Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter, the boy who lived, the nemesis of Voldemort who is one of the biggest bad asses in recent children’s novels. The books have been translated very well into movies and actually I prefer the movies well over the books, but the games have not done so well. After the movie was delayed, the game was delayed as well and gamers had hopes that the extra time would equal a better game. Does it? Well it is not a bad game, but it is not something most gamers will find much value in.
In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Together they work to find the key to unlock Voldemort’s defenses and, to this end, Dumbledore recruits his old friend and colleague, the well-connected and unsuspecting bon vivant Professor Horace Slughorn, whom he believes holds crucial information. Meanwhile, the students are under attack from a very different adversary as teenage hormones rage across the ramparts. Harry finds himself more and more drawn to Ginny, but so is Dean Thomas. And Lavender Brown has decided that Ron is the one for her, only she hadn’t counted on Romilda Vane’s chocolates! And then there’s Hermione, simmering with jealously but determined not to show her feelings. As romance blossoms, one student remains aloof. He is determined to make his mark, albeit a dark one. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again. In the game, players return to Hogwarts to help Harry survive a fraught sixth year.
Gameplay
By now if you do not know who Harry Potter is you should get out from under that rock which has been buried under a mountain at the bottom of the sea and get a life. The amazing universe created by J.K. Rowling has been translated into a gazillion books, half dozen movies so far and a ton of games. It has been tough to get a good Harry Potter game to translate the action from the books and movies to the game.
In the Half-Blood Prince you control Harry as he plays Quidditch, explores Hogwarts School, makes potions and duels fellow students and various villains in an attempt to solve the mystery of the Half-Blood Prince. The controls are mostly well done and easy to pick up which is a good thing but it does not do everything right which is a shame.
When you play Quidditch you fly around on your broom attempting to catch the Golden Snitch by zooming around the field, flying through stars and knocking other seekers around. Flying is exceptionally easy and if you are even remotely good at playing video games you will always catch the Golden Snitch and win the flying mini-games.
Making potions is fairly easy as a mini-game but you will find that dropping objects such as slugs or whatever into your cauldron can be hit or miss. There is no way to tell where your cursor is as you pick up objects and attempt to drop them. Why the developers did not use a shadow as a reference point or some other common reference point is beyond me.
Duels are the most fun you will have in the game because you will learn new offensive and defensive spells, dodge incoming fire, deflect spells and use some great attacks such as levitation, stun and other spells. You will be dueling a lot in game against other students from all of the houses, competing in various dueling challenges and of course dueling Voldemort’s minions of evil. It was disappointing that dueling is too easy in the long run with all of Harry’s opponents showing what they are going to do before they will do it.
Graphics
I was surprised that the graphics in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince were as good as they were. Special effects for the spell casting, character models and of course Hogwarts itself all look great. Most of the animation is average at best with some of actual animation coming across in a very stiff manner. If it was not for the good character models and Hogwarts looking as good as it does the game would have a lower graphics score.
Audio
Video games based on movies have always been more miss then hit when it comes to overall quality, but the one area they should always succeed is in overall audio because the movie has laid out the ground work already. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince does most of the actual audio well but at times it trips up namely in the poorly acted voice work and by not using the same voice actors as the movie. Most of the game uses the same actors but there are some notable exceptions such as Alan Rickman is missing and a horrible sound alike tried to sound like him and failed. The rest of the audio for the environment, music and such is average but does not excel in any way.
Value
Harry Potter’s value, or lack of value comes from the fact the game is entirely linear with no real need to replay it and you can rush through the adventure very quickly over a weekend if you want to. This time Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince are worth nothing more than a rental for fans and for everyone else just skip this title and see the movie.
Bottom Line
While the game was delayed for a few months after the movie was delayed it appears the developers did little to improve on the game and if they did it was not in good shape before the delay. A few issues bring down what could have been a great title and makes this a rent nothing more.
Pros
+ graphics are well done and Hogwarts looks great
+ most of the audio is good
+ duels are fun
+ the magic of Harry Potter shines through in the game
+ does not ruin the movie by telling too much
Cons
- not using all of the actors voices ruins the immersion experience
- too much running around at times
- potion making is hard when you have to line up objects to drop in the cauldron
- very linear and does not allow for enough freedom and exploration as it should
Final Verdict
Here's a small guide to help you understand our evaluation of games.
PRESENTATION GRADE
Can be from the game's box to the contents of the booklet, and even the game introduction. (Intro, menus, options, etc)
GRAPHIC GRADE
Up to what point the graphics have been worked on my the developper. The design type, the effort used for textures and environments, as well as animations and framerate.
AUDIO GRADE
Is the soundtrack a good match to the game's style, he ambient sounds keeping with the gameplay and the sound effects clear and convincing?
GAMEPLAY GRADE
Placement of the controls and the inferface that the player with be using during the game.
REPLAY VALUE GRADE
The most important factor in the evaluation of a game. It identifies the lifespan of the game and the fun of coming back again and again.
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