Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Review  

Hogwarts, Wands and the ghost of a headless John Cleese?  What the hell is going on here! 

Played on Xbox 360 

By Coxster 

Am I a Harry Potter fan? Hell no! I think Harry Potter is contrived rubbish that has more borrowed ideas than original ones and also has sports some of the most unlikeable characters I’ve ever come across.  I’m sorry to those that feel the need to be offended but I just can’t help it, I really don’t like Harry Potter.  Please don’t feel the need the waggle your wands at me and start putting death spells on my head just yet, we just might think differently on the subject.  

You might think it is unacceptable for someone who isn’t that familiar with the Harry Potter universe to be the one that is reviewing it, but let me counter argue the point that, even if the source material is lacking, a good game can overcome that and still be enjoyable.  To a certain extent ‘The Half Blood Prince’ accomplishes this, but only by a small margin.

Expellis-amiss! Har Har

I dig that this feels more like Bully set in Hogwarts, but it is no way close to capturing that flavour and fun that most open world games posses these days.  Hogwarts is a place teeming with life and weird and absurd creatures and ghosts that defy logic and the rules of physics, but I guess that’s what magic is all about.  There certainly has been quite a bit of attention given to this adaptation to make it look and feel right, and they certainly get an A+ plus there, but the gameplay controls feel like they are more suited to the Wii than the 360 controller.  From duels with your wand, to mixing magic potions, most mechanics are relegated to the second analogue control.  While just about every game uses that analogue stick for the camera, here its used for Harry’s wand resulting in a very primitive and clunky feel.

What private school boys get up to when no one is watching. (not pictured: Soggy Sao)

Although getting around Hogwarts is fun and there is a lot going on, the game pretty crumbles down into three mini-games that aren’t that entertaining to play.   Duels, Quidditch and making potions.  The main quests are usually just fetching missions that end up having you play through either one of three mini-games.   Duelling was certainly fun enough, but mixing potions was a snore fest thanks to the imprecise controls, and Quidditch ends up becoming a simple on-rails racer that shows none of the excitement that actually playing Quidditch would entail.  Also the story makes no sense whatsoever, so those hoping to find out the plot will have no luck in knowing what the hell is going on and will probably be forced to read the book or watch the movie.   

At any time you can call Nearly Headless Nick (a ghost played by John Cleese) who will set you off in the right direction to your next objective if you choose to wander around Hogwarts looking for secret badges that are littered all over the school, but why you would do this above the obvious achievement points is anyone’s guess.  Getting around Hogwarts is a joy but unfortunately it’s not going to keep you entertaining for very long.  Once everything has been done, it’s done. 

Yes yes, you're Harry Potter...we get it.

Now I’m not being entirely harsh on this game because at it’s core it functions, it’s just that I found it to be rather boring and the not very attractive to look at.  Most of the graphics and textures suffer from looking like they belong on the PS2 or the Wii and there is a fair amount of cut and paste going on too.  

Fans of the Harry Potter universe will probably think this game is a blast and will love walking around a perfect recreation of Hogwarts, but a game should be made to appeal to both gamers and fans of the series.  The Half Blood Prince does fail there.  

Overall it’s a game that is purely for those that enjoy Harry Potter.  The controls feel like they are better suited to the Wii, the graphics are below average in places and there is only a couple of things to do, and it isn’t long before repetition sets in.  I’d actually give this a miss unless you’re really into Harry Potter.  They missed some wonderful opportunities to expand the universe and really put a lot of content in here.  If playing as a kid running around a school is your thing, play Bully.  This one is definitely for Harry Potter fans only.