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Good looking, true to the story, but definitely a rental.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 45 / 51
Date: June 05, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I'm going to start off by coming right out and saying that I played the first two titles in this franchise, and enjoyed them both. I've read the books, seen the movies, and have enjoyed (for the most part) the games. So as you read this review, appreciate that I'm not coming down on Harry Potter himself, nor am I slighting the world that Rowling has created in the books, and Warner Bros. have put to the screen. Nor am I even taking undo shots at the great and mighty Electronic Arts, although they deserve a few for getting a little lazy with this most recent addition to the line of Potter gaming titles.

First and foremost, let me air my chief complaint. You don't play Quidditch. Not once. In fact, you never touch a broom. The Quidditch matches are reduced to a static cut scene, where you're simply holding the Quidditch Cup. The cynic in me suspects that EA left it out to help drive sales of their stand-alone Quidditch title. But none of the speculation matters, it's simply not there.

My second issue is this game is exceptionally short. I'm not sure how long it took me to finish each of the first two, but it was longer (in each case) than the 5 hours or so it took me to play this one from start to finish. That's not braggadocio. I mean, for one, we're talking about a game in the Harry Potter franchise that has to be something that can appeal to, and be completed by, a wide age and ability range of gamers. So 'easy' isn't an issue here, particularly since a game like this isn't so much something you get for a challenge, but rather an opportunity to sort of live a little bit of Hogwarts. For another, I enjoy getting off the beaten path a bit in games. So this wasn't a case where I just raced through, I collected the pages, cards and beans (although there was really no point to it -- in the last title you spent beans on trinkets Ron's brothers had for sale, not so here). I played the side games, made sure I had A+ in each of the 3 'minigames', Buckbeak's bat chasing, owl racing, and dueling club. The point is, even if you allow yourself to be sidetracked, there will quickly come a point in the game where Dumbledore tells you to speak to him when you're ready to hear who won the House Cup. Make no mistake, that's the end. With no final cut scene, save a grimacing Snape as confetti falls, and some jumping around by the winning house, the game simply drops you out to the main menu. I'm not sure I've ever seen a more abrupt ending, it's a bit like the developers meant to do more, and simply ran out of time.

To wrap up my gripes, the control is a little wonky in this one, some sloppy camera angles allowing you at times to lose site of everything as you stare into the woodgrain of a bookcase, or a stone wall that has blocked your field of view. Games with this perspective have been around long enough that this should have been much cleaner.

I'm not all complaints though. This is, by far, the best visual presentation the franchise has enjoyed so far. There's a level of artistry in this game that really jumps out at you, and there are times when you'll find yourself admiring the composition of different scenes. They clearly went out of their way to make it look good.

So that's the quandary here. The game looks good. It plays adequately, and while brief, it's true to the story. So is it good? I'd have to shrug and say `yes', and I'll give it 3 stars for the sake of this review. It's certainly worth a rental, and while I know some will scoff and flap their Hogwarts robes in outrage at the suggestion that this isn't worth buying -- I think that's an important point to make here, and one that I wish I had considered before plunking down cash for this game. Really, don't buy it unless you're making a point to collect.

I sort of imagine the development team for this game sitting around a table some time ago, in a meeting intended to lay the groundwork for the game. And in my imagination, a lot of great ideas are tossed around, but then someone in a suit with insectile eyes speaks up and says "Look, that's all great, but toss it out. What's important is the cover. As long as it says 'Harry Potter Prisoner of Azkaban', it will sell. Make it look pretty, but don't spend just a ton of time on this. Create a linear gauntlet of 'Point A' to 'Point B' light puzzle solving, use the voices of at least some of the actors from the movie -- and it will sell, and sell well." I don't know if that's how it happened, but this game falls well short of expectations driven by the first two titles. It's always those people in the suits...

