"A good game for the weekend, but it doesn't capture the magic of Harry Potter."

This is the fourth Harry Potter game from Electronic Arts. Sadly, even though the developers should have enough experience with Harry Potter by now, the games seem to get progressively worse. IMO Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was their best.

Story(10/10):
I don't think a non-Harry Potter fan would buy this game. Therefore those who are reading this probably know the story by heart. Since it's based on the movie based on the book, I can't really score it low (Being the HP fan that I am).

Anyway, the instruction booklet offers a summary: 'After a dreadful summer with the Dursleys, Harry Potter can't wait to start his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Events take a strange turn, however, when Harry discovers that Sirius Black, the man believed to have betrayed Harry's parents and thus responsible for their murders, has escaped from the wizard prison Azkaban.
Black appears to be seeking revenge on Harry for thwarting 'You-know-who', while the dementors, Azkaban prison guards sent to Hogwarts to protect the school and recapture Black, affect Harry in a disturbing way. With the help of Ron and Hermione, Harry is intent on unraveling the mystery surrounding Sirius Black and his escape from Azkaban.'

Gameplay(7/10):
In this game, EA went for companion play to freshen the gameplay. You control the trio (Harry, Ron, and Hermione) and can switch between them instantly by a push of the B button. Each of the three has different physical abilities: Harry jumps across gaps and can climb. Ron finds secret passageways and is an expert on joke shop items. Hermione can crawl into spaces the other two can't fit in. Also, each of them learns different spells, Hermione being the one to learn the most. This means that you will have to constantly switch between the characters according to the situation you are in.

The game (like the previous ones) has a Zelda-esque way of interacting with the environment. Spells can be assigned to the X and Y buttons, the A button serves as the action button, R is for targeting, L is for calling one of the other two to help you (like if you need to lift a heavy something and can't do it by yourself). Finally, the Z button opens up your inventory, map, and tasks list.

It goes like this: In the day you are given tasks to complete. Once they are, you end the day from the tasks menu. Day becomes night and you are given new tasks, and so forth. A nice addition to the game is the inclusion of animals, like Hedwig the owl and Buckbeak (or shall I say Witherwings *winks*) the Hippogriff. Those animals are used to add a little more variety to the puzzles (Hedwig brings out-of-reach stuff & you can ride Buckbeak to reach areas unreachable except by flight).

But this game, like all games, is without its irritations: Targetting is odd, sometimes it chooses not to target at all, other times it targets an object when you are in a middle of a fight, making you vulnerable. You will watch with exasperation as one of the AI controlled characters aims spells at a monster at the far end of the room while another one is directly in front them, clobbering away happily. Also, even though the game is based on the movie, many of the tasks assigned to you have nothing to do with the story; Expect to spend the majority of your time collecting potion ingredients or clearing challenges to learn new spells. Moreover, Quidditch was sadly omitted from this game.

Graphics(7/10):
Harry, Ron, and Hermione look great and animate nicely, so does everone else. The spell effects are enjoyable. The castle looks the almost the same as the past games, but with a few changes. Loading times come up often and they distract from gameplay. The grounds are vast and beautiful and the transition from summer to winter is perfect. The grounds' vastness works against them, because they are (mostly) empty and you could easily loose yourself in them. There is some occasional slowdown, usually when you are fighting a large mob of monsters or when you are in the grounds. Finally, a strange thing I noticed: your characters feet don't touch the ground (this is most noticeable on stairs).

Sound(7/10):
The same tune plays over and over in the castle, and since that's where you spend most of your time, it gets boring. The other tunes are fine. The voice acting is good but emotion-free, and I salute EA for hiring voice actors that sound a lot like the movie's actors. Sound effects are good and do their job.

Replayabilty(7/10):
The game is quite short and can be finished in a weekend, but even when you're done there are still many things to collect: House points, famous witches and wizards cards, statues… etc.
The game also has bonus activities (and they're quite challenging): dueling club, owl race, and hippogriff flight challenge. Furthermore, if you have a GC-GBA link, you can download 2 mini-games to play on the GBA… They're not much but it's nice to see that the developers are trying to extend the gameplay.

Overall(6/10):
If you are a parent and you are seeking a game for your children, get this game (if they like Harry Potter obviously). They will LOVE it. But if you are 12+ just rent it for the weekend.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 08/01/05