Parents' Guide to

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

By Jinny Gudmundsen, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 10+

Dark themes handled with a light touch in this 6th game.

Game Mac, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, PSP, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360 2009
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

  • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Game: Screenshot #1
  • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Game: Screenshot #2
  • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Game: Screenshot #3

Community Reviews

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age 11+

Based on 5 parent reviews

Martin C.
Martin C. Parent
April 2, 2017
age 11+

Book Review: Harry Potter and the half blood prince

It's the sixth year of Hogwarts witchcraft of wizardry for Harry Potter . Professor Dumbledore persuades Professor Slughorn to come back from retirement and become a potion teacher for Hogwarts. Then Professor Snape gets to be the defense against the dark arts teacher. Throughout the store Harry, dumbledore and his friends have faced many challenges. During the story Harry and Dumbledore are looking for Horcurxes. In order for Harry and Dumbledore to defeat Voldemort they have to find the Horcurxes . The conflict is between Harry and Lord Voldemort. Voldemort had hidden the Horcurxes years ago and Harry and Dumbledore have to find them now. So noth of them have to leave the school to find them. The theme is even if you lost someone very important you continue on and work or fight even harder than ever . In the book it says they lost the greatest wizard of the Wizarding community. This was a good book because it shows great role models . In the story when the lost someone very important. They didn't give up , every kid in Hogwarts worked harder and fought harder, to defeat the evil.

This title has:

Great role models
momonick
momonick Parent of 9-year-old
February 24, 2010
age 10+

A great game

It is awsam game!!!! I love it

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much swearing
See all 5 parent reviews

What’s It About?

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?

Our review:
Parents say (5):
Kids say (22):

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.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about why all things Harry Potter are so popular?

  • How can game creators suck you into the game? Is it by presenting an emotionally charged story line? Or do they hook you by presenting fun activities to do. What happened here?

  • Is this game different from the book? From the movie? In what way?

Game Details

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