Customer Reviews

Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This game is SURPRISINGLY FUN! Considering that my favorite game is Halo, this harry potter game has been a tremendous amount of unexpected fun. If you're a fan of Harry Potter, you absolutely CAN NOT miss this game. Great graphics, fun gameplay, and plenty attention to detail to the harry potter license. My only complaint on this game would be the camera angle: although you can manipulate it with the right thumbstick, its still a little "off" and can get really slow and awkward at times. Other than that, the gameplay is your typical adventure/platform jumping/puzzles and it excels in the genre. Again, I have to say that the graphics are excellent with very detailed and large environments, and even harry looks awesome. Don't miss this game!

I previewed this game recently and I am astonished at the quality of the graphics on the XBox platform! I reviewed the game on three different platforms (PS2, Gamecube and XBox) and the graphics are shockingly better on XBox. Gameplay is challenging, and although younger kids will no doubt have some problems with many of the button sequences, I think any child five or older will get something out of this game. There is no question this will be the hit of the holiday season, so order now before the lines form!

This was a really fun game that basically goes through the plot of the Chamber of Secrets story line, letting you play Harry. The graphics are great, and the story line is well done. There's a good mix of the linear storyline with the option to go off exploring "at night" to collect wizard cards or play some games.

The one thing that I found incredibly frustrating was some of the "jumping" quests where I felt like I was fighting camera angle and the game implementation rather than doing anything that required real skill. I almost got to the point of giving up on the game at one point.

My brother got this game for his Birthday and after one day it is already one of my favorite games. You can learn 8 different spells that are usefull in different situations. You can also fly around on your Nimbus 2000 and collect Bertie Botts every flavored beans , where you could sell for different items that can be used around Hogwarts. You can look into treasure chests and find wizard cards such as Salazar Slytherin. In addition to flying around on your Nimbus 2000 you can play Quiditch as the seeker on the Gryfindoor Team. You addend different classes like Charms, Herbology, and Defense against the Dark Arts. You don't really need to follow the story line to complete the game. You get to by supplies in Diagon Alley and interact with characters like McGonagal, Dumpledore, Lockhart, Snape, Hermione, Ron and Fred and George

This game is just like the movie, which is way cool to start with. One of the best things about the game is that you can do more than what they tell you to do, like if your supposed to be going to Defense Agaianst the Dark Arts class you could rather go exploring the castle or a take a ride on the Nimbus 2000 out side. I just trying to get the point that this game is really good and people from my little sisters age(5) to myself(14) will really like it. If you dont buy it now then rent it, and after you play you will definatly buy it!

I'm happy to admit that I'm a fan of the Harry Potter franchise. I adored the first two books and the first two films and with the release of "The Chamber Of Secrets" in movie theaters last November (and now on video) came this game. It's a Zelda-esque adventure title that's good enough, but could have been better.

Before I get negative, I'll mention the high points of this gaming experience. First, the graphics are very nice. Harry's environments are detailed, the character models look authentic, and the spells Harry performs treat your eyes. Second, the game controls well. It pretty much plays like the 3D Zelda titles from the N64 and Gamecube; you assign spells and items to various buttons and use them, jump automatically when you reach a ledge, have an "action" button that lets you talk to people or grab things and all that other stuff. Movement using the analog stick is very fluid, as well; Harry will move in whatever direction you command without any trouble. Also, the game has many enjoyable mini-games, like Gnome-Throwing and Quidditch. In addition, when you obtain Harry's broom, you can fly all over the Hogwarts campus, something that I really enjoyed doing.

Now for the problems with this game. The first problem is that the load times are long and frequent. I thought when we left the 32-bit era, long load times would be a thing of the past. Unfortunately not, although this isn't the only game on the Xbox to suffer from this problem. Second, are the sound effects, voice, and music. To be fair, the audio in Chamber Of Secrets is good, so why am I complaining? EA didn't recruit any of the actors from the film to do voices in the game, and they didn't even get the John Williams score from the movie. The impersonators are good and the music is nice but I don't understand why they didn't go for authenticity on the audio front. This is very bewildering knowing that EA is one of largest and most profitable gaming companies around. Also knowing that EA got the original actors and score for "Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers" (PS2, Gamecube, Xbox) also from them, I'm wondering what was their excuse was with Mr. Potter. In my mind, there's no excuse for the omission.

