Brutal Gamer

Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince (PS3) Review

By Zeth - July 7, 2009 - 08:47 UTC

So, Are we Potty about Potter.. Oh wait I used that line already, drat!

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. They also have a chance to engage in exciting wizard duels, mix and brew magical ingredients in Potions class and take to the air to lead the Gryffindor Quidditch team to victory. Players may even get sidetracked by Ron’s romantic entanglements as they journey towards a dramatic climax and discover the identity of the Half-Blood Prince.

Graphically HP is a likeable affair.  Sure the character models could of looked better and there is a real dull sheen across the whole affair but for the main stay the graphics serve their purpose well.  There is the odd clipping issue and a weird effect that makes hair only move from the nape of the neck down – not to mention Ginny Weasley’s hair looks like she robbed it from a Lego lady.  The sprawling grounds of the castle have be recreated very well and any fan from the movie / books will love the ability to roam the grounds of the legendary fictitious school.  Another odd quirk that struck me was that for a large amount of the later parts of the game Dumbledor’s mouth no longer moved and that was just plain weird!

Animations are fluid enough but the female characters all appear to have a rather “manly” quality about them!  Facial animations and gestures could of used some more work – these are almost pre-’08 levels of facial animation.  That said they convey the story well enough and never venture in to “Uncanny Valley”.

Sound wise all the relevant noises are in place.  The famous Harry Potter theme music rings out clearly and the in game speech is reasonable.  It is more than a little disappointing that for the most part the real voice actors could not be used.  I think Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) is the only original cast member to make the transition to the game.  Spot effects are well managed and help to capture the mood be it exploring, dueling or dropping slug jobbies in to your potion mixture.  The rest of the incidental music used in the game is also more than pleasant and is a highlight of the product at times.  Plenty of soaring orchestral themes accompany your travels around Hogwarts and a surprise outing for a piece of Jazz/Swing music is most welcome when undertaking a sequence using Ron.

Gameplay wise this is almost identical to the previous outing for Harry in Order of the Phoenix.  You are given free reign over Hogwarts, limited by locked areas at the start, but progressively more and more opens up to you.  The game is sort of like GTA-Lite.  You make your way around the school, directed by friends and messengers, undertaking small bite-sized quests.  The main bulk of the game is split into Potion making, Quidditch playing, Dueling and Exploring.  To be honest the exploration part is the most satisfying of them all.  The real issue with the game is that this sequence repeats and repeats and repeats and.. well you get the idea.

That said it is good fun exploring the grounds, hunting for the 150 Hogwarts crests hidden around the place.  Quiddich has been fairly well done as well.  You don’t get full control, this is a “Guided Experience” (On-Rails to you and me!) with your character – Harry mostly – flying around the pitch chasing the Snitch (had to be careful typing that!).  You guide your player through stars and this boosts them faster and gets them through the next gate – it is kind of like an Outrun time trial but with a Snitch… and a broom.. never mind!  This is a good distraction from my least favourite part – potion making!

Fudge me this gets on my pecs majorly!  OK listen carefully game devs – Don’t make a game that needs colour accuracy when colour blind people exist in the world!  The number of times I blew up my potion or mixed the wrong colour!  I also had great trouble picking up the correct item and then getting the bloody mixture in to the cauldron!

Dueling is reasonably well done – to be honest HP is not about the action and splatting.  It is about the spells and magic and this does a reasonably good job at capturing that – more so than the DS version!  Spell casting is executed simply but using the analogue sticks in certain combinations.  For example right stick straight up fires a bolt of Stupify.  To be honest after the review for this and Fight Night : Round 4 I think I might see if EA can send me a new controller – my Right stick is a little worse for wear.

Longevity IS a major issue.  I did not take on the extra Potions or do many dueling club visits etc but I still cleared the entire game in under 5 hours and only died twice right near the end.  This simply is too short.  Admittedly you could go back in to the universe and explore Hogwarts more after completing the story.  You can then explore and find more crests or mix more potions etc.  To be honest you could draw out another couple of hours tops with the extra content.  There is a two player dueling mode which offers minimal distraction, but this soon dwindles.  The size of the castle is handled well though as the character Nearly Headless Nick can be called forth at any point to show you the way to your next objective – a good touch and a god send for younger gamers.

Final Thoughts:-

This game stands head and shoulders over it’s handheld counterparts.  This is much more the overall “Potter” experience fans are looking for.  Sure, it has a few graphical issues, is structurally similar to the last game and the repetitive nature of the gameplay does grate a little – and MAN is it short.  All that said though, this is exactly what someone would want from a Harry Potter game.  You can roam the castle and grounds.  You can can play as several of the characters and the atmosphere is spot on.  If your a fan of the stories then this is a good buy and a fantastic rent.  If you just like simple arcade adventure titles then this is also a great time waster.  This would be a sound investment for the younger gamer fan of Potter.  As a fan I would say pick it up, as a non fan I would say try a demo , you might be surprised!

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