Based loosely on both the book and the film, this is now the 6th (7th if you count that Quidditch game) video game starring Harry Potter and his friends at Hogwarts but is this a game for all muggles or only the wizarding kind?

Much like the previous Harry Potter games, especially Order of the Phoenix, this one follows the book more closely than the film does but continues the tradition of movie games by skipping over most of the plot of the film telling it in short cutscenes. Some of which are almost presented in a comic book style until the pre-rendered cutscenes take full stage but are very basic.

This is a little disappointing considering that they had an extra six months to work on the project, although this was most likely spent on working on the next game, Harry Potter and the Dealthly Hallows Part 1.

And incase you never read the book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has Harry return to Hogwarts a year after Sirius’ death where Harry believes that Draco has followed his father’s footsteps and become a Death Eater. Meanwhile the world believes Harry is the chosen one and so gains the interest of the new potions teacher, yep finally Snape has gained that position he’s always wanted, Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher. Dumbledore keeps disappearing and he has given Harry a strange task of getting a secret from the Potions master, Professor Slughorn, about the young Voldermort.

The character models look quite decent, even on the Wii, although there wasn’t much of an upgrade from the previous game, but at least the characters look quite like the actors even if some slightly enter the uncanny valley speaking of which the animations for the characters are just as bad, being stiff and seeming more along the lines of the previous generation consoles.

Speaking of the characters none of the actors, other than Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and Dan Radcliffe, make a return to voice there character which is another great shame.

The castle from the previous entry makes a return with more detail and more areas, however unlike the previous the entire castle is locked from the beginning and you must unlock it along the way, taking away that air of mystery and feeling of you can go wherever you want to go, instead Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince feels a lot more linear but on the plus side there are no load times between areas.

Another thing returns from a previous entry, Shields, although these first featured in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, this time however they are called Crests and help unlock features outside of the main game.
Yep local multiplayer, although it is only duelling but a nice feature none the less… despite the fact that Duels in the game are basically broken.

There’s a number of spells you can cast, however if you use either one of the two stun spells, you can easily spam the attack while the opponent is down and end the match within seconds but hey at least with the more Crests you get the more, characters you can unlock.

Also Quidditch makes a return to the series and manages to suck the fun out of it by putting you on rails, sure you sort of have a timer against you but the mode just doesn’t have a point, it’s brilliant it’s back but all you’re doing is moving slightly left, slightly right to go through these times gates so the time doesn’t run out.

Another returning feature, for the Wii version anyway and a new feature to the other versions, is Potion mixing, where you have to stir, shake and pore all kinds of ingredients into a cauldron the finish the mini game. Well although it feels like it’s a mini game it’s a massive part of the game and can diminish your overall Hogwarts experience.

The 3 elements, Quidditch, Duelling and Potion class, are the only variety in the game, the series’ exploration and platforming has taken a bow out of this game and hopefully it’ll make a return in the next game.

Overall the game is bad simply because it’s rushed… which is almost impossible since it had an extra nine months of development. Considering that the series just finally started getting better it’s a shame to see it take another step back. Hopefully the next instalment follows the previous titles sense of adventure with exploration and platforming, and hopefully gets more of the cast to play their on screen characters in the game. In terms of gaming, this will definitely not be your best year at Hogwarts.

+ Story/plot remains very similar to the novel.

- 3 gameplay mechanics quickly become tedious.

- Patchy and inconsistent voice acting.

- Visuals are mediocre for a Next Gen console.

5.2/10

By Darren Arquette Posted Friday, July 17th, 2009 9:39 pm