Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup

"Alright game, nothing too much to say about it."

I've been a fan of the Harry Potter series since it was released, however, my reading of it has slowed down as schooling begins to beat me up.... One of my favorite parts of the Harry Potter books was the easy reading, but also the Quidditch Matches that happened in some of the parts, most of them being very very exciting. I thought about it being a video game, but thought it would be to complex and would be plain frustrating. Low and behold they released it, and even though I have my problems with it, it still had some fun.

Graphics 8/10
I personally liked the cartoony style of it, some of the characters were really over the top which I like. The arenas were well done and looked very very good. I personally liked the balls, and the variety of balls in the game from the quaffle to the other ones, should have read the book more. Harry looks like Harry, that blonde headed annoying looking kid looks like himself. Graphics are solid for a game like this.

Audio 7/10
You hear the broom stick hitting the balls action which is always good. Commentators were usually spot on but sometimes you could hear they were reading it instead of being there. Lack of music that I would enjoy was really annoying, there was some victory horn when you got the ball into the hoop but nothing really amazing. Sound effects and most of the commentary was good, not so good with the music.

Gameplay 5/10
This game is really fun for the first 30 minutes, then it hits you that all you need to do is pass back and forth, and then you will score no matter what, the computer can't do a thing. Even with a friend it is repetitive. It doesn't even feel like you are on a broomstick, it feels like you are on ground, no real control over the broomstick. Another thing that really got me mad was the keeper or whatever the heck those guys are. The AI on them is so terrible, all you have to do is shoot at the opposite ring and they just go back and forth. It's sort of like those shooting galleries except with broomsticks. But it all comes down to the snitch, and that is so annoying and boring, you are on a fixed track and the AI is so dumb you can win it 99.9% of the time. Gameplay got repetitive fast.

Final Comments
If you are a diehard Harry Potter fan rent this game, if you are a sports fan looking for something new, stick with NHL 07 or Madden. Maybe in the future they can refine this game and make the gameplay much more refined, and make the catching of the Golden Snitch a lot more interesting. All I can say to EA is, nice try, maybe next time.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/27/06, Updated 08/03/09

Game Release: Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup (US, 10/28/03)