You do play as Harry, Ron and Hermione. There is "new" action, such as flying Buckbeak, and Hedwig. But there's no depth to any of that. Some of the puzzles are clever, the visuals are terrific, the sound is solid. It is, in the end, a Harry Potter title, true to the book and the movie, and for that alone, this game will find its way into people's libraries. I simply hope EA gets its act together and really does something with the next title, so that I don't again feel like the game was merely an afterthought. The first two didn't feel or play like that, there's really no reason the third one should have.

No Quidditch. How could they?

Upcoming Awesome Game. Can't Live Without It. Can Live With.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 42 / 48
Date: June 25, 2003
Author: Amazon User

My opinion is this game's going to be the better than the two first Harry Potter video games, even at the risk of combining the first two.I've heard from other sites the game's going to follow the book more closer than the movie. I also hear the game will be released in Q2 of 2004. You will be riding Hagrids pets, including Buckbeak. You will be learning 10 or more spells than the second Harry Potter, and possibly more than one class a day. EA's adding much more to the game, than the second and first. The game will also be longer. This time possibly a few months to beat. It will be realistic just as the second, as in day and night. It is even a rumor there will be more than 30 days in Harry third year! Keep in mind it's only a rumor. Little is still known about Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, because the game has yet to come out. I'll keep you updated with the third Harry Potter Game. B-Bye!

Hello again, Just a Shape Up

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 14
Date: March 13, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Okay, we've gained more information.
The follwing are spoilers to the game, so if you wanna not know stuff about this game turn your head.

EA seemed to visit places and release some info. In a video, the company was shown by EA that Ron, Hermione, and Harry, along with the sleeping Professor Lupin rode Hogwarts Express. The mission began where you got to explore the train in control of Ron. You encounter a book that suddenly attacks Ron and you get the first taste of the fighting system. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are all used for different things and can be switched anytime during the game as long as you're not doing an alone mission. For example, since Ron comes from a wizard family he can sense secret walls or passagewalls that is impossible for the others to sense. Hermione, since she is smaller than Harry and Ron can fit into spaces that Ron and Harry cannot, and since she is so smart she has a lot of useful spells. Harry, on the other hand, through the game takes Professor Lupin's personal class and learns the Patronus Charm which can drive off dementors.
Anyways, after the montrous book is defeated soon after you'll encounter Draco Malfoy who wants to duel Ron. But as the duel begins, it is said that something is wrong, because the train door is slowly opening letting a dementor into the train. He floats at least two feet off the ground, and Harry faints from the sight of them. Ron is to drag Harry to safety while Hermione goes to get help from a teacher. If a dementor is to catch Ron in the process you'll actually see the dementor sucking the soul out of Harry. A wriggle of the analog could release you from the dementor, though. (whew)

I also have this little feeling of the stuff that I've read about this game, that if you're far in the game, you have the opportunity of combining their stregnth by pressing certain buttons at a certain time and it is also impossible to win some boss fights without doing so.
There are sadly, some downsides. The loading time again is interferring with the game. One minute was what the team said it took to load AT THIS POINT. They're fixing it to around twenty seconds and even less for Xbox and GameCube.

All in all, this game sounds awesome doesn't it? Make sure you buy this at your local game store when it's released or pre-order it today, ah?

