Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince video game (PS3)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince marks Harry’s sixth venture to the world of magic, bringing with it the improvements and enhancements made by EA and Warner Bros. over the years.

You start off the game at the Burrow, where you get your first broomstick riding experience of HPHBP. There are some good effects going on, with grass and bushes blowing about and motion blur kicking in. The controls  on the broomstick are about right, sensitive but with enough friction. Riding a broomstick is one of the three main mini-games featured in this Harry Potter game. You simply aim for giant floating star shapes, which boast you one step closer to catching a snitch.

After the Burrow you are whisked away to Hogwarts, which is very familiar to the previous version. Not much has changed in terms of the schools/castles layout. The corridor décor has been improved somewhat and there’s a more polished feel when walking around the complex.

It’s in the Hogwarts grounds where the biggest changes have taken place. There is more space, some open fields, even a cave system and some other bits that you’ll find pleasantly surprising. Despite all the new additions and polish, there isn’t a great deal of difference. Given the two years since Order of the Phoenix, the changes aren’t as drastic as expected in the surroundings. There have, however, been changes to the characters.

The games characters look more like their movie counterparts, with better facial modelling and body animations to represent their actual actions. The in-game menu displays Harry Potter and he interacts with your menu movements and selections, this is where you can see some of the finer details, like the expressions, hair and eyes.

The great thing about this game, especially for kids, is the side quests and mini-games. As I mentioned above one such mini-game is broomstick riding, which comes in the form of Quidditch. The other two games are potion making and duelling.

The duelling is very similar to Order of the Phoenix, although spells look brighter and mroe colourful, there is little new in the actual gameplay here. The potion making can actually be quite good fun, it seems a bit basic at first, but later on requires a fair amount of skill in terms of co-ordination, reaction and awareness.

Harry potter and the Half-Blood Prince doesn’t bring a whole new game to the franchise, it’s too easy to see the similarities to Order of the phoenix to say it is something brand new. However, as you probably won’t be buying the game expecting a new game, but instead wanting to follow the HP story, you should find it a fun venture.

Kids and adults alike will enjoy this game, as long as they are happy with the simple gameplay mechanic that is used. The main story isn’t very difficult, but trying to beat the tasks and mini-games can be a real challenge at times. Overall the game lives up to the Harry Potter name, and with cutscenes that blend both photo quality and game footage, you’ll be sure you are wtaching the movie itself at times.

Overall Rating: 7/10