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Lots of fun but rather disappointing in a number of ways

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 83 / 89
Date: June 06, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban is a great game, but I think it falls far short of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in terms of gameplay, atmosphere, and most certainly duration. I enjoyed the chance to play as Ron and Hermione, but it's not as if you choose one for a certain situation - it's all predetermined by the game itself. I was happiest when the trio stayed together and worked as a team - a number of different actions require the skills of more than one of our young wizard characters. Nice new additions such as this to the HP gaming experience turn out, unfortunately, to be few and far between. Much more is lost than is gained here.

The graphics are quite good, for the most part, but they just don't make Hogwarts come to life. In fact, Harry is pretty much just thrown down in the middle of the place and sent to class without any adequate introduction - there's no animation clip of Harry's departure from the Dursley household, no get-together in the Great Hall, only the briefest of welcomes from Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall, and little chance to really settle in. Hogwarts itself seems to lack character, especially when viewed from outside the grounds - I never felt as if I were really "home." The experience is further diminished by the nonexistence of Quidditch matches, a House Points Championship, or extracurricular activities such as wizard dueling. Then there's the length of the thing. Just as I was settling in and planning to get start exploring the place in earnest, I found myself almost at the end of the game. This feels more like a demo than a complete game. You basically only learn three new spells here, and the spell challenges are much shorter than those of the earlier Harry Potter games. And even though Hogwarts looks bigger in this game, there is much less to do and explore than I was expecting based on my memories of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The only association you really have with your professors is in the challenges; in fact, there is hardly any interconnection with characters other than Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the entire game (even Draco Malfoy is kept out of the picture almost completely). Things come much too easily, even when Harry has to battle a horde of Dementors. As bad a player as I am, I had little trouble advancing quickly past all of the challenges - that is a clear sign that the game is much too easy.

The game does have its good points. Flying Buckbeak is loads of fun and makes for an almost serene experience. Expecto Patronum makes a fine addition to Harry's repertoire of wizarding skills, the ability to create and temporarily control small dragons makes for a bit of a fun challenge, and Carpe Retractum offers up a different and rather risky way to get around inside a challenge. The ability to create little rabbits and send them out to explore the local area is fun at first but eventually feels a little silly. I also have mixed feelings about the new Glacius spell, largely because sliding down frozen streams of water just doesn't seem to jibe with my concept of Hogwarts and Harry Potter in particular. All of this points to the most problematic issue with the game - it all too often wanders far afield from the events of the novel and movie. This renders the whole Sirius Black storyline as almost incidental and anticlimactic at best. Giving the game designers such a free hand in terms of content seems to have led to a concentration on the gaming aspects rather than the storyline, and that weakens the whole experience.

Harry is basically just going through the motions in this third installment of the HP gaming saga. When I finished the Chamber of Secrets game, I went right back in and played it a second time. Having finished The Prisoner of Azkaban, I feel no such commitment to the experience and may or may not ever return to this adventure. It's still a fun game to play, but give me HP and the Chamber of Secrets any day over this newest addition to the HP gaming series.

Fun, but not as good as Chamber of Secrets

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 53 / 57
Date: June 25, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I've really enjoyed the Harry Potter games on the PC -- they're a great combination of adventure and (mild) combat, and bring the Harry Potter universe to life in a fun way.

But I wasn't thrilled with this one. I liked it, but had some reservations and disappointments, especially after the complex and really enjoyable PC version of Chamber of Secrets.

What I liked:

* Overall, the game is a solid effort. It's fun and diverting, and the kids will love it.

* It was great to be able to play all three main characters at different points of play. Unfortunately the voice acting is a lot less solid this time around -- all three kids just don't sound all that convincing (or even very English)

* I loved the Draconifors Challenge -- a really innovative challenge in which Hermione must play enchanted rabbits and dragons through a series of steps. Enchanting and really clever (the rabbit sits and scratches when inactive; the dragon is just as cute. These also involve some of the best graphics in the game.

On the down side:

* Like others who have posted here, I have a near-new, screaming machine, yet could not play the game at the highest resolution either; is this really a driver issue for EA or a bug?

The game ran fine for me, but whether it's the resolution or a change in animation styles (or deadlines), this is a far less beautiful game visually than Chamber of Secrets. There are a lot more closeups, too, and they look terrible, very pixellated and blocky. The characters don't look bad, but they just don't look great, and they should.

