Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

"Someone should have locked this game away in the Chamber of Secrets"

I'll come clean up-front; I don't like Harry Potter. I don't like the books, movies, mythos, products, or pretty much anything associated with the franchise. My association with this game comes from my girlfriend, who knows more about ol' HP than I do about Transformers (it's quite a dichotomy we have at times, but I digress...)

She's not the most skilled at video games (in fact she downright hates them), so her skill is somewhat lacking. She asked me if she could get past a certain part. I played for as long as I could tolerate before shrugging at the mediocrity and moved along.

--Story---

This game suffers right from the start due to its convoluted nature; you have to have read the book or have seen the movie to understand any type of backstory about these characters and the world they live in. Once you fire it up, the game drops you into the thick of things, beginning at year 3 (I think) of the Harry Potter cycle. You start immediately at the Weasley's house chasing around goblins with your wand. It's assumed you know that Harry Potter is a wizard-in-training, all of the history between him and Voldemort, and his relationship with Ron Weasley and his brothers. When you run into other characters, you'll get a "hi," but that's it. I don't know who the hell Neville is, so why should I care that he's stuck behind a tapestry or whatever?

This is a severe polarizing effect between those who know the Harry Potter series and those who do not. I, for one, do not. A truly hardcore fan would get the jokes, the little convoluted nods to the fandom, etc, etc. But I don't. I can honestly say this is one of a small handful of video games that's left me out in the cold in the first five minutes of gameplay. After that debacle, it's clear that I could never really attach with this game like I would others.

And even as the story progresses, it's assumed you know why the next event happens that mirrors the book/movie. Well, I don't, and I get no explanation. HP is not like Star Wars or Superman; while popular, it hasn't been around long enough to become part of the modern pop culture and common knowledge. We need to have things explained.


--Graphics--

This section gets a big ol' "meh" from me. It's not Bubsy 3D bad, but perfectly middle of the road. Like the designers were looking for flaws only instead of questioning whether or not it could have been better. Thematically, Chamber of Secrets reminds me of the original Spyro games. Dark scenes are purplish and deep green, light or "good" scenery is creamy and bright.

I can only shrug at the character designs as everyone within their own age group looks exactly the same from the neck down. Harry's body looks exactly like Ron's and Hermiones, the teenage kids all look the same, and so on. There are very few graphically impressive sections in Chamber of Secrets; probably the most memorable for me was the boss fight against the Whomping Willow. Other than that, I remain indifferent about the graphics.


--Gameplay--

All in all, this game is along the lines of the Batman Begins videogame; it's not a game per se as much of instruction on how to play other video games. Most of what you'll do is run around, target something with the shoulder buttons, choose the correct spell, and press a button to cast it. Either that, or jumping over boxes. Physically, there's not a lot you can do within the game to make Harry seem less robotic.

You get a flying sequence or two, or you sneak around Hogwarts at night and break curfew, but the aspects of even those are flawed. You chug along on the flying broom like a train with wings, and the Metal Gear-esque sneaking parts are inane (pair that with an inability to control the camera and it gets very frustrating). And on top of that, anytime you do something at night, you have to sneak about. Once in a while is good, constant, though, is dull.

The magic system is simple, albeit too simple. You read a special book, you learn that spell. Casting it requires you charge the button down and aim it at something. Pretty much it. Call me cynical, but doesn't that make the magic sound...less magical? If you don't have to do much to learn it or use it, what makes it so special?


--Sound--

Terrible. God-awful. And I'm being polite here. I can't honestly say I remembered the music, if there was any (I do like John Williams' work in the films, but that's absent here). There's no driving music or strong overall themes; it all rests in the background like atmospheric music at a theme park. The sound effects don't have any weight and make the world sound hollow. Other than footsteps, the only other thing is silence. That doesn't jibe even with the atmosphere the films created. Hogwarts is not an empty hallway. The magic sound effects don't carry any weight and all sound like creampuffs. Very wimpy.

The voice-acting is the worst offender here. Harry's voice is palatable, but the rest of the cast is almost painful to listen to. Ron Weasley's voice is perhaps the worst; do your worst imitation of a Cockney accent and drop it an octave or two. It's terrible.


--Funfactor--

I have a rule of thumb about games; they need to have a certain defining moment that grabs hold of the player and beats them over the head with an "Awesome" stick. With most games I like, I can't honestly remember the exact moment, but I know that they were at least there. And sometimes that realization comes slowly; with action/shooter games it's pretty much a blunt object, with RPG's it might take longer to worm its way into my addiction-prone subconscious.
Chamber of Secrets, is for all intents and purposes, a "Sandbox Game" (Read: Grand Theft Auto). There are certain tasks that must be completed to progress the story, but for the most part, the world is open for exploration.

You'd expect Hogwarts, especially as a wizard school, to be sprawling and awe-inspiring, chock-filled with little secrets and fun tasks to do. And...you don't really have that. Even after you unlock the bloom to fly around it, it seems ever more droll then since you can see a vast space, but you come to realize that nothing is fun about it.

For lack of a better phrase, what you see with Chamber of Secrets is what you get. You follow the story and that's all you'll really do. GTA games retain popularity and replayability due to the things you do outside of the main game. It's a real shame, because EA Games had so much to work with and they ultimately decided bare-bones was the way to go.

--Replayability---

I suppose to have some measure of replayability, I would actually have to finish the game first. There are certain sections where you collect some kind of beans so that you could buy things, or collect wizard trading cards. For what reward? Beats me. I found it all rather boring. I didn't finish this game. And unless the world is hit by an EMP and wipes out every other video game except this one, I doubt I ever will finish it.

Play or rent? Honestly, probably neither. Unless you're a diehard hardcore HP buff, or you have a 5-year old who's into the whole ball of wax and he/she is just starting to play videogames. Other than that, you can find a lot better uses for your time and money, game or not.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 11/27/07

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