Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

by Hardware Platform: Playstation 2

Product Features

• ASIN: B000231FA4
• Manufacturer: Electronic Arts
• Hardware Platform: Playstation 2
• ESRB Age Rating: Rating Pending

Product Details

• ASIN: B000231FA4
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,449 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The Dementors are coming and this time Harry needs his friends. From the opening scene on the Hogwarts Express to the climatic finale on the shore of the great lake at Hogwarts, the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban videogame immerses the player in the world of Harry Potter with captivating gameplay, stunning environments, and graphics that bring to life the magical world familiar to anyone who has seen the films.

Features

• Companion Play - Play as Harry, Ron and Hermione.
• Face the Dementors - Can you overcome the dreaded Azkaban guards?
• Fly Buckbeak - Fly the Hippogriff around the towers of Hogwarts and use his immense strength to help you in your adventure.
• Two-player Mini-Games - Including Flying Seahorse fishing and Dueling Club.
• All-New Spells - Freeze creatures, control flame-breathing dragons and conjure a Patronus.
• Unlock the Marauder's Map - Explore more of Hogwarts than ever before.
• EyeToy After School Activities - Play with up to four players in games including Seeker Practice and Exploding Snap.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE BEST ONE YET!, June 23, 2004

A Kid's Review

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

I am a Harry Potter freak! I loved all the books, movies, and I enjoyed all the games so far.

This game was, what I felt, the best of the Harry Potter games released on Playstation 2 so far. Although it left out major events, like quidditch (which I'm kinda glad they left out because I was horrible at it!), it was very good.

In order to understand the game, you have to have read the book. At the very beginning, it doesn't tell you anything about the plot, and if you never read the book, then ur left in the dark about everything. The only thing you know (or can infer) at the beginning is that Professer Lupin is the new defense against the dark arts teacher (yes, another weird one that doesnt last longer than one year), Harry faints from dementors, and that a prisoner dude names Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban Prison, and the dementors are looking for Black (and that Lupin can produce a patronus). Other than that, it tells you nothing about the plot so READ THE BOOK!!!

This game is much different than the other ones. In one part of the game in COS, u had to sneak around at night A LOT and if you got caught by a prefect then you had to restart and they took away housepoints. On the other hand, in POA, u sneak around at night but there arent any prefects (YES!!!) which helps a lot (the only thing is where ur out at night and u have to get past multiple trolls by having Ron throw dungbombs to distract them. That was much easier than getting past the prefects though.). This game focuses mostly on mastering the use of multiple spells and classes. It doesnt follow the book too much, but the graphics are amazing. The Hogwarts castle has been improved A LOT and it looks exactly like the castle in the movie, the characters are also great and resemble the characters from the movie, and of course, there is Buckbeak who looks EXACTLY the same as in the movie. This game gets a 10 out of 10 for graphics. The controlling was a breeze for me but if your not an experienced gamer or are under 10, this game may be difficult in parts (the part where your sneaking around at night and you have to get past the trolls, fighting off the dementors, and when you have to acquire some of the spells) but overall it was pretty easy. I think this game was the best one, but i feel that the plot was rushed and they spent more time perfecting the graphics than the plot. Now, don't get me wrong, the graphics are amazing and I'm glad they spent a lot of time on them, but couldn't they have kept the game a little bit longer and made the game longer and added more of the plot? I guess not. I expected a longer playing time but it was still great. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire would make a great game. I hope they keep the graphics top notch like this one, but they should do more for the plot. I am looking forward to the Harry Potter games and movies to come. Have fun!

19 of 21 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

By 

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?

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Game, June 10, 2004

By 

John (Florida) - See all my reviews

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

Introduction
This was a pretty good game. Easy, but fun all the same. I actually like this better than the other 2. I think it's more fun to play.

Gameplay 9/10
The way you move, cast spells, and just play in general is so much smoother than the other games. I like the fact that you can switch through people. I think the gameplay was awesome. It takes a long time to load though. It even takes time to load when you pause (not long but still).

Storyline 4/10
Whoa. What ever happened to Harry's Firebolt? No quidditch? WHAT IS THIS? It's leaving out major events and adding complete bullsh**. I mean some of this stuff- Neville in Muggle Studies- go save him! I don't remember that in the book OR movie. The only reason this isn't a zero is because it had the main events in it.

Graphics 9/10
Wow. Compared to the other two, once again this section is much better. The facers are way better. The castle is better. Generally everything is smoother and just much better. The beginning graphics were awesome too.

Sound 6/10
I think the music is cool when it's on and Ron and Harry and Hermione sound older. I like all of the sound effects. Better all around, once again, compared to the other two games. but... it does lack in music and some parts are cheesy.

Play Time 3/10
Look, I suck at video games and I beat this in like 3 days. So, you can probably figure out that this is a quick one.

Replayability 5/10
I might play it again, but I don't know. I'll be waiting, though, when the 4th game comes out. You can also play mini games and use the eye toy, which are cool things to do. It keeps you involved with Harry Potter, but you don't have to play the game.

Overall 8/10
I feel that this game is the best Harry Potter game so far. It has the mini games and stuff. The game was good.

Final Recommendation
Ahhh... well. I think the game is definitely worth renting and if you really love Harry Potter... buy it. I added it to my collection of Harry Potter stuff. I'm an HP nerd. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the game. Alright.