* The game is way, way shorter than Chamber of Secrets. Aside from a few relatively easy side games, gone are most of the challenging and time consuming moments from the previous PC versions (I still remember how long it took me to beat Voldemot with that darned Flipendo spell on the mirror). I would have preferred just a little more challenge. So -- no more wizard duels, no more Quiddich (although I admit I have a love/hate thing with Quiddich because I'm horrible at it).

The challenges are far easier here, and (bummer) there are a lot less secrets to find. I loved the sheer numbers of secrets and hideaways and goodies in the first two games, especially COS, but this one, aside from a few really clever brain-teasers, they're very obvious.

* Hogwarts seems a lot smaller, too. We never get to see very much of it, and it doesn't feel like a real place, unlike the COS version, which really felt like you were exploring Hogwarts.

* The game ultimately feels kind of hasty. Why is it that there are so few secrets? So many portraits that have no purpose, so many doors that never open? In the previous games, each time you mastered a new spell, this led to new hidden areas to uncover so that as the game progressed, you were always finding new fun corners of Hogwarts to explore as each spell was mastered. In this one, if you thoroughly explore each floor for secrets in the beginning of the game, with a few exceptions that's pretty much it.

* WARNING: Do everything you need to do BEFORE taking the characters to their final exams! You do not get to go back, you cannot go find missing items, etc -- the game simply ends abruptly.

I hated this part! In COS (in a vast improvement from Sorcerer's Stone), you were informed bluntly that you could "finish up last-minute business (like hunting for those last missing Wizard cards)," and only when you were ready for the end of the game, you could go on to the last assignment (the meeting hall).

So -- it's not a bad game. But COS was so lovely and immersive -- beautiful graphics, great music and sound effects (the growling spiders freaked me out), and just a really big, complex, challenging game for those who enjoy the books. The first two games each took me three or four days minimum: This one is cute, fun, and took me two (short) afternoons to complete. Still worth buying for Potter fans, but still kind of a bummer.

Great graphics, design, and gameplay, but too dang short!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 31 / 32
Date: May 28, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I just got the PC version today. I will say, I'm pretty much amazed that graphically, they did so much with so little, AGAIN. Still using the original Unreal engine, they've managed to put together a gigantic, gorgeous playground where you can pretty much roam freely. The grounds and forest look amazingly realistic, a varied assortment of clouds pass overhead, and there are secrets and explorable areas galore. (I've yet to get all the secrets, but I'm getting there...) The scene where Harry first produces the full patronus is actually quite amazing. And, the scenes where Sirius, Lupin, Pettigrew, and McGonagall change form? Whoa!

As beautiful as it was, I have one MAJOR beef with this game, and it's a doozy. There isn't enough of it. Instead of doing their own adaption directly from the book, as they've done in the past, Know Wonder atempted to adapt the already super-shortened story from the movie. (I haven't seen it yet, but I have seen the reviews.) The result feels horribly rushed. It's like watching a 2 minute generalized synopsys. They didn't even explain WHY Sirius was after Pettigrew. Sirius appears for a total of what? 15 seconds? Rather than adding Quidditch as a side-game as in the previous games (which could have been great if you ask me), they make a single cutscene. Darn. The few complaints I've heard about the PoA movie are usually about the idea of non-bookreaders being completely lost. Well, prepare to be lost in space if you haven't read the book OR seen the movie.

In a nutshell, by not following their own continuity and creating their own story adaptation straight from the book, Know Wonder really screwed themselves over this time. There's a lot of missed possibilities in this game. A LOT.

To it's credit, they did manage to lengthen gameplay by adding a heck of a lot of secret mini-levels and side games, as well as obstacle courses for "final exams". The secret mini-levels do add a lot of explorability, but I do wish they could have covered things such as the tunnel to hogsmeade, or a boggart level with the entire trio. With the assortment of new moves and spells, they really could have added more levels. There's also more notable characters running around. Neville meets up with you at one point, and Padma can be seen selling wizard cards. Oddly enough, there's a few kids running around with a hispanic accent. I'm guessing it's a tribute to the director. ^^;

The gameplay is still as fun as ever. FPS-style controls with third person action. Lots of secrets, lots of exploring, and a heck of a lot of jumping puzzles. The glacius challenge was probably the most fun (WOOT! Skater Harry!) even though to get all the items in one try, you have to commit suicide and jump to your death several times. (The items you've already collected are saved.) Not a pleasant thought by any means, especially since the scenery is something out of the old Doom games. (Hellish red and blue fire behind open windows, and the entire level is very dark with a creepy orange light.) o_O

Well, all that said, overall a very good, if very short, game. It took me less than a day to beat, while the previous two took me about 2 days each. I'm still looking for the last 9 cards. (And no beans for guessing what the very last card is. LOL)

I may as well say this now. Likely, Know Wonder is already working on the game for Goblet of Fire. Personally, as action packed as it is, I think it should be relatively easy to adapt as a video game. Know Wonder, if you're out there, please PLEASE follow your own continuity next time! That way, everybody wins.

