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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
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Graphics & Sound:
If the past decade has been any indication, the Harry Potter franchise is at its worst in videogame form. The games aren't flat-out bad, but Harry Potter fans (particularly the ones who are gamers) deserve far better. For whatever reason, the developers have decided to adapt many of the books and films in ways that barely qualify the final products as games. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince continues this unfortunate trend. It severely fumbles the story (a first for the game adaptations), while offering gameplay that grows old far too quickly.
The Wii version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is, as is the case with other multiplatform releases, visually inferior to its next-gen counterparts. That being said, it's not as far behind as most Wii titles tend to be. Characters look realistic enough, although facial expressions and lip-synching are sub-par at best. There are many jagged edges to much of what you'll see here, and the framerate is not as good as it should be, but overall, Rowling's vibrant world is represented fairly well.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince sounds a bit better than it looks. As is the case with the last two films in the series, the soundtrack never reaches the majesty of John Williams' original work on the first three films, but none of the music betrays the atmosphere of the source material. At one point in the game, a big band arrangement of "Hedwig's Theme" swings into full gear, and I really hope it's included in the film. Voicework is very hit-and-miss, even though the dialogue is terrible almost across the board. A few key players from the films reprise their roles for the game. Rupert Grint and Bonnie Wright return to voice Ron and Ginny Weasley; their work adequately represents Ron's role as Harry's best friend and Ginny's role as Harry's primary love interest. Tom Felton's contribution gives the conflicted Draco Malfoy the icy personality fans have come to expect. Unfortunately, the talents of Dan Radcliffe and Emma Watson are nowhere to be found here; while Harry's voiceover sounds accurate enough, Hermione's is simply terrible. |
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Gameplay:
Warning: the following paragraph contains brief (albeit vague) spoilers regarding the plot of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Since the majority of people who are going to play this game have already read the book, I have decided that some of the plot elements here may affect how much gamers enjoy this title; therefore, they need to be discussed.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince loosely follows the plot of the saga's sixth book, which chronicles Harry Potter's turbulent sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. After the events of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the wizarding world has finally accepted the fact that Lord Voldemort's body has been restored to its full, terrifying potential. Albus Dumbledore (headmaster of Hogwarts and mentor to Harry Potter) is on the brink of finding the final piece of the puzzle -- the knowledge of how to kill He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Unfortunately, this adaptation tells the story from a disinterested standpoint; it even goes as far as to jam its own non-canon plot points into Rowling's fiction. The worst offender occurs about halfway through the game. Harry's relatively peaceful Christmas at the Weasley Burrow is altered to accommodate a nonsensical five-minute action sequence with Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback. It's been confirmed that the filmmakers have included this scene in the film, but the game hardly makes a good case for its existence. Even the story's shocking conclusion feels rushed and sloppily executed. There are only two particularly great moments, and they both involve Ron and Harry's experience with love and luck potion. You'll get a chuckle out of both whether you're a fan or not. If you've read the books, it won't take long to notice that this game does not do the story justice by a long shot. If you haven't read the book, you won't understand anything.
The game shuttles you, as Harry Potter (and in two brief segments, Ron and Ginny Weasley) between story events that advance the narrative. Most of Hogwarts is open for you to explore (the game's biggest draw by far), although several parts of the school have been inexplicably blocked off by Ministry Aurors. Since you have your wand at the ready for ninety-percent of the game, different objects around the school can be manipulated by using the right spell. None of this is exciting, but it is fun to explore the school.
Sometimes you'll be confronted by the likes of Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle (Draco Malfoy's borderline-retarded cronies), and towards the end, you'll face off against a few of Voldemort's Death Eaters. These duels are short to the point where they feel pointless. As an added bonus, you can take dueling into multiplayer. It's a neat idea, but the whole thing is so bare-bones that it has no longevity.
Oddly, you'll only have to attend one or two classes during the entirety of Harry's sixth term year. The most notable one is Professor Horace Slughorn's Potions class. Harry has found himself in the possession of a mysterious textbook that once belonged to a mysterious figure called the Half-Blood Prince. The Prince's notes prove to be quite invaluable, as they rewrite standard potion-making rules in favor of a better finished product. This makes its way into gameplay; some parts of HBP force you to mix the right potion by following a set of illustrated instructions. Many of these instructions repeat themselves, but this mini-game is fun for a while.
After two years of no Quidditch (due to Goblet of Fire's Triwizard Tournament and the omission of Quidditch scenes in the film adaptation of Order of the Phoenix), you'll finally get to return to the pitch. Despite the game-breaking lack of balance in the wizarding world's sport of choice, it is indeed fun to watch the high speed chases and skull-cracking violence on the big screen. Fans looking to participate in the madness of Quidditch will be disappointed, because the potential thrill of flying at breakneck speeds is utterly destroyed by the fact that the entire experience is on-rails. You only get to play the position of Seeker, whose job is to catch the elusive Golden Snitch. How do you do that? You fly through a bunch of rings before automatically catching the winged ball. Whoo-hoo.
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Difficulty:
You can beat Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in one sitting if you don't care about exploring Hogwarts, participating in clubs, and collecting badges. Still, even if you choose to make every potion and attend every club meeting, you can beat the game and see all there is to see in just a handful of hours.
