"Not just for kids"

Ok, when you think of a game based on a film you don't want to buy it due to bad experiences in the past. Also EA are known for putting out games that should basically not be put out. But how wrong can you go with Harry Potter? It is a good book, good film and now a good game....

Graphics 8/10

Brilliant, that basically sums them up in one word. The characters and rooms that you go in have loads of detail on them. The spells look mildly the same though, the only thing different about these are the colours. This could have been improved on and is one of the reasons why I do not give graphics the full 10. The cut scenes are very good but could have been improved on as they are not integrated with the game well. For example after a cut scene occurs the game freezes for about 1 second and then you are thrown back into the action. Graphics therefore gets 8/10 due to the mild flaws in integration and the spells.

Story 10/10

Who has not heard of Harry Potter? Harry Potter is a well known book throughout the world, so therefore the story must be good or it would only have sold in the UK. This is what EA has picked up on, to be honest I would not have bought this if it did not have the Harry Potter name on, and I would have been missing a brilliant game. The storyline follows the film and book very closely but there are some additions to it, such as mini-games and side quests which are very fun. Story gets 10/10 as it is based on a great book, plus there are the additional things added on top of it.

Sounds 8/10

Major flaw here, although the music is all good and most of the voice acting I muted it when I was doing something in the game because I had to put up with the irritating Ron shouting the same thing over and over again. That was a major flaw in the sound but I could live with it, so sound gets 8/10.

Gameplay 10/10

There is something different about this game to the other Harry Potter ones and that is teamplay. Although there is not a 2 player mode in it, when you are playing just by pressing the B button you can switch between characters. Most of the puzzles are based on this. Such as if a secret passage has to be opened only Ron can do it but if you need to jump across a wide area to hit a switch only Harry can do it. This was a very good idea. The puzzles in the game however are quite hard, but it always turns out to be the simplest thing to solve in a game. The targeting was OK, but not over good because sometimes you accidently target your friends and shoot them with a spell, although funny to watch it takes some of their health away.

Rent or Buy??

If you are a true platform or Harry Potter fan, buy it. But if you don't know whether you will like it at first, rent it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/28/04