Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

"Weakest title in the Harry Potter series"

Story
Harry returns to Hogwarts for his second year and people are being turned to stone. Harry sets out to find what's hurting the people around him. The story is pretty much the same as the book and movie but the game adds quite a bit of stuff that can't be found in the book or movie and some of it is just stupid. I give story a 7/10

Control
The control is simple and takes only a few minutes to get the hang of. Spells can be assgned to buttons making it a lot easier to cast spells this time. The control isn't always responsive but it is for the most part. I give control a 9/10

Voice Acting, Sound Effects and Music
The game doesn't use the actors from the movie but it does use people who sound kinda like them but not always. The sound effects are nothing great, just average. The music seems to be from the movie and it sounds nice but you hardly notice it. I give voice acting, sound effects and music a 7/10

Game play
The game is pretty straight forward and it gives you tasks to complete. Once you complete them you can move onto the next day or explore Hogwarts. You rarely fight anything and when you do fight it isn't anything to hard. The hardest part of the game is the stealth part, you always seem to end up sneaking out at night and avoiding Prefects who cheat by casting spells through walls. The AI isn't the brightest thing around but it works. The puzzles are all easy and don't require too much thought. The castle looks nice and all and it's much better than the one in last years game. The biggest problem is the load times, they happen way too often and they are just way too long. If you die, the game reloads which gets very annoying when you keep dying. Quiditch is a little weak this year, I found controlling the broom to be a major pain but the AI is a lot better so it's a mixed bag. I give game play a 6/10

Replay Value
The game is about 10 hours long and there are some secret type stuff to find like Wizard Cards and you can buy stuff from Ron's brothers. There isn't any real reason to play the game again after beating it but fans of Harry Potter should enjoy the game and probably play through it a couple times. I give replay value a 3/10

Final Score
I give Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets a 6/10

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 10/15/07

Game Release: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (US, 11/14/02)