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Developer: EA Bright Light Studio
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Available on: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PSP, Wii, DS, PC, Mac
Reviewed on: Xbox 360
There’s been a trend in movie-inspired video games to expand upon what you get on the big screen by offering prequel stories (“Terminator: Salvation”), sequel tales (“Wanted: Weapons of Fate”) or deeper explorations of the source material (“X-Men Origins: Wolverine”). But “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” aims simply to stay true to its source. That might seem like a detriment to some, but there’s something to be said for a game that allows you to purely relive a cinematic adventure with you as the hero.
Based on the sixth movie (and book) in the Potter series, this third-person action game once again finds our titular hero trying to stop “He Who Must Not Be Named” and his minions. That means—as in every other “Potter” game save for 2003’s sporty “Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup”—lots of running around, exploring Hogwarts, casting spells and chatting up your classmates. You can also seek out the 150 Hogwarts crests that have been carelessly left lying around where someone might trip over them.
Minigame options include the standard potion mixing and Quidditch, plus a new opportunity to duel with your magic wand. The characters look exactly like the actors who play them in the movie, while the game’s cinematic score enhances the feeling that you’re in the film.
So what’s lacking? Well, unless you’ve read the book or seen the movie, it could be difficult to understand what’s going on. You’d think they’d do a better job explaining things to muggles. It doesn’t help that there are times when the music gets so loud you can barely hear what anyone’s saying, and yet there’s no option to turn down the tunes.
The game is also likely to give players on any platform other than the Wii a serious case of Wii-envy. There’s nothing like a Wiimote to simulate a real magic wand—mechanic wiggling the 360’s right thumbstick just can’t compare.
Most egregiously, many of the main characters aren’t voiced by their cinematic counterparts. There’s no Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson or Alan Rickman here. The only major characters voiced by the film actors are Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton). Even Hedwig, Harry’s owl, isn’t voiced by the bird in the film.
These are minor quibbles, especially for fans. If you can get past the disparity in the characters’ voices (and can hear them over the music), deal with wiggling a thumbstick, and follow the plot because you already know it by heart, “Half-Blood” is a lot of fun for Harry wannabes.
Bottom line: Despite some minor growing pains, it’s another good year at Hogwarts.
