Customer Reviews

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

5 star:		(125)
4 star:		(65)
3 star:		(31)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(25)

 

 

This is a good game. It sticks to the plot of Harry Potter very well. True they changed small things, but they had to do that in order for it not to be boring. You talk to all sorts of people! Ron, Hermione, Dumbledor, I can't name them all. You collect Berrtie Botts Every Flavor Beans for fred anf George, you can get Chocolate frogs, wizard cards and all sorts of good stuff! You battle Peeves and avoid Mrs. Norris in the library! You can go to class, play Quidditch, see Hagrid. You have lots to do and it moves quickley (but not too quick for slow computer users!)

What I liked:
I like how you can walk around Hogwarts and talk to random people and they talk back!

I like the way when your done with the game you can still go back and improove. There is also a choice to enter a quidditch turnament and broom practis so you wont get tired of the game for quite a while. The people in the game are nice and and fun to talk to and the classes are really fun! (you even get graded!!!) This game makes you really feel like you are at hogwarts because it has exallant graphics.

What I didn't like:
Not much! Once and a while the story line kicks in and than you can't go back and get something if you missed it but thats a small complaint! And it would be fun to be able to go into Diagon Ally and shop around, but over all the game was fun and easy to spend hours on!

Oh! The object of the game is to rescue the Sorrcer's Stone, and they explain enough that I think that this game would be fun for non-Harry Potter readers too.

Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, is out everywhere! It started off as J.K Rowling's bestseller, now a fantastic movie and a computer game! Fans of Harry Potter who are itching to play Quittich should not give Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone (PC)
a miss as it will satisfy them throughly. People who don't usually read the books would also, most likely enjoy this game too.

This game has the basic storyline which follows to the storyline to that of the book. Not much is revealed during the gameplay which is fantastic as people are planning to read the book after playing this game will not encounter any spoilers.

You can run the game in hardware or software mode. Hardware mode means that the graphics of the game are much better off than that of the software mode, which offers choppy graphic. I suppose that this option is there to allow players without a good graphics to enjoy the game too.

As this game was designed for children, the contols are relatively simple to use. The game is played in a third person view, something like Tomb Raider. Players will be controlling the famous Mr. Potter himself. The one of the clever things about this game was that at the very beginning, the tutorial of how to play the game is in the form of exploring the castle with Fred and George Weasely, two characters in Harry Potter. You will learn how to jump and climb, and how to move around.

As the game proceeds, players can collect trading cards and jelly beans for fun. Players will encounter various challenges along the way and in these challenges, players must try to win points for their house, Gyriffndor. Players while exploring Hogwarts will encounter vaiuous characters that they can interact with, giving clues to guide players along.

No Harry Potter game is complete without learning magic spells! Parents, do not worry here! Your child will not be learning actual witchcraft but instead they will learn how to be precise, accurate and focus. To learn a spell, the teachers of Hogwarts will first draw a symbol across the screen at which players, with the help of the mouse, mmust try to draw as accurately as possible ( within the symbol drawn by the teachers ) the exact same symbol in a given time frame. It is quite a challenge but quite fun! If the players does it well, points will be awarded to the house.

Another good thing about the game is that the graphics is drop dead gogerous! Hogwarts looks magnificent, so did the weird plants of herbology class and the best part of this game? QUIDDITCH!

Alas this is a short game, which explains the four stars that I've given instead of the five. Unlike most games based from movies like Pearl Harbour and The Planet Of The Apes, which were total flops, Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone (PC) proves that games based on movies may not always be a total flop.

A great game to buy for the holidays as present and honestly, it is very fun to play. Hardcore gamers ( gamers of first person shooters, action etc.etc. ) may not enjoy this game unless they want something refreshing to play with.

Look no further game buyers, with Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone (PC), Harry Potter will once again put some magic into your lives.

I just got this game 2 days ago, and I can't stop playing it. It's not extremely difficult. Some of the challenges take a little more skill and wit than others. The saving graces of the game, and what makes it so cool, are the characters and the scenery. It's like you are actually at Hogwarts with Harry and his friends. The storyline skips around and if you are not familiar with what's going on, you might be confused from time to time. But for the Harry Potter reader and fan, this game is simply a must have. It is GREAT!!!!

This game appears to be directed towards kids that haven't spent their days connected to a joystick and adults who really haven't played much either. It is fun and addicting like video games can be. The story is there in more than enough detail and the characters come to life - I am not disappointed that it isn't more difficult. In fact I would PO'd if they had made it super difficult like gamers like. This isn't for them. It's for the rest of us.

