Amazon.com: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Playstation 2: Video Games

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4.0 out of 5 stars (25 customer reviews)

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45 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good looking, true to the story, but definitely a rental., June 4, 2004

W. C. Bryant (Columbus, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Video Game)

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?

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Harry And His Friends Are Waiting For You!, May 24, 2005

Lupinpatronus (Corrales, NM, USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars

This review is from: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Video Game)

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".

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great esp. with eye toy, August 28, 2005

Heather "intrested mom" (Alaska) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars

This review is from: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Video Game)

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.

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