Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Back to Hogwarts we go...
Welcome, students, to another extraordinary year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - as presented by interactive rendition licence-holders EA, in the manner to which all who have played an EA tie-in will now be accustomed. Solid, I believe is the word that best describes this latest effort - linked heavily with the film on release since early June, and whilst you won't be getting many surprises here, there will be mercifully few glaring let-downs either. Of course, in the first instance being a fan of Rowling's ubiquitous Potter is pretty much essential, and a knowledge of the world if not the source novel also helps if you're to follow and enjoy this whistle-stop tour of the original story as much as possible.
What we're offered is an instantly recognisable movie-turned-game based firmly in the somewhat trite 'action-adventure' genre, offering mainly linear progression through a spate of puzzles, conflicts and exposition sequences, whilst all the time following the original plot loosely, and never getting overly complex, difficult or indeed inspiring. One for the 'younger gamers', would be the most obvious apologia for the simplistic and unchallenging mores of the game, though given Potter's juvenile audience we find it difficult to argue with this synopsis on this occasion. That being said, due to my particularly inept nature, there were one or two levels in the game which found me, well, stumped. Being stuck on an early level in any game is obviously frustrating, but add to that the ever-present humiliating factor that the game in question is aimed in the majority at the under 15s market, and you may find yourself in a rather bad mood. Still, if you possess more hand-eye coordination than me (and lets face it, it's not difficult), then you should have no problems; however, if you join me in the shallow end of the gaming ability pool (and I'll be the one with the armbands on), we can at least look at the bright side: if you didn't have a healthy amount of hatred for Professor Snape from reading the books or seeing the films, you certainly will after being caught a million times blundering stupidly about the corridors. Although I'm sure I can't be blamed for this; all there was at my school to catch kids out of lessons was a particularly lecherous CDT teacher, none of this 'suits of armour emitting purple rays of light while a disgruntled wizard parades up and down' milarky. Mind you, it was a state school.
Purists may find that some of the puzzles and sequences presented do wander rather too far from the plot, but in many ways it is these same instances that actually offer the most interesting gameplay, exposing the film and novel's weaknesses as a premise for building an interactive 'experience'. That said, you are offered a good general overview of the story, even if it isn't as expertly paced as the book or film. Atmosphere is generally something EA recreate well in their cinematically-inspired offerings, and The Prisoner of Azkaban certainly carries some of the more ominous and frightening undertones with which the book marked a maturation from the original two novels.
Not only is the dank and mysterious ambience of Hogwarts presented expertly, but graphical effects and audio also combine well to offer a sense of place and mood; the flowing capes and shifting pictures prove especially noteworthy, not to mention the haunting omni-present flames flickering on walls. The voice acting is also good and authentic when compared to the film, though certain all-too frequent phrases will begin to grate at times, in the customary fashion. If, like me however, you have a particularly strange obsession with actor and writer Stephen Fry (though I'm not too sure if this something many people would admit to), it will be more than worth keeping the sound on to hear his cut scene narration from the actual books, delivered of course, with a magnificent and positively magical grandeur. Unlike past titles in the series, you can also take control of Ron and Hermione in addition to Harry, and during certain sequences you'll want to switch between characters often to perform certain tasks (young Hermione can squeeze herself through smaller spaces, for example, and lovable ginger mockney Ron can open secret passage ways that the other two cannot). On other occasions however, as the unfolding story dictates, you will only be able to control one character like previous outings. The extra mini-game Duelling club is also fun for this reason, where you can switch between characters to fight your opponents, which is useful when one of your team conveniently gets their head turned into a pumpkin. These playable duelling characters are not limited to the three main kids either, as you can play as three members of Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin as well as everyone's favourite, Gryffindor.
In the game proper, individual characters also have specific spells - a nice touch - and as usual these can be mapped to action keys as required, reflecting the largely intuitive standard of the controls. A bit of spit and polish does seem to be missing at times, mainly where load times and occasional visual glitches are concerned, however the game is always slick and easy on the eye, as indeed we've come to expect from all titles emerging from the House of EA.
Having looked at both the PS2 and Xbox versions of this game, I can safely say that the Xbox version is, as expected, comfortably the prettiest of the two, also benefiting from slighty better (though still annoying) load times. The PS2 does have a trick up its sleeve however in the shape of the extra EyeToy-enabled mini-games included, something of a coup for Sony even if the majority of said games are little more than Potter-branded takes on already familiar EyeToy games (but to a Potter-maniac market where everything from sweets to toothbrushes can be found with a token flash of lightening or pair of broken specs, these shall probably be snapped up eagerly as stunning examples of ingenuity).
The Prisoner of Azkaban won't be winning any awards for innovation, but then it could be suggested that EA are merely making a game for a specific audience, most of whom probably wouldn't have appreciated anything too original or taxing anyway; thus making it hard to condemn EA's apparent cynicism in putting together what is clearly a linear and formulaic cash-in timed perfectly to ride the movie-induced Tsunami to the top of the charts. What could have been disappointing in this case seems merely fitting.