Harry And His Friends Are Waiting For You!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: May 25, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Finally, the game Harry Potter fans have been waiting for has finally arrived. "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" chronicles everyone's favorite boy wizard in his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As most everyone knows, the original story by J. K. Rowling follows Harry on a deep and dark journey of discovery regarding an escaped convict and how his story intertwines with this mysterious new character. Along with the movie's release, I highly anticipated this game as well, as I would finally get to interact with some of J. K. Rowling's most memorable new characters.
I had played "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" for Playstation 2 prior to playing this third installment in the series. I have also played all four of the games for PC ("Sorcerer's Stone" "Chamber of Secrets", "Quidditch World Cup", and "Prisoner of Azkaban"), so I have something to compare this game too. This "Azkaban", for PS2, was thrilling. It's brand new look for the characters gave them all a sense of maturity, and more depth. The scenery was gorgeous, both outside and inside the castle. Despite the fact that the geography of the castle has been completely re-done (following its movie counterpart), it actually results as appearing more impressive and gives off a much more adventurous environment that you actually want to explore, just to see how everything looks, and not to find treasures or advance the plot.
Switching between, and playing as, Harry, Ron or Hermione at any point in the game was a huge plus. It really explored each character's potential and added to Harry's companions' roles in the story. There was even an awesome `call' function. This summons the other two players to you when the distance between you and them becomes too great for them to automatically know where to find you. Also, each character had their own individual spells, and unique wizard tools they could use. This proves interesting, but at times extremely annoying; because (as in the previous HP PS2 games) you must constantly return to the options menu to configure and choose which spell/action applies to which button on the controls. This takes up a lot of time if your characters are in rooms where many actions can be performed.
Though having two of the trio following you around can heighten the sense of being in the story at times, at others it is annoying. Though entertaining as it is to hear Ron and Hermione bickering about Scabbers' health, it does get old when you have completed a task and Ron and/or Harry and/or Hermione begins to complain that they are tired and are ready for bed, or say that they think you are going the wrong way. Unfortunately, there is no way to turn off the side comments without muting the sound.
However, I would never mute the sound, as Jeremy Soule's beautiful score makes its triumphant return to the series once again. The only downfall here, I'd say, is that the music does not come on a separate CD! Jeremy's music for this game sweeps you into Hogwarts with its John Williams style magic and its large touch of originality that seems straight out of the book series. Unfortunately, it can only be found in the files of one's computer if one owns any of the Harry Potter PC games. And even then, all of the pieces from the PS2 version are not available there. Aside from that, a beautiful job on Mr. Soule's part.
Is this game a challenge? Hardly. In fact, it's probably the most straightforward of the series so far. Plenty of direction is given in each of the teachers' class challenges and other such adventures (which, aside from what the teachers give, aren't in abundance). Where direction is scarce, little experimentation is needed to comprehend what to do. Spell casting is very easy, and even if this is your first time handling the PS2's controls, it becomes almost instinct to know where to place your fingers in preparation for the enemy's next move.
Speaking of enemies, who are they this time? With no Voldemort in this chapter of the saga, who's left for you to fight? You'll mostly find creatures originally mentioned in Lupin's classes from the original book, or straight from their descriptions in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" (i. e. Chizpurfles, Salamanders, Hinkypunks, etc.). The infamous Dementors, of course, have their role as well. The Patronus spell, used to defeat them, proves to be the most interesting spell to cast, as it requires your guidance to find its soulless targets. Combat in general, though, is pretty easy. Don't worry about fainting too much. Besides, certain plot points have your friends dragging you out of harm's way if you faint anyway.
This game takes hardly any time at all. Though its cut scenes are much more original this time around (as opposed to the constant copies from the movie in PS2's "Sorcerer's Stone") they are much too quick and to the point. The ending is a good, but unfortunate, example of this. No hint to the future stories here. Just a quick cut back to the main menu, possibly making the game feel slightly pointless (unless you are eager to go back in for the replay value). The original story itself is kept fairly intact, with the basic elements that moved the novel along still included. Just don't expect to be blowing up Aunt Marge, riding the Knight Bus, wandering around Hogsmeade, fighting in the Shrieking Shack, or escaping through the secret passage under the hump-backed witch. Hogwarts, the grounds, and the exterior of the Shrieking Shack will serve as your only areas to explore and encounter danger.
You won't find long back-stories from the source material here, nor any deep conversation either. Involvement of characters outside the main trio is scarce. Hard core fans, like me, will probably find themselves squealing with joy to encounter Professor Lupin, Sirius Black, Parvati Patil, etc., but keep in mind that their parts are brief. It's lucky some of them were able to even weasel their way into having a short speaking role. It's equally amazing how some major characters got their sequences sliced from the story altogether. However, the minor characters are much more interactive than their "Azkaban" PC counterparts (who, in that version, don't make appearances outside of cut scenes at all).
Activities around Hogwarts (aside from classes) include flying Buckbeak the Hippogriff, racing Hedwig and other owls around the grounds, wizard dueling in the Great Hall, purchasing things from Fred and George Weasley's shop, finding lost objects for fellow Gryffindors, and fighting off the occasional flying book in the corridors. The former two are nice new features, though are present as obvious replacements for Quidditch, which (like in the movie) has its one brief moment of screen time, here as a cut scene. The Weasley twin's shop has become a little less exciting, despite its catering to each specific member of the trio. Dueling and object hunting haven't changed much at all.
Classes themselves are captivatingly horrifying. Harry and his companions go through complete madness that I would never subject anyone my age to (okay, I would, but that's not a lot of people). These challenges involved fiery lava pits, murderous cauldrons, and pushing the trio's physical talents to the limit, all usually with the goal to reach a simple spell book. Though interesting to look at and play in, the challenges are extremely straightforward and don't compare to those found in, say, "Chamber of Secrets" as far as length and quick thinking are concerned.
Overall, the game is extremely well done, though it does not compare to its predecessor, "Chamber of Secrets". Although it is quick and easy to navigate through (probably four hours...likely less), has only brief cameos of certain characters (Lupin, Sirius, Snape, Dumbledore, etc.) and at times strays far from the original plot (i. e. a new Polyjuice Potion incident, an attempted sabotage of the single Quidditch match, rescuing Neville from a ghoul, etc.) the game does give off a real high-quality atmosphere of Hogwarts like the books might do for you (it certainly did for me). The music is beautiful, the graphics are amazing, and the development of the major characters is brilliant. And now that it's come down a considerable amount in price, it's definitely worth buying, as it is not anything near a one-path game and definitely has replay value (especially if you're in need of a relaxing stroll around the virtual grounds). Now it's time for you to explore Hogwarts, take part in classes, and help Harry and his friends discover the mystery behind the "Prisoner of Azkaban".