Overall, I thought this game was very well done. It is definatly worth buying. There were a few problems, however. In this game, there are very limited times in which you can save. Therefore, if you're "stamina" (like health or energy) runs out, you must go all the way to the last time the game let you save. Like many other reviews, I must write that I wish this game was more of a Role Playing Game. There isn't really any time for you to wander freely around the well-designed castle. On the plus-side, this game has excellent graphics. It is computer animated, which makes the game so realistic at points that it is almost scary. This game is also well designed to the plot of the book, which makes the game neat in the fact that you can re-live the book. I would reccommend getting this game, but only rated four stars for the reasons listed above. Hope this review helped!

If you have a kid who is between the ages of 8 and 14, this is a good game for them. Especially if they're a Harry Potter fan. For those of you who have played the game, there is actually a considerable amount of exploring to do if you wander off the beaten path and look for all the secret areas.

If you're not a Harry Potter fan, you're likely to find the game confusing as it makes large leaps in the plot with out really telling the player much. This means that the action doesn't stop for long, which is a good thing for those who already know the story. But this leaves less to go on for non-fans.

If you think of yourself as a hardcore gamer and want a fast paced, exciting game, turn away now. This game is not for you and you will not enjoy it.

Adults who aren't much in the way of gamers may also enjoy this game, especially if they're fans of the books. I know from experience that non-gamers get sucked in to this game surprisingly easily and (no offence) tend to play about as well as an 8 year old who does play games.

Lastly, the game is very, very short. If you have a short attention span, this game is perfect for you. If you're expecting a game that'll keep you riveted to your monitor for days, this is not the place to look unless you have a very short memory. This was very much designed to be an arcade-like game as far as play time, mostly due to the fact that the game was put together in a scant 4 months. Fortunately, this is a kids game, and it makes completely the game a little more accessible to the younger folk.

Basically, this is a simple game designed for youngsters and non-gamers who are fans of the book with some lovely visuals and a nice musical score to back it up.

Cheerio

I just finished playing Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for the PC -- The game starts off with a sort of a slide show of still drawings that run you through a hurried plot exposition up until you arrive at hogwarts. On some points they linger on one image and rush through an unrelated scene, like showing a picture of harry and then the narrator also mentions the trip to gringotts and hagrid's package in a tack on sentence. After arriving at hogwarts you do get some explaination on gameplay from the Weasly twins but it would have been so much better to have learned the gameplay through a mini challenge in getting to platform 9 3/4 and then exploring diagon alley. A majority of the book happens before you even arrive at Hogwarts! It could have been a lot more fun. Also, it proves that this game is not for someone who hasn't read the books or seen the movie -- they leave a lot unexplained. At any rate, gameplay is fairly intuitive, casting spells, jumping over things, going to class, etc. Quidditch is very fun and the game lets you practice outside of the storyline by playing in the quidditch leagues. If you win the leagues (8 matches) it just returns you to the main screen which was a big letdown after all that gameplay. Speaking of letdowns, the game is much too short. Poor Harry, they barely give him a chance to rest! The game doesn't really capture a year at hogwarts even though the school is well laid out and very fun to explore, using spells to find secret rooms behind pictures or find every flavour beans behind statues. I could have handled the slide show in the beginning but after defeating the dark lord I had hoped for a grand finale. Suddenly Harry faints and you're back at the slide show (even with some images re-used from the beginning) and only Harry is awarded house points for the win of the House Cup. After all that it switches to a mini movie of the Fred and George using the beans they've collected from you throughout the game. The game should have been longer and really let the player experience what its like to be at Hogwarts. Halfway through the game I would have given it 5 stars before realizing that what I thought was halfway was the eve of the final battle! I'm sure this game is great for younger players, but if they've had a lot of experience with this type of game it might not be much of a challenge. It really is well done aside from the hurried aspects and you really do get a feel for how annoying Peeves the poltergeist is. Certainly not for someone with no interest in the books or the movie, but for those of us that love Harry Potter the details are fun and the wizard cards (even though they don't move) are well drawn. Scene transitions were slow on my sister's 700mhz computer running WinMe, but on my 1.4 Ghz pc with Win2k it ran smoothly. Oh, and it does have some replay value because some of the secrets are rather hard to find so you may want to go back and play again to unlock the secret 25th wizard card. Overall, the game is okay for children (aside from the final battle which may be a bit scary with Lord Vol-, I mean you know who being rather dark looking, but its not too violent. Very fun, if you