The only challenge in HBP comes from dueling and potion-making, and there's not much challenge to speak of when it comes to either of them.
Dueling is extremely easy, whether you're dueling Hufflepuff's junior champion or Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange. All you have to do is incapacitate your enemy and then unload a few charged Stupefy charms on them. Stupefy is your only offensive spell, although Petrificus Totalus will slowly drain your opponent's health as he or she remains immobile. Expelliarmus will knock the enemy down for around ten seconds, which is more than enough time for anyone to get in close and finish the fight. Levicorpus has a similar effect; it's a spell that hangs your opponent in the air by his or her ankles.
Potion-making is challenging at times, but it never devolves to sheer frustration. You can see exactly what you need to add, but the rate at which the new ingredients blend into the mix is not consistent. This can make it easy for the area to flood with smoke. The challenge of potion-making only manifests itself in your almost complete lack of depth perception. It's not a problem when you're dealing with liquids or powders, but it is when you're trying to add five handfuls of dragon crap to the concoction.
Unless you want to find every Hogwarts Crest and Mini-Crest, you won't touch HBP for the rest of your life after you've finished the main story. Save for exploring the castle's limited number of secrets, there really is no reason to come back to this game. There are no strong points to the gameplay that will bring you back, and you'll have seen more than enough by the time you finish the game. |
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Game Mechanics:
The controls for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince take a while to get used to, but the scheme is definitely workable. While Harry's movement is controlled with the Wii Nunchuk's analog stick, wand and potion-making controls are exclusively mapped to the Wii-mote. They're fun for a while, but they get old quickly. Worse yet, many of these controls make you feel like the guy who became notorious for flailing his arms wildly during the Wii Music demonstration at Nintendo's E3 2008 press conference.
Controlling The Boy Who Lived isn't as intuitive as it could be, but given the rest of the controls, it's tolerable. The Wii Nunchuk's analog stick will move Harry, while holding the (Z) button will send Harry into a near-uncontrollable sprint. Think Gears of War's roadie run, but with a cavalier disregard for safety. When you sprint, the camera zooms in to an extreme angle, making it difficult to see the people you will no doubt slam headlong into. Camera controls are also kind of wonky; holding the (B) button and pointing the Wii-mote where you want to look is a bit weird, but at least you've got the (C) button to re-center the camera behind Harry. I've saved the best for last -- if you remember Order of the Phoenix's frustrating footprint navigation system, you'll be happy to know that Half-Blood Prince one-ups that by allowing you to summon Nearly Headless Nick (the hapless ghost of Gryffindor House) with a tap of the (-) button. Nick will always know how to get you where you need to be, and he'll often strike up a relevant conversation.
Wand controls have their pros and cons. When you're not dueling, you'll need to select a target by pointing the Wii-mote at the object you want to manipulate and pressing (A). Wingardium Leviosa (the levitation spell) is cast by simply selecting a target and flicking the Wii-mote upwards. After that, a downward flick will send the object flying. Waving the Wii-mote side to side will cast Reparo (the repairing spell), which you'll only need a few times over the course of the game. A simple flick of the wrist will have Harry cast either Depulso or Stupefy, depending on whatever situation Harry is in. If he is simply exploring Hogwarts and needs to uncover some mini-crests, Harry will cast Depulso. However, if he's in the middle of a duel, he will cast Stupefy. The spell that requires the most bizarre gesture is Expelliarmus, the disarming spell. To cast Expelliarmus, you must hold the Wii-mote and Nunchuk upright, then slam them down. Not only does it feel weird, but it fails to accurately represent the action on the screen (which, if I'm not mistaken, is what the Wii-mote was created to do). There are other spells, such as Petrificus Totalus, Protego, and Incendio, but they aren't required to finish the game.
Potion-making controls are just about perfect. You select your ingredients in the same way that you target objects. An upward flick will levitate your selected ingredient in the air, and if it's a liquid, you simply treat the Wii-mote like a bottle or vial. Sometimes you'll need to shake your liquids up until they bubble, and sometimes you'll need to fan the flames that heat your cauldron. Other times, you'll need to fan the smoke away with the Nunchuk. All of this works exactly like you'd think it would, and it is here that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince succeeds most with regards to the controls.
As I mentioned earlier, flying on a broom is an on-rails experience. All you get to do is point the Wii-mote where you want to fly. It feels very dumbed-down.
Regardless of how much I think about it, I'm still stumped as to why a truly great Harry Potter game has never surfaced throughout the fabled franchise's lifespan. Think about it: J.K. Rowling has created a seamless fantasy world with her books, complete with elements that practically beg to be translated into gameplay mechanics. Yet, we're still left with games that can be described as amateur at best. If you're a casual gamer and a hardcore Harry Potter fan, you'll like some parts of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. If you're a hardcore gamer and a hardcore Harry Potter fan, this game was not made for you. As a fan of the series, I'm frustrated that game developers still can't help this series break out of its shell, despite already having six of seven (or eight) games under the belt. If the developers choose to emulate the decision of the filmmakers, there could be two more Harry Potter games. From where I'm standing, though, it looks like the potential of this franchise may go forever untapped. |
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-FenixDown, GameVortex Communications AKA Jon Carlos |
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