Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup

"More Quidditch fun than you can shake a broom at!"

One of the things I have always liked best about the Harry Potter book series is Quidditch, the high-flying and dangerous sport played by wizards 'round the world. I've got my little ''Seeker Harry'' action figure by my computer here, my ''Gryffindor House Team'' hat on...let's just say I'm a fan.

So when I heard that EA was coming out with a Quidditch video game, I was both thrilled and concerned. Thrilled because Quidditch is perfectly suited to a video game, and who wouldn't want to see a ''real'' game in action? Concerned because, well, EA hasn't done a very good job on Harry Potter games up to this point.

Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup for the most part delivers a solid game experience, but with several annoying rough edges that do detract from the game. In all, it's a great game if you're already a Potter fan, but there's enough here to keep even those who've never read the books interested (all both of you).

Story: There's really no ''story'' to speak of, but the game does a good job taking you through tasks like learning the basics and playing games in a logical order. Starting up a new game will take you to a cut scene of Harry and Oliver Wood explaining the equipment and rules of the game, useful for those that know nothing of the game, but still entertaining for us old hats. You soon get to choose one of the four House Teams from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to compete for the famous House Cup. The team that wins the House Cup ''wins tickets'' to the Quidditch World Cup.

Graphics: For the most part, the graphics are great. The animations are smooth, and the game moves very fluidly (no bumping into invisible ''walls'' or the like). The different stadiums are varied and detailed, and each team has its own uniform. Unfortunately, some of the uniforms look very similar (USA and England, for example), so at times it can be tough to sort out who's who. It doesn't happen often, but I feel a little more time could have been spent to make each team unique. There's also a quirk that, sometimes when the camera pans of the pitch before a match, the camera becomes unfocused, making the background nothing but a big blur. It doesn't happen any other time, and it's rather distracting.

Sound<: The sound effects themselves are great, from the buzz of the bludgers, to the whoosh of the quaffle as it's thrown and the sound of smacking leather as its caught. The roar of the crowd is generally appropriate, cheering (or booing), for saves, tackles, and the like, and has enough dynamic to almost feel natural.

My big gripe with sound is the announcers, particularly in the World Cup mode. As with a lot of sports games, the announcers are prone to repeat themselves, which I can deal with, but in this game, it happens way too often, and the comments themselves aren't that interesting to begin with. On top of that, all but the main announcer (''Leo Bagman'' ^_^ ), are utterly annoying, with no saving graces, particularly the French announcer. They're prone to making stupid, rambling comments, before being cut off by Bagman as he narrates a play. It's a nice attempt at realism, but unfortunately it fails. What's worse is that there's no option to turn the commentary off.
The music for the most part is enjoyable but forgettable. The one exception is the music for ''Queerditch Marsh,'' which is a great Celtic tune. If only there were more like it.

Gameplay: First the good:

HP: QWC makes Quidditch, a logistical nightmare, incredibly easy to pick up. I won't go deep into the rules here, but basic gameplay of Quidditch is as follows: three ''chasers'' on each team try to throw a big red ball (''quaffle''), through their opponents goal hoops on either end of the pitch, while a ''keeper'' tries to block the shot. Two ''beaters'' on each team fend off bewitched balls called ''bludgers'' that try to knock players of their brooms. Each team also has a ''seeker,'' whose only job is to catch the ''golden snitch,'' a tiny gold ball that's very fast, and very hard to see. Catching the snitch ends the game and earns the seeker's team 150 points.

Oh yeah, and everyone's flying around on broomsticks. 0_o

Players don't have to worry about altitude, as the game takes care of that for you. Disappointing as it may be to lack the ability of ''Death from Above,'' you'll be kept plenty busy with everything else.

At the top of the screen, split like a yin-yang, is a meter that shows how much longer it will be until the snitch appears. As players score, the halves get pushed together; when it's whole, it's a race for the snitch.

It sounds odd at first, but this is actually a rather ingenious solution to the problem of, ''Why bother scoring at all, since the snitch will net you 150 points?'' As players race for the snitch, they are given a boost meter, directly proportional to how far along their half is on the snitch meter. To gain an upper hand, you must link together unbroken chains of throws and catches, capped by scoring. The longer the chain, the farther your meter gets pushed along. If you've been slaughtering your opponent for the whole game, it'll be nigh impossible for him or her to catch up to you during the snitch race, eliminating a ''cheap win''; if it's been a close game, whoever uses boost more effectively will get the snitch.

You also have access to a number of special moves, such as hitting bludgers towards your opponent, dodging said bludgers, and special moves, both individual and team. While they're certainly fun and easy to use, they don't swing balance wholly in favor of one player or the other (in fact, if you're not careful, after doing a ''special tackle,'' you might find the Quaffle stolen from you very quickly).

Throwing/catching is also simple, and does involve some skill. Pressing the pass button will throw the quaffle quickly, but if you don't have a ready receiver nearby, it could be an interception. If you hold it and press the D-Pad in a direction, a star will shine around the player you will throw it to. The longer you hold it, the farther you'll gun the ball.

And now the bad.

At points it felt as if the game fell into a routine of tackle, pass, pass, score. Even on the higher difficulty settings, the computer puts up a challenge...but not much. It also feels a little too easy to steal the quaffle -- hammer the button, swerve a little, and boom, it's yours. Playing at the higher levels mitigates this, as both teams fill be flying up and down the pitch, passing, being blocked, and having to swtich to defense many times.<p>
There is no way to switch players, short of passing, or having the computer do it for you if you lag behind too much. It's true that you're never far from the action, which is something I applaud, but I felt that I was being railroaded into playing the scorer all the time, and passing amounted to nothing more than getting the ball a little farther upfield.

My biggest gripe is how long it takes to complete a World Cup series: 18 games. Even on high difficulties I had no problem blowing by every team, and having to play every team twice (home and away), is just really annoying. This is also coupled with the fact that there are very few animations, and the games will quickly blur together.

Replayability: You can unlock new stuff by earning ''Quidditch Cards,'' which you get by completing different tasks, depending on the team you choose (''Get 10 unbroken passes,'' ''Get the Quaffle first''). The new moves you unlock are 1.) too few (I think there's 10? Maybe 15?), and 2.) too hard to pull off. I also found the special goal scoring moves, despite guaranteeing a goal, didn't help push my snitch meter up, so just didn't seem worth it.

You can also unlock new stadiums, but one play-through will just about do it. Still, it's fun to play on ''Queerditch Marsh'' (those who've read Quidditch Through the Ages will know what I'm talking about).

The sheer fun of the game makes it enough to play through multiple times, but it's a shame more wasn't done to make the experience more fulfilling.

Buy or Rent?: Mostly I would think this would depend on how much you like Harry Potter, but even then, give it a rent and see if this is for you.

Other Stuff: What was with the stirrups on the broomsticks?

Final Score: 7/10. I very much enjoy the game, but with so many missed opportunities, I can't score it higher (and the voice acting is unforgiveable). Here's hoping they make a sequel, though, and fix this one's problems.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/07/03