Harry Potter and the Half-Rated videogame

Who let Muggles create a wizarding videogame?

Loyal fans to the Harry Potter phenomenon will certainly love or hate the latest videogame from Electronic Arts, the same way as one does with Marmite.

The Nintendo Dual Screen version of the adventure title simply does not live up to the bigger consoles out there. With high-quality graphics, rich sound and music, as well as intricate animations, it appears that due to the DS being smaller and simpler, Electronic Arts have also made the gameplay simpler and smaller too.

The majority of the videogame revolves around Harry Potter exploring Hogwarts and completing mini tasks and games. Wild scavenger hunts will be the main source of entertainment from this videogame with the gamer being asked to find Luna Lovegood’s shoes, Quidditch equipment, chess pieces, with the list growing longer and longer. This, combined with the fact that most of the major plot elements to J.K. Rowling’s storyline for the novel occur via cut scenes, will undoubtedly frustrate any avid fan.

Yet one cannot be entirely so critical of the treasure hunt nature to the videogame. With Harry scouting around the entire perimeter of Hogwarts to find the items in question, one will be able to experience an open-world aspect to the videogame. Exploring all of the locations mentioned in the novels and movies at your own pace will certainly be a bonus, yet at the same time the experience will be hindered, due to only being allowed to gather items from certain pieces of the scenery, such as plants, spider webs and suits of armour. The fact that one has to continuously ask other students for hints and tips to the next location, which is placed into the wizarding SatNav named a Rememberall and is needed in order to progress onto the next part of the story, can also be testing at times too.

A variety of mini games are on offer ranging from exploding snap and gobstones to wizarding chess. Yet, like with the storyline aspect, gamers will ultimately grow tired after a while, due to the only refreshing change occurring with the opponent. Sadly, exploding snap turns into a Muggle version of a memory card game with fidgety cards, gobstones becomes marbles and wizarding chess, chess.

With this being said, there certainly is one aspect of the mini games to praise EA for – potion making. Relying on the potion items you have collected previously, the potion making will test your wits under a strict time limit. With numerous motions to use, ranging from shaking vials to blowing smoke created by the cauldron from your screen using the microphone, potion making with Slughorn will ultimately excite die-hard Potter fans as well as general gamers.

However, potions will sadly be your only source of powerful magic, due to the spells on offer only allowing Harry to be as powerful as any Muggle-born magician. With a “collect and fetch” aspect to the spells, Harry will become a car boot sale hero, due to being able to find bits and bobs other people have left around the school through the repetitive actions cast by swiping the stylus on the touch screen.

The stylus, however, does get to see more gameplay through the game of duelling. The duels appear basic, with a total of four moves available. Two unnamed spells are given to attack one’s opponent at different heights, whilst two shielding charms are given for protection. Even though only a total of four moves are available, the addition of different items to increase one’s stealth does give the duelling a greater degree of re-playability.

Harry Potter fans happy to see the return of Quidditch to the latest movie may not necessarily be so glad of its return in the videogame after having played it on previous versions. The Quidditch on the DS sadly only allows you to play as Chaser. Yet, the role of Seeker comes into play once the countdown has reached zero and the Snitch is released; this, plus the fact that the sport of wizards is spiced up when Harry is in detention, which allows the gamer to play as Ginny, will ultimately make Quidditch light-hearted and a refreshing change from previous instances of repetitiveness.

Like with the movies, Hogwarts is a stunning environment to encounter and to an extent this can be seen as the case with the DS’s adaptation of the well-renowned wizarding school. A mixture of impressive 2D backgrounds and 3D character models combine to give the gamer a keen sense of attention to detail. However, this sadly is hindered through the glitches which can be found around the castle in the form of vertical and horizontal lines slicing up the view as soon as one move’s Harry from one part of the screen to another. Yet, the playful music, which fits the meandering that the gamer will be doing throughout the videogame, will help to put these criticisms aside and help to make the game more enjoyable.

It appears that the latest videogame lacks key features, such as the multiplayer mode from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, as well as playability. With gamers having to read dialogue as opposed to hearing familiar Potter voices and being subjected to repetitive tasks, the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince videogame is sadly a step-back for the Potter franchise and hopefully will improve for the final instalment.

Rating: 5/10