Fun for the young 'uns and hardcore Potterites, The Prisoner of Azkaban could never be described as a "gamer's game". Instead it ticks a number of very basic and previously-defined boxes with unbending efficiency, throwing in a few commendable moments of surprising fun, drenched in the usual superficial fineries (the visuals, recognisable characters, plotlines, set-pieces, et al) with which many an EA game has plied its trade in the past.
An unsurprising,
60%
Comments
better jump on to the game rather than 60% storytelling , eh?
I love the books but i did not read the 4 one yet and my friends said it verry good. my faverit actress in the movie is Emma beacause she is so loky to have friend's like Daniel and thom....
And thiss weakend i'm gouing to see the movei like my friend that wrote B4 me
P.S
i thingk that tom felton is a real cutie
I saw the movie Harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban and I think this is the best movie ever
Harry is hot
is the game a 2player
the third movies great but the fourth is supposed to be 2 hours long and their going to skip the quidditch world cup out.:-(
can I download this game?
the forth book is going to me made in to 2 films so the dont have to cut alot out so u can stop worrying about them cuttin out the world cup
i really love your game
this is very highly recomended for chlidren becouse when i saw harry potter1and 2 it was very very very good
the film was good but the game sucks no quidicth which is stupid no beggining like shopping in diagon alley and you dont get the FIREBOLT so this game is terrible.
the game was way too childish
i couldnt stand the way words would always pop up and tell you what to do, however simple the task
no quidditch and no firebolt really was a bad idea
i was very disappointed as i really loved the 2nd game
ah well.. at least the film was better than the first two
i like gaming
Wow! I got my own video game!!!! Ha ha ha, in you face losers!
can i downlaod this game:-)
gogogo wheel chair
you stink you jerk!
stupid
i love the movies soooooo much. They r soooooo cool that i wish i could be in one. rock on dudes!
This game is pretty bad- c'mon, you can't even switch spells to make it harder? No Quidditch? And the campaign was easy to beat- I want some more. I wouldn't really want to buy this game again- and the movie left out some of the most important parts of the book. Let's hope they do a better job next time.
iv just got the game Harry potter and the prisoner of Azkaban and im stuck on the bit were u have to defeat this fire thing i don't no what its it called please help me.
the EA.GAMES should allow to download the demo version of harry potter and the pisioner of azkaban from the internet for free. Couse i have play it and it's really a very good game and i would like to give others kids to play this game at once.
i think that the game isnt that easy. i mean yeah its not the hardest game ever, but it still takes time. as for me, i love the movies. and prisoner of azkaban was my all-time favorite! i thought that the game wasnt as good, but still would recommend it. its good if you have nothing to do with your time and just want a brain-twister. yes, it may be a little childish, but still is fun!
im stuck on a level
im stuck on a level
the game is not good as previous one
can i download this game?
hi all, can someone help me plz
i wanna download hp2 or hp3 full game but i dont know where. plz can anyone help me. write me where i can download it on rax120@hot.ee. thnx
lol :-P
How much is this game?
oh ah ohhhhhhhh baby look at that its your face ah ah ah (fart) oh yeah thats good
huyukitg.iwe3
there is not 2 films just 1 and it has the world cup in
no 2 films only 1 and there is the world cup-D
legal
Where can I download harry potter and the chamber of secrets??
anybody, please tell me...
Lmao you call you guys gamers :d i got Harry Potter 1,2,3,4
Hi! :p Harry Potter is awsome! :D
i love harry potter
I can download this game?
How i can to get the full version of Harry potter free??:-D
I can download this game??
where is the game ?
u can download harry potter and the chamber of secrets.and harry potter and the goblet of fire, as well.
olha o jogo ta show de bola!!!os graficos nem s fala ta pau"!!!melhor q nas outras versoes!!!fuizzzz
:-p how can you skip a level
ka var ieladet hariju poteru
harry potter is my hero he is the best man of the world
how can i download this game?
vive harry potter
how the hells do u download the game?
i hate the movies, they cut a lot of scenes ,they stink
i got order of the pheonix movie, i rule
on the net
can i play this game?
in your butt!hahahahahahahaha
shut up!you skunkback
i like this game very much
this game is my fovourite game forever
You suck
shut it
cant you talk nice? now i have to act like your mother and tell you to be nice to your friends. If you dont have anything to say, dont say anything at all.
ps. cool game. may dementors suck out your souls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
sorry
be nice
remember, Mike McClosky sucks
are you able to fly the firebolt in this game?
merry christmas! hope it is filled with joy! just saying!
Christopher Green
Hermione Granger is hot!!!!!!!!!
NAZDAR hele kde a jak mám stáhnout vole to demo ? tý krávo dyt tady nekde nini vole že ,,download demo,, chci to thanks vole !
Is there any way to get the firebolt and fly it in this game?????
I took the quiz on a website (I forget the name),
and it said my patronus would be an eagle!
I like it
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
how can i get herminies statues?
i hate harry potter very very very very much
This didn't help me at all
da
i guess i'm late . Fags...
i love it
I <3 JAMES AND OLIVER PHELPS!!!!
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
max
max
I Love read books and saw a video harry potter ,please give me dondlowd this game
where should I click to play.I don't see where
the is no ............end
we would the latest version please
thinks again
sdfff
LIKE
where can i download this game.?
ok
download this game for free
download
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game download free
adddfffs
It so nice to play