Renting...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: July 01, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I'm incredibly bad at video games. No denying it. And I got about halfway through the game in five hours. No cheet sheets, no game hacks, no nothing. It's not a very difficult game. Each puzzle has at least some quirk to it that's right under your nose, and you pick up on the switches really easily. My complaints are the loading times, the camera angles, and the motions of the characters, particularly Harry. Jumps are especially annoying, because if you're a millimeter off, you'll fall and die. The puzzles took me at most about 10 minutes to work my way through. Some of them are really annoying, and if you die, you have to do them over.

However, the artistry is simply breathtaking. Flying Buckbeak over an icy landscape with the lake below you, the mountains ahead of you, and the Hogwarts castle behind you is beautiful. Many of the dungeons have a rotting, sort of sickening feel to them, which is absolutely perfect. I also enjoyed how you can swap between Harry, Ron, and Hermione, each with individual weaknesses and strengths. I loved the dementors, but I had the hardest time trying to figure out how to control my Patronus.

If you're a gamer, rent it. If not, this game is probably challenging enough for a beginner.

Great esp. with eye toy

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: August 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is great!!! My children have played the game and enjoy it but it also has after school games on the disc that can be used with the eye toy. You get to smack trolls, splat the chocolate frogs, catch the golden snitch, play exploding snap and a few others. The eye toy gets them off the couch because you actually have to jump around and use your hands to play the games. It's lots of fun and great excersize. I would recommend it to anyone who likes for their kids to get some exersize while doing something they think is fun.

