Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

"More impressive than the previous but..."

The official third Harry Potter game is here, and the fans around the world are giggling like school girls during Christmas. J K Rowling is indeed one of the world's best authors and I have read all the books twice, I love them. However, neither the films nor the games impress me very much. The first game was cleverly made and the puzzle solving got my brain working at certain points, but it felt very linear and the Quidditch system was quite boring. The second game was better in all ways. Collecting Bertie Bott's beans and use them as currency to get bonuses and useful items was brilliant and the enemies were funnier.
The third game is the most impressive yet. Fighting Dementors with the Patronus spell is a well constructed part of the game. However, the very most impressive part is the ability to explore. The entire Hogwarts grounds are open to you, including Hagrid's hut and the lake. It really is a huge area, compared to that in the earlier games. Also, more areas within the castle are there to be explored, such as the different floor's classrooms and hidden passages.

Graphics:
Not bad, actually. EA games has done an outstanding job with the facial capture and the graphics are well detailed, though they sometimes look to shiny and plastic.
Grade: 7/10

Sound: Good. The environmental sounds, such as people speaking and objects being moved are clear and well chosen. There are not many different music parts throughout the game, but the "Hippogriff theme" is nothing but excellent. Flying Buckbeak over the Hogwarts grounds with that piece of music playing is breathtaking for sure.
Grade: 8/10

Storyline: The story, naturally, is based on the book with the same name. But I must say the book was about 1000000 times better. As in all Harry Potter games so far, the storyline was way to linear. You do get to explore a lot and sometimes it's up to you to decide how to get something done, but mostly you just follow a certain path during which the textures rarely change and the challenges involves a lorryload of jumping, crawling and sneaking. However, I really liked that you can switch between Harry, Ron and Hermione who all have different skills. For example, Hermione can freeze fire and crawl in tight areas, Ron can open hidden doors and use the Lumos spell to light up dark places and Harry can use the Marauder's map and create a Patronus to get rid of the annoying the Dementors.
Grade: 5/10

Controls: Easy. It only takes a few minutes to learn the basics. Every time you are equipped with a new spell or curse, you are given opportunities to practice with it. I ain't saying that the control is perfect. It can be either sluggish or over-sensitive from time to time.
Grade: 7/10

Buy or rent: Rent it. Once you've completed it, it will take a long time before you want to play it again.

Conclusion: Not really a bad game. The fans will love and praise this. There are neat challenges for your brain and some rather dramatic showdowns between the kids and the creatures of darkness. Still, I actually think that "Harry Potter and The chamber of secrets" is the best Harry game. This one is more impressive, but the second was funnier and not quite so melancholic.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/02/04