Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Review
Written By Gaetano Prestia
Harry Potter games over the years have been surprisingly entertaining and engaging. They seem to get better with every new entry (just like the films) and offer an experience that should please fans of the films, as well as die-hard fans of the originals novels. The Harry Potter games have always set a standard for licensed movie-games and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is no exception. The experience on the Wii is not without its problems, but it still offers plenty of great gameplay elements that should please Harry Potter fans.
Order of the Phoenix on the Wii turned out to be probably the best Harry Potter game out there, offering fantastic Wii motion controls and great visuals. There were plenty of engaging and highly entertaining mini-games, as well as a challenging adventure that should have pleased not only Potter fans, but casual gamers as well.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is arguably the best book in the series about the wonderful and charismatic young wizard Harry Potter. The prospect of book to film was always an exciting one for this story, as was the idea of book and film to game. Unfortunately, this is where games major down point is – it never really lives up to the quality of the narrative in the story.
The story in the title has been striped bare, offering the bare essentials when it comes to the characters and any past plots points that may be of importance. The developer hasn’t done a very good job of making the game accessible to newcomers in reference to the story, which is disappointing. If you’re familiar with the book and/or film, there’s no doubt that you’ll probably want to play this purely for the Harry Potter gameplay experience rather than the story, but it’s still disappointing that it’s been so aggressively stripped down to bordering being non-existent. It really would have made the game that little bit more interesting and memorable.
If you consider that this game might be played by someone with absolutely no knowledge of the Harry Potter universe or The Half-Blood Prince story, you can’t help but imagine how far away that person is from knowing what happens in-between the pages of the book. There’s no way the movie can include every little detail from the book, but it does a good job of promoting the story. The game on the other hand does not, including only the basic of plot points, with no sense of history or emotional development.
Still, the gameplay is incredibly engaging and fun. The motion controls work really well and have been implemented near-perfectly. It’s great to see the developer take advantage of the core material and use it alongside the Wii controller. Getting involved in the daily life of a Hogwarts student is surprisingly fun as you undertake classes throughout the school (such as Potions class). The wizard dueling class is just as awesome as it has been in previous games in the franchise, with plenty of immobilizing spells at your disposal. The game sometimes registers a completely different spell than the one you actually wanted, but because most of them each have the same level of power, it doesn’t really dampen the combat experience.
Quidditch acts as an on-rails flier, which has you using the Wii remote to glide through glowing stars and grab the golden snitch before anyone else. You can also twist your wrist to bump into close opponents, which adds a bit of aggression and competition to the experience.
Potion class is the surprise class of the bunch, having you mixing all sorts of potions together based on what your teacher says. It’s not as easy as it sounds and is quite engaging, offering a challenging experience that is addictive and quite enjoyable. It’s not overly difficult, which is great, but still offers that little bit of challenge that you’d want in a mini-game like this.
There probably isn’t a Harry Potter fan out there that wouldn’t want to run through Hogwarts, and it’s great that you can do that in this title. It’s a pretty cool experience and one that has been had before, but is worth doing all over again. It’s just a shame that the story is so bare and not strong enough to make exploring that little bit more exciting.
There are the typical extras that come bundled with every Harry Potter game, although what’s on offer this time round doesn’t even come close to what was offered with Order of the Phoenix, which is disappointing.
The game looks really great for a Wii title, with no loading whatsoever and a really detailed Hogwarts. The cut-scenes leave a bit to the imagination with some sometimes-ugly character animations, but the level of detail is what we’d expect from a Harry Potter game. It definitely feels part of the universe.
The Final Verdict
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince feels a little bare-boned in some parts. The extras have been stripped down from previous experiences and the story is almost non-existent when you consider how much there is within the narrative of this adventure. The gameplay can be great fun and it’s good to see that maintained from previous Harry Potter games, but it’s just a shame that the game doesn’t really make you want to experience it in its fullest because of a lacking story.
Gameplay
7.1/10
Engaging and fun gameplay elements, as well as the ability to roam Hogwarts once you finish the main adventure. The story is lacking considerably, considering how much there is to work with.
Graphics
7.5/10
Great detail for a Wii title. Hogwarts is impressive, with a very high level of detail.
Sound
8.5/10
A fantastic orchestral soundtrack with decent voice-over work and great sound-effects.
Value
6.1/10
The single-player will take you about 5-6 hours, but then there are the side-quests and classes, as well as Endless Day mode, which lets you roam the halls of Hogwarts at your leisure.
Overall
6.9/10