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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

What’s the Story?

Reviewed by Jinny Gudmundsen

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE is the sixth Harry Potter game produced by Electronic Arts. This time around, Electronic Arts provides kids with the ability to openly explore a beautifully rendered Hogwarts castle and grounds. The retelling of the story of J.K. Rowling's sixth Harry Potter book is shown through video cutscenes that are triggered by the accomplishment of various tasks. As Harry, you will attend class, help others, practice making potions, go to Quidditch practice and play in matches, and practice dueling. The game culminates with your fighting some Death Eaters. Throughout your castle explorations, you will find Crests to collect which unlock new and bonus content, including the ability to duel with a friend.

Is It Any Good?

4

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a good game for kids and casual gamers who are fans of Harry Potter. Because it is an easy game and relatively short (about 8-10 hours in the story mode), it is not a good fit for video game enthusiasts. Because the story is compacted, it might not make sense to those who have not read the source book or seen the movie on which it is based. It is not as deep as previous games; in this one you will basically be brewing potions, dueling using magic, and flying during Quidditch.

What the game does well is provide realistic animations of all of the actors from the movie – you can even see emotion on the characters' faces. And many of the actors have lent their voice talents to the game including Rupert Grint as Ron and Bonnie Wright as Ginny. The wizard dueling is easier than in earlier games because the controls are more responsive (especially on the Wii) and you can now move Harry while he is casting magic spells. Likewise, the navigation is easier because you always have an option of calling up Nearly Headless Nick (a ghost) to lead you through the castle. We also found that flying on a broomstick had improved from previous games.

Inside the Game

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