Brought me back to playing PS2

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: September 09, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I haven't played a videogame since SuperNintendo came out (I am that old!) but Harry Potter and POA got me right back into it. I love this game. My husband bought it for me for our vacation (he loves PS2 and wanted something we could share) and it's great. The logical puzzles are wonderful (and not as easy as you'd think!) and getting to be all three characters is great. You don't just blast your way through this game- you need to figure out which person to be, and what spells to use, sometimes even the different order of which spells with which person is a factor, and though baddies are relativly easy to kill once you figure out how, it's very enjoyable.
It's got good graphics, follows the plot of the movie/book,(you even get to fly Buckbeak!), the only downside is that you get a "loading...." screen inbetween scenes, which sorta gets tiresome, but I find it easy to overlook. Unlike other reviews of this game, I have not been able to finish it yet (some real die-hard gamers I've been told can finish it in a day. More power to ya!) and it's still fun.

Is it bad? Not really. Is it good? Not really.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 7 / 12
Date: October 12, 2005
Author: Amazon User

As anyone reading this review is doubtless aware, this game is based on the third installment in the Harry Potter movie franchise, which is in turn based off the third book in the Harry Potter series. This one concerns the third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley as they attend class, learn new spells, fight various enemies, and - by the way - deal with the fact that the notorious wizard criminal, Sirius Black, has escaped from Azkaban prison with the intent to murder young Mr. Potter, and he is being pursued by Dementors, which are Ringwraith-like creatures that act as prison guards and they are intent on recapturing Sirius Black, and woe to anyone who gets in their way.

This is my second foray into the world of Harry Potter gaming. About a year ago I played Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which was a great (though not perfect) game with a well-realized, immersive Hogwarts, lots of challenging combat, fun sidequests and mini-games, Quidditch matches, good-looking graphics, and engaging puzzles. I went in to Prisoner of Azkaban expecting more of the same. I was rudely shocked, to say the least.

But before I get into the negative, let's talk about the positive. In this game, you control Harry, Ron, and Hermione at various times, and each of the three has different strengths and abilities. Harry has access to the Marauder's Map, which allows you to see mini-maps or the levels, complete with secret passageways and locations of other characters and enemies. Harry is also able to jump gaps, climb ropes, and is generally the most acrobatic of the trio. Ron can find secret doors and items. Hermione can access tight spaces that the others can't. In addition, though this game offers many spells to be learned and used, most of them can only be used by one or another of the three characters (though the basic spells are common to all three). All of this does make for a more varied gameplay experience, and adds a certain amount of depth to the (still too easy) puzzle-solving. Another positive thing about the game is the Expecto Patronus spell, which allows Harry to conjure up a Patronus to use against the Dementors. This is very well done and is the most enjoyable thing in the game, although controlling the Patronus effectively will take some getting used to. But that's about it as far as positives go.

Combat in this game is much easier than before. Your Expelliarmus spell for defense will almost never be used. The basic approach to any enemy is just cast Filipendo at it over and over again until it goes down. This is complicated by the fact that your lock-on targeting system in clearly flawed in this game, as many times you will attempt to target an enemy and lock on to an inanimate object instead. A couple of the enemies are slightly more challenging, but for the post part it is just point and shoot. This even applies to the several times you will encounter Draco Malfoy in the game. Malfoy is no more difficult to defeat than any other enemy in the game. This doubtless makes the game easier for young players, but it was a disappointment for me.

The puzzles in the game are very easy for the most part. They are made even easier by the fact that the characters will continuously shout out things like "I wonder what that button does, maybe you should push it!" or "Hey Ron, why don't you cast Lumos Duo on that object over there?" or other such things. So if you should ever experience some momentary hesitation about what to do next, don't worry - the game will spill the beans quickly enough.

The most annoying thing about the game is the fact that, whichever of the three characters you are playing, the other two will constantly run along behind you shouting unhelpful and annoying remarks. For example, when you have completed all the tasks assigned to you for a level, but you need to explore the castle a bit, the characters will gripe about how tired they are and how they want to go to bed approximately every 5 seconds. Or if you should ever deviate from the shortest path through a level, they will start spouting off about how you're going the wrong way. This will drive you insane in a hurry. I can't believe EA thought this was a good idea. At the least you should have an option to turn the voices off.

