Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: the Videogame

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
EA Games, EA Bright Light
Available on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, PSP, Playstation 2 and PC

Hit movies and videogames seem to go hand in hand nowadays like clockwork. One would almost be surprised if some gaming company didn’t produce some sort of game to launch along aside each summer blockbuster which is why no one should be surprised that this reviewer is checking out the newest Harry Potter game from EA, especially since the latest instalment in the series hit theatres just a month ago.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on the Xbox 360 follows Harry into another year at Hogwarts School for Witch Craft and Wizardry as he deals with learning potions, joining the duelling club, playing Quidditch and fighting against Lord Voldemort .The main part of the game will take you through the storyline from the movie/book and will require you to finish mini games, fetch quests and more in order to progress further into the story. There are tons of side quests for you to take on like collecting badges or joining the duel club, but there is so much already in the main quest that you will have your hands full to begin with.

The game controls will take a bit to get use to as you must learn different button sequences to cast Harry’s spells. Once you get the hang of them, it is quite fun to toss different objects around the room using your levitation spell. Finding your way around Hogwarts School is a challenge in itself, so I suggest everyone take advantage of the in-game guide, Nearly Headless Nick, who will take you to your desired location.

Fans will be quite happy with how accurate EA’s team was at bringing the world of Harry Potter to live. The characters, though a little stiff around the edges, looked exactly like their real world movie counterparts and Hogwarts School was most impressive with its massive size and neat, little details like the moving stairs.

Even the voice acting was pretty good, considering that EA couldn’t secure the real actors to provide the voice-overs for the game. Almost all the characters sounded like the real actor from the movie which made the game, all the more enjoyable to play. Happily the game soundtrack was the same soundtrack from the new movie, so each game moment was enhanced by that magically Harry Potter theme plus a few new tunes.

Playing some of the past Harry Potter, I have to say this game was pretty overwhelming in terms of environment size and number of quests, but the quality is definitely there for your money, so I can certainly say that if you are a big Harry Potter fan, then this is the game for you. The plot leaves a few parts out from the book and the movie but it still gives you enough magic to make you feel like you’re part of Harry’s World.

Rating: 7 out of 10
Buy it!