by Tyler Smith


The video game version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was released on June 30, 2009 to the great excitement of many fans in the Harry Potter fandom. Casual fans of the series, as in those who have read the books and don’t mind engaging in a discussion, but aren’t particularly active in the fandom, will most likely enjoy this game, however those certain fans who are extremely hardcore and know how many times Nearly Headless Nick had applied to join the Headless Hunt, will probably be disappointed in the game as I was. While there were, indeed, many benefits that helped the game be a success, there were many faults as well, including: originality, specific details, and non-repetitive game-play. To be fair, EA also included several features that made the game great as well such as: excellent graphics, believable voice-overs for those actors who didn’t voice their respective characters, and various clubs where you can practice things such as: Quidditch, Potions, and Dueling. While I was not particular impressed with the game, I believe that there are a great number of Harry Potter fans who will be.

One of the greatest flaws of the video game, I believe, was the overall content and originality. With previous games, the player would often find that there were, at least, various small changes to the Hogwarts interior and grounds, but in the Half-Blood Prince game, it was almost exactly like its predecessor, the Order of the Phoenix video game. This is where, I believe, the line between the various fans will be drawn: the hardcore gamers will most likely be angry that this game has little new content to offer, but the run-of-the-mill Harry Potter fans will most likely be glad that EA has decided to finally engage in absolute continuity. Before I played the game, I was not expecting much from the main missions that were to be included because I assumed they would be similar in content to its predecessor, and, I’m sad to say, I was correct. I also found that the missions tended to become repetitive, (there were several flying missions which did not differ much in content). With the overall content of the game, it is hard to believe that the release date had to be pushed to late June, if there actually were more reasons than the push-back of the movie release.

If the average game-player was looking for a game with excellent graphics, I would definitely suggest this game to them. Graphics were the one thing, I believe, the game-makers put a great deal of their time and effort towards. The characters looked extremely realistic and similar to the actors in the films, and, as stated before, actually sounded similar to the actors who portray them. Both the interior and exterior of the Hogwarts School were done extremely well and with great care and I believe it put the game above the others in a very significant way. Overall, the graphics were a very pivotal point of the game.

Most people would agree that, before the release of the game, the major features (Flying, Dueling, and Potion-Making) were definitely hyped up above all. Before playing the game, I didn’t have the highest of expectations for these features, only because I planned to purchase the game for the PlayStation 2 and the features seemed to be directed toward the Wii console, however, I was pleasantly surprised. I found myself playing the Potion-Making mini-game outside of the missions and was impressed when I found it actually wasn’t a game where it was impossible to fail, similar to other games. There is not much to say for the Dueling and Flying mini-games, however, as they were really what many fans, such as myself, would expect by now. It was often my experience while playing that I found myself enjoying the mini-games very much and, I would have to say, I appreciated the mini-games more than the overall video game.

Overall, I would not recommend this game to gamers who are looking for a gaming challenge, (I, myself, finished the game in less than two days) however it is a rather good game to own and to play whenever you just need a break from whatever it is you are doing. The graphics and various other features of the game definitely impressed me, whereas the overall content and originality left much to be desired. On a scale of 1 to 5, I would give this game a 2 and would advise the programmers at EA to try a little harder for their shot at the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows game. I realize that the U.S. is in definite tough times right now, and it was probably a good business decision not to redesign the entire Hogwarts castle, but I would expect a little more effort from EA to put out a quality game. Nevertheless, I will advise all Harry Potter fans, and gamers in general, to try the game and form your own opinions, for that is what keeps the video game business alive.