Next, the camera has some problems. At certain times in the game, you have to sneak around without being detected, like in "Metal Gear Solid 2." During these times, you have to put your back to the wall. The camera zooms in too close to Harry, not allowing you to see the various guards you need to get through the area. Furthermore, the game doesn't have a first person looking feature that so many other 3D adventure titles have, so it's difficult to see where the guards are. Be prepared to be caught and have many house points taken before you successfully pass.

An additional problem has to do with the game's money currency. You have to collect Every Flavor Beans to buy things from Fred and George Weasley's shop, but whenever you're hit by an enemy like a flying book, you loose the beans you are holding (oh, by the way, I don't remember flying books attacking Hogwarts students in the books or movies). It's just like losing all your rings when you get hit in a Sonic The Hedgehog game, and in this case, that's not a good thing. Just like Sonic, you only have a limited time to pick up the beans you lost, although here, it's even shorter. So if you can't get them in time, you're out by a couple beans. This made me really mad, particularly when I had enough to buy a useful item only to lose them on the way back to Gryffindor Tower, not to mention how far I had to travel and/or how hard it was to find these things in the first place. My last problem, though, is that the game gives no indication of what to do in some sections, and thus, quickly translates into frustration.

Overall, Harry is a decent game, but various problems drag the experience down a little. It's not a bad game, and it's better than most of the licensed junk out there. At least rent this game, though; you may like it a little more than I did.

This was a great game overall, but it could have been better. The graphics were pretty good to. I thought the game was to short and to easy. But if your a true Harry Potter fan like me you will play it over and over like I have. The worst thing about the game was the quidditch, it was fun and everything but I thought it would be alot different. I mean if your a half-decent flyer then it will be really easy for you.

Pros:
-good graphics
-fun game
-you can play flying and gnome mini-games
-at the end of the day you can roam the Hogwarts halls as you wish
-lots of things to accomplish

Cons:
-way to short
-kinda easy
-bad quidditch impression
-you cant save it when your in the middle of something, you have to go to a certain spot and save it

In three words that really sums it up for me. The game itself is pretty fun, but I ended up beating it in a day because it was just too short. I was also disappointed with the ending being much too easy and hurried. Additionally, I second whoever wrote in their review that the camera angles are just not helpful and that the issue of losing your beans every time you're hit is such a pain. I suppose that was it really.. most of the levels are pretty fun, just not long enough.

My kids got this for Christmas, but we've all enjoyed playing. As with a previous post, I found I beat the game in about a week, leaving me wanting more. But the kids still enjoy it and are realizing that they can go off and try other things rather than defeat the monster every time. Even my 6 yr old is having fun (not too dificult for her). I do wish it had more save features so we don't have to play so long without taking a break (you can stop at any point, but it will take you back to the last place you saved from). All in all, I think it was worth the price, nice game.

Please keep in mind that my rating is based on an adult perception. My thoughtful sisters(aged 17 and 15)bought me this game for Christmas knowing that I was a covert "Harry Potter" fan. The game is great for kids. Challenges were both unique and well constructed throughout the game, and were kept very simple for the young'uns. Moving through the game was made simple by a system in which all you do is walk around and when an obstacle presents itself, you push a button to do what the system tells you to. This was probably the most annoying factor I found in the game, but again it IS a kid's game. Maneuverability was greatly hindered by the difficulty in the controls. I found it very hard to turn and such while the game maintained the correct camera angles. Graphics were very stunning and kept up with the outstanding performance the XBOX is known for. The character interaction was a little lacking, and mainly pertained to the task at hand. The game did a great job of following the storyline of the original book, though. Of course it had it's own embellishments to keep the game exciting. In conclusion, go ahead and pick it up for the kids, or for yourself if you enjoy the "simple pleasures" in life.