2008 Woodie Awards
No Magic Here
Justin Reid
Issue date: 1/31/08 Section: Sci/Tech
When I originally tried my hand at the Xbox adaptation of the Harry Potter series in Gamestop, I was enchanted by its entertainment value. But when I actually bought Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, I found the magic had a shelf life of about an hour.
I'll start at the beginning. The first thing I noticed when I booted up the game was that the cinematics were pretty good, except that the characters' hair looked kind of cubed and lumpy.
You start out on the train to Hogwarts, ready for another year. This is where you'll get the tutorial. You'll also get in a fight with Draco, but that ends when Dementors burst into the train. At this point, Harry passes out and you play as Ron, dragging him away. It's at this point that the game shows you how to switch between characters. The fact that you can switch between Hermoine, Ron, and Harry is a well-done concept, and it figures prominently into the gameplay. At times, you may need to use all three characters to accomplish an action. At other times, only one character can perform an action that will allow you to advance through the level. Ron's good at finding hidden passageways, Hermoine is adept at crawling through small places, and Harry can jump long distances and stuff. Also, some spells can only be cast by certain characters. Overall, this concept comes off as demonstrating the trio as a well-oiled machine, rather than cliché, like the "teamwork" required in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: BattleNexus.
I also thought the puzzles within the game seemed well-thought out and seemed to fit in well with the actual storyline. The real problem, though, was in the fighting aspect of the game. First of all, there are only nine spells you can learn within the entire game. Just nine, in a world where magic can do anything? That may seem okay, but remember, most spells can only be used by one character. And here's something else: only three of the spells are offensive, and only one works on all creatures. That's flipendo, which causes your enemy to somersault. Pretty lame, huh? There are no curses, hexes, and very few transfiguration spells. They didn't use a quarter of the spells Rowling came up with. This game gets three stars out of five.
I'll start at the beginning. The first thing I noticed when I booted up the game was that the cinematics were pretty good, except that the characters' hair looked kind of cubed and lumpy.
You start out on the train to Hogwarts, ready for another year. This is where you'll get the tutorial. You'll also get in a fight with Draco, but that ends when Dementors burst into the train. At this point, Harry passes out and you play as Ron, dragging him away. It's at this point that the game shows you how to switch between characters. The fact that you can switch between Hermoine, Ron, and Harry is a well-done concept, and it figures prominently into the gameplay. At times, you may need to use all three characters to accomplish an action. At other times, only one character can perform an action that will allow you to advance through the level. Ron's good at finding hidden passageways, Hermoine is adept at crawling through small places, and Harry can jump long distances and stuff. Also, some spells can only be cast by certain characters. Overall, this concept comes off as demonstrating the trio as a well-oiled machine, rather than cliché, like the "teamwork" required in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: BattleNexus.
I also thought the puzzles within the game seemed well-thought out and seemed to fit in well with the actual storyline. The real problem, though, was in the fighting aspect of the game. First of all, there are only nine spells you can learn within the entire game. Just nine, in a world where magic can do anything? That may seem okay, but remember, most spells can only be used by one character. And here's something else: only three of the spells are offensive, and only one works on all creatures. That's flipendo, which causes your enemy to somersault. Pretty lame, huh? There are no curses, hexes, and very few transfiguration spells. They didn't use a quarter of the spells Rowling came up with. This game gets three stars out of five.
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