The mini-games in this game are dull to say the least. As I said before, there is no Quidditch, in fact you don't touch a broomstick in the game. Yes, you do get to fly Buckbeak aimlessly around the castle grounds if you desire, but this is a very poor substitute. The other mini-games are pointless and boring, and one of them, Owl Racing, was apparently deisgned as torture for your fingers, since you have to tap a button over and over again in a precise rhythm for several minutes in order to make your owl flap her wings and fly. I did it one time and never again, since I don't particularly enjoy finger cramping.

Graphically and sound-wise the game is also below par. Most of the characters look and sound nothing like their movie counterparts. The worst is Professor Snape. I don't know who did his voice acting, but they could have gotten the guy who does Spongebob Squarepants and it would have sounded better. Of course, you don't hear much of his voice anyway, since every time you encounter him outside of Potions class in the game, he will look at you and immediately go into a fit of coughing and hacking - bascially Snape has a year-long bout of emphysema in this game. What is up with that?

You spend far too much time in this game staring at loading screens. Every time you open a door, even to enter the tiniest room - loading screens. Running from outside the front door of Hogwarts to Gryffindor tower takes about 2 minutes of play time and about 90 seconds of staring at a loading screen. This is far too much, and EA really needs to fix this recurring problem in their Potter games. Other simiar games don't have this problem, why should this one? It certainly isn't the great graphics.

Outdoors is another disappointment. Yes, you can fly Buckbeak over a complete version of Hogwarts, but, except for the relocated front door, it is the exact same building and grounds layout as in the last game. In addition, in the last game, the grounds were inhabited by lots of students running around the castle, which did a lot for the immersion factor of the game. Here, there is no one outside at all. It's almost enough to make you feel lonely, running over the huge grounds all alone. Also, in previous games, exploring the grounds and castle had a purpose - there were secret items all over the place waiting to be found. Here, there is nothing beyond one or two chests with Wizard cards. Outdoor exploration was one of the best things about Chamber of Secrets, but in this game it is yet another disappointment.

Overall, this game let me down severely. It's like EA decided that, since the Harry Potter games were intended for younger players and Chamber of Secrets might have been too difficult for them, they decided to make Prisoner of Azkaban much easier and get rid of all the fun and challenge and, in the process, most of the "Hogwarts" atmosphere. (Although, young kids will probably have a lot of trouble with the Patronus spell). Unless you just have to play every game with the Potter name on it, avoid this one. Play Chamber of Secrets instead. Let's hope that Goblet of Fire is better.

Wicked game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: April 11, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Hey everybody
This game is soooooooooo kool, u get to play as ron and hermonie as well as the usual HARRY POTTER, from the openin scene on the hogwarts express til the final mission down by the bank of the great lake where u fight off all those dementors with ur expecto patronim (patronus) spell u get to have another season of QUIDDITCH and it has been confirmed halfway through 1 of the matches in a big strom u fall 50 feet off ur nimbus 2000 and it gets blown into the womping willow and gets crushed, then later u get ur brand new FIREBOLT!!!!!!!! of ur godfather.......wait i won't say who harry's godfather is hehehe yer but u get to fly on a firebolt!!!! i'm gunna get dis game right away wen it comes out i already have wat like 100 dollors saved up cya's all l8ter

Facts, Facts, Facts!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 8
Date: January 27, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Hello! More facts have been released on the game. You can play as Harry, Ron and Hermione switching between them to complete the task. You have the opportunity to fly Buckbeak, control Hedwigs, and there are more cards (more than just wizard and witches cards) to collect. So far, SOUNDS SO EXCELLENT! IT WILL BE A MUST BUY DURING IT'S RELEASE!!!!!

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