Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup

"A worthy rendition"

I was very hesitant when picking up this game. I had seen the other Harry Potter games and wasn't that impressed. I was expecting horrible controls, with equally bad gameplay. However, I finally bit the bullet and bought it. It wasn't as good as it could have been, but was still good enough for me to like it.

Graphics- 8/10. They could have been better, but could have been a lot worse. The Players where really well done, but sometimes, the action would zoom in on NPC's, like Ron, Hermione, Crabbe, and Goyle. The looked kind of bad. The Quidditch Stadiums are beautifully done also. One of my Favorite's is Japan's Stadium, played over a pond.

Gameplay/Control- 7.5/10. I was expecting the controls to be very horrible. But I was suprised at that they were pretty nice. One of my big pet peeves is that there is no ''voluntary'' vertical movement. You can't move up and down unless a pass goes off the staright path. But since there is movement of up and down (however involuntary) it did save the gameplay quite a bit. The button scheme is pretty simple, too. You got a tackle, shot, pass, combo(s), dodge, bludger, and catch button. It all becomes second nature. And when you chase done the Golden Snitch, it really is cool because as you take on the other Seeker, you can pummel him/her out of the way. And another really cool thing is the bludger. You smack the Bludger with you beater, then you control the bludger and help it find it's way to it's mark.

Sound- 9/10. The background sounds are pretty nice. The crowd cheering, yur teammates yelling to watch out, that sort of thing. And also, Lee Jordan's and Ludo Bagmans commentary keeps up really well with the action. The player voices are also well done.

Challenge- 5/10. Once you know what you are doing, it becomes really easy.

Replayability- 8/10. Fun to play around with. Playing against a friend is pretty nice, not really requiring skill like Soul Calibur 2 is, but fun to have a nice relaxing time.

Overall- 8/10. It's a fun, easy game that doesn't really make you sweat it out, but still good for passing the time.

Rent/Own. If you are a Harry Potter fan, I would say buy. But if you aren't, I would say rent it first, just to try it out. And from there, you can see that it is a fun game.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/24/03