Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

"A game only for fans"

First of all I'm a great fan of Harry Potter and I have read all the books AND watched all the movies. And I've also played all the games. And it certainly adds to the game experience.

Graphics: (8/10)
No real problems here, but it still doesn't look as good as many games. (You know, Metal Gear Solid 2 was released before SOME time now and it still would beat this game for graphics)
Spells look pretty good and the animations all over aren't too long. Characters look pretty much like the ones in the films, even though there aren't many details. Lupin has got his scars, which look a bit worse than the ones in the movie and so on. Only some characters do miss something (especially their faces). This might be because there are no unique things to their faces. They've got the most "clean" faces I've ever seen. Think of it being teenagers and all it's pretty strange:/ (I remember...)

Audio: (7/10)
Voice Acting always is a plus and if it's done correctly it's even a bigger one. Sad thing is, the dialogues lack intelligence. "Hey, I've got a dumb reason to see your new spells/item/whatever, use it/show it." And every now and then (or every now and now and again) there is someone near telling you he is tired/not satisfied with the situation you're in/etc. . OMG I sometimes wished for something to knock out those idiots.

Gameplay (8/10):

It's not a smart and challenging game, but not every game has to be like this. Harry Potter was clearly made for the younger audience and it shows. Again you can walk around Hogwarts and look for things and do stuff like that. Even though you always know what to do and there seems to be no challenge all over, it won't really bother you, as it just fits in so well. Quidditch was removed, you've got Hagrids lil one to take for a ride (no, I mean the animal!!!).

Story: (5/10)

This was decisive for the end rating: The story just doesn't do any good to the game. Take the beginning: You're actually IN the train to hogwarts (which takes off a bundle of pages) and are NOT told any of the previous events in a proper way. The first sentences are like "Hey Sirius Black is out of prison, he's dangerous", 10 minutes later Harry knows (without anyone really telling him) Black is after him. The game does actually not tell the story of Harry Potter 3 but shows you the parts EA thought would be interesting. Even though I've read the books and so on, I still felt bothered by the style the story is (not) told. It improves only little to the end of the game, which was the reason to give 5 points. And the HP story itself is good as well, but you can't pull that really into the rating.

Replay: (5/10)

Arguably you can replay over and over, to find some items or who knows whatcha up to, but really it is not necessary. Playing the game for two days, or (upper limit) 3 days, you can collect everything there is to be seen and get thru the game.

Rent/Buy:

Rent the game. There is no sense to buy it at all.

Fazit/Recommendation:

This game was made for people who read the books and/or watched the movie. It is NO REPLACEMENT for one nor the other. It is not recommended to play this game if you don't know the Harry Potter books, or you don't like them.

C ya

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 07/07/04