Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

"A game that Potter fans will definately enjoy"

Being a Harry Potter fan, I decided to give Chamber of Secrets (CoS) a rent when it came out for Xbox. I was surprised to find that EA had done a pretty good movie-to-game conversion. For the most part, the game follows the events of the movie accurately, although certain parts of the game obviously had to be altered.

Graphics - CoS has excellent graphics. The textures look decent, and there are a pretty good assortment of different faces for the Hogwarts children. The characters mouths are synchronized well with the voice-overs. All of this eye-candy runs at a very smooth framerate with only minimal slowdown at certain parts of the game.

Sound - The sound in this game is very well done. Voice overs are excellent, and Ron actually sounds a lot like his movie counterpart. Music is very Potter-esque and nicely composed.

Gameplay - CoS uses the same control scheme as the first Zelda game that appeared on N64. This is good, and it works for this game. You can simultaneously equip various items and spells to help you do what you need to do. Holding onto the L trigger will allow you to target certain enemies or ''hotspots'' in the area that could help you progress in the game. Controlling Harry is not a problem in CoS.

For the most part, the camera in CoS behaves well and is easy to control. However, there are specific parts in the game (mainly when you're trying to sneak around Hogwarts) that the game switches to a static camera placed in a specific location. This is one of the game's biggest downfalls. When this happens, it is near impossible to orient the camera correctly to see what you need to see. This becomes a hindrance to your progression, and you may find yourself in some frustrating bouts of trial and error.

As for difficulty, the game is on the easy side, so veteran gamers/Potter fans may want to just rent this game for a weekend. An expert gamer can easily blow by this game in 8-10 hours. However, CoS will probably give young players a moderate challenge.

One thing that may frustrate Potter fans is the minimal amount of interaction with the supporting characters. Even Ron and Hermione don't show up as much as they used to. In the books, they're Harry's trusted chums. In this game, they simply command Harry to go out in the middle of the night and run errands for them (poor Harry!).

Replay Value - Once you beat this game, you'll likely never go back, unless you're an absolute hardcore Potter fan that simply can't get enough of this series. Nonetheless, its fun while it lasts. Especially Quidditch!

Graphics - 9/10
Sound - 9/10
Gameplay - 7/10
Replay Value - 3/10
Overall - 8/10

Final verdict - get this game if you love the Potter series and are not an expert gamer. If you either are an expert gamer or aren't so crazy about the series, give the game a rent as I think you'll find some likeable aspects in CoS. Any parents who have a young video gamer thats into Harry Potter should definately pick this one up.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/29/02, Updated 12/29/02