Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

"The epitome of average"

Odds are that if you're alive, you've heard of Harry Potter. Like Pokémon and Power Rangers before, Harry Potter is the new 'thing' for kids that is sweeping the nation. With 4 books (5th on the way), 2 movies (3rd on the way), and hundreds of papers criticizing/praising it, Harry Potter looks like it's here to stay.

Games based on movies (and books...) are known to be sub-par when compared to other games of the same genre - save for a few special cases (GoldenEye particularly). Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (hereafter referred to as ''CoS'') succeeds at being above sub-par, but not by much.

Graphics
7/10

The graphics aren't anything extraordinary that you'd expect from SquareSoft, Nintendo, or Blizzard, but they're satisfying. Everything is pretty clear and there's very little slowdown. The sparkles and flashes for spells are clear and pretty detailed. The characters look a bit less than you'd expect (you can't tell Ron or Ginny from any of the other red-haired kids), but the good environments make up for it.

Though Hogwarts layout isn't completely accurate to the books, it's much better than the previous game in the series (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone). Hogwarts grounds are big and open and you'll often find yourself aimlessly flying around on your broom stick trying to pull off the ''Wronski Feint'' and other Quidditch moves while enjoying the lovely atmosphere.

Story
5/10

CoS is a great book with an excellent story, but too many important scenes are cut from the game to create a replacement. That being said, the bare-bones plot is in there. People are being killed/petrified at Hogwarts and Harry, Ron, and Hermione are trying to figure out who the murderer is. The feuds between Harry, Ron, and Hermione don't exist, and we see very little of Hagrid and Dumbledore.

Sound
5/10

The voices from the movie aren't in this game. However, the voices aren't bad imitations. The music is present, but you won't find yourself humming it while not playing the game, and Harry's constant ''FLIPENDOS!'' will get annoying. All in all, a bit below average.

Gameplay
5/10

The gameplay is straight forward, but more challenging than you'd expect. Most of the game is played as a platformer with a Zelda-like engine (no manual jumping, line yourself up with ledge to jump ledge to ledge.).

During the night you'll be sneaking past Prefects in order to get to the next level - which can be very fun, very challenging, and very annoying. It's annoying because it makes getting a perfect game near impossible. Every time a prefect catches you, you lose 5 House points - although at one point in the game you'll be able to abuse this to make your biggest house-points rival lose points.

However, it is fun. You're acting stealthy to move past prefects, distracting them with stink pellets. Odds are you won't get through any of the stealth sequences on your first time. They can be more challenging than any sequence in Metal Gear Solid, but the lack of stealth options makes sneaking around tedious after awhile.

Replay
3/10

You won't find yourself coming back for more. Although you will likely not complete the game on your first try, you won't have much desire to replay it.

Graphics - 7/10
Good, but not perfect

Story - 5/10
Leaves too much out

Sound - 5/10
Nothing remarkable or groundbreaking

Gameplay - 5/10
Fun at times, tedious at others

Replay - 3/10
There really isn't much

Overall - 5/10

All in all, if you're a fan of the movie or the book, you will want to rent this one. Flying around Hogwarts grounds on your broomstick is worth the $5 rental fee alone. Otherwise, your money is best spent somewhere else - CoS is the epitome of the average game.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 04/25/03, Updated 04/25/03