the threat—it might be nice to have a mindless target to unleash super deadly magic on instead of irreversibly injuring my fellow classmates.

In case you missed the delay a few weeks ago, Hogwarts Legacy's new release date is February 10, 2023.

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