Lots of fun...and missed opportunities

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 22 / 23
Date: May 31, 2004
Author: Amazon User

At the risk of repeating what everyone else has said, this was a fun, beautiful game, but WAY too short. (And too easy, but I suppose it is aimed at a young audience.)

And what they left out just makes you scratch your head. Were you looking forward to kicking a little Quidditch butt on your Firebolt? Sorry. You'll get one tiny cut scene and no chance to play yourself - which makes no sense, as the Quidditch in the second game was well-handled. I would have preferred they just copied it!

You will get to fly Buckbeak quite a bit - only to have the important bit of flying turned into a cut scene. And here I was looking forward to counting thirteen windows! They make up for it somewhat with all the dragon flying, though.

I also wasn't happy with the transitions between chapters, which took forever and happened when you least expected it, like right after they said you could go exploring. I was never sure when I could go visit Fred and George's Shop, say, so always felt in a hurry.

And of course, worst of all, NO SNAPE!!! (Although I suppose some of you will see that as a feature. ;-)

On the good side, changing from Harry to Ron to Hermione was handled seemlessly. And bunnies are very, very fun (at least for those of us of the female persuasion)! Although why they bothered to come up with new stuff when they could have used more from the book...

All in all, I enjoyed it and am glad I bought it. But I sure hope the Tournament in the next one is more exciting.

Best Harry Potter Game I Have Played and Own

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 15
Date: May 30, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I have played all of the Harry Potter games thus far. I can assure you that this one, the Prisoner of Azkaban, beats the first two by a long shot. The graphics are a hundred times better. You get to play as Ron and Hermione and not just Harry like the first two. You get to collect more shields, more beans, more stuff! You get to hang out at Fred and George's shop and buy whatever you want with the beans, cauldron cakes, and pumpkins that you find along the way. You can replay challenges and final exams. Speaking of which, the challenges are harder than the first two games combined. They are scary, tougher, more challenging, and more beautiful than before. If you read the third book already then that is a bonus because now you will get to see characters that you read about and haven't seen before. It's just a fantastic game and for $29 it is well worth every dollar. I HIGHLY recommend the PC version only because I'm partial to PC. The XBOX is nice, but I think you will enjoy the PC version better. Anyway, if you are wondering whether or not to buy the game, definitely do. It is a gigantic leap ahead of the first two games and you won't be disappointed.

Not as good as Chamber of Secrets

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 12 / 12
Date: June 21, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I thought this game had some very neat advancements on the 2nd in the series - I loved flying the dragon (though I can't seem to get the Hippogriff through the darned bat circles...), avoiding jumps with Ron's new skill, and going down the ice slides, for example. But the main challenges weren't very hard (as compared to the first two games, when I had to come back again and again against the final challenge), and the secrets seemed to unveil themselves much more readily. There were also a lot of locked doors that never became unlocked, which was curious. I liked how they streamlined the play - there wasn't nearly so much running around the school, as the school was both smaller and better organized with shortcuts between floors. I did miss the auto-jump feature from game 2 - I had to get used to actually telling the characters to jump up to a ledge. There weren't so many hard jumps to make as the first game had, so it wasn't so bad.

The play was fun, the new spells were cool, but it wasn't as challenging or intense as Chamber of Secrets or the Sorceror's Stone. Chamber of Secrets is the best so far, in my opinion.

Could have been better

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 13 / 14
Date: June 08, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I was very reluctant to buy the third Potter game put out by EA. The first two games while fun to play didn't offer much in the way of challenge, though COS was loads more challenging than the first one. Anyway, my first impression upon cranking up POA was that the graphics are amazing, the best I have seen in a Potter game to date. The gameplay was excellent. But from there it goes downhill. While there is plenty to do in the game, not very much of it is in any way related to the plot. Once again you have 80 Wizard Cards to collect. At least in POA there is a reward for for collecting them, the bonus card in Fred and George's shop. In the first two games you collected the cards basically for no reason other than to say you had found them all. The Potter games by EA, all three, share a major flaw that EA just can't seem to get past. You spend 3/4 of the game in training basically, learning the new spells and doing the teacher's challenges to apply them, but then there is isn't much of the game left left to actually use them in. I finished the third spell challenge, and whoosh, the scene in the shrieking shack pops up. The game makers really needed to take more time to plan out these games and not make them so freaking kiddified as they have. Harry Potter is NOT strictly a children's series of books, it's for all ages. I get really tired of them being called children's books when they are much much more than that. But I gave the game 3 stars for it's lack of plot and its exceptionally short length. As wonderful as EA's sports games are I really expected the Potter games to be held to that standard of excellence and unfortunately they have not. The console Potter games are much better than the pc versions. Just thought I'd mention that.

Keeps getting better

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: June 05, 2004
Author: Amazon User

If one were to compare this game to Sorcerer's Stone or Chamber of Secrets, they would agree that this is much better.

POSITIVES: 1)Secrets are still challenging, but a little bit easier to find 2)You are required to find everything before completing the game. This is much better than the Sorcerer's Stone where the game just ended and you didn't have a chance to try and finish gathering cards or finding secrets 3)Virtually impossible to die. Instead of losing lives in challenges and going back to the last place saved, you are simply moved back to the position right before you fell. 4)Gamemakers were much more generous in beans, pumpkin pasties, and cauldron cakes

NEGATIVES: 1)Hippogriff riding presented quite a challenge and probably the most difficult part of the game. You are required to fly the hippogriff through a course for 5 levels. Each level progressively harder than the last. The 5th took quite some time to accomplish.

All in all, I gave the game 5 stars because it presented enough of a challenge to be stimulating, and enough story to be entertaining. In response to those who say this game was too short, I think it's just right for the target audience....kids. Strongly recommend this one. The price is great too.

Especto Patronum!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: June 12, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The third Harry Potter pc game begins with Harry, Ron, and Hermione searching for Scabbers, the rat, on board the school train. Once at Hogwarts, the trio takes turns going to classes, learning new spells, completing challenges, and taking final exams. They also meet escaped prisoner Sirius Black, and help save his life as well as the life of Hagrid's hippogriff, Buckbeak.

For the first time, the player becomes Ron and Hermione as well as Harry. There is only a brief Quidditch cut scene, but you can ride Beaky through hoops. You will also collect huge amounts of candies to buy collector's cards and portrait passwords as you explore the castle and grounds - don't forget the dungeons!

This game is shorter than the first two Harry Potter pc games, and the challenges are very repetitive and have nothing to do with the book. There are exciting, but short, cut scenes involving Professor Lupin, Sirius Black, and Beaky which are good and leave you wanting more. Although the game play is easy, it is difficult to find all 80 collector's cards necessary to beat the game. I recommend it for Muggles of all ages.

Perhaps too much hype, as it's still a fun game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: June 25, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game was highly anticipated by fans of the first two, and there was much advertised hype about the quality of the graphics. Perhaps this overabundance of enthusiasm prior to the game's release led to some of the disappointment after.

The graphics, frankly, don't seem any better or worse, for the most part, than they were on the "Chamber of Secrets" game -- but they are hogging up a lot of system resources. My computer (not brand new, but with a video card that meets the game requirements) runs it smoothly only when I take the advice given in the game instructions and shut down every running process possible. If you're noticing a stutter, try doing the same.

The plotline of the game bears the least resemblance to the book of all three; it's more like the movie, but even then, the similarity is faint. Honestly, I paid little attention to that part of the game and focused on challenges and hunting around the grounds.

Challenges are fun; Harry's "Glacius" skating is a hoot. I'm still stuck trying to complete the last Hippgryff challenge, but I suspect that's just me -- I had trouble with the flying aspects of the previous two games as well, LOL. It's fun to collect the other items along with the beans. Especially appreciated is the "Requirements" screen which shows what you've accomplished and what you still have to go. Finally, a small but HUGE improvement for me: the blasted Chocolate Frogs basically sit put in this one, thank goodness. In the "Chamber" game, they were sort of pesky to catch!

It's not that difficult, and it's more just for fun than any really skill. I personally found the Dementors quite simple to defeat, and thought that part of the game was a bit disappointing. Exploring the castle was easier and yet more interactive in the "Chamber" game; this one's introduction of password portals took a bit of the fun out of it.

I gave this review four stars, but I would've preferred to say 3.5 -- because although it's fun to play, it's a bit of a let down from the previous two. Personally, I'm hoping they improve things a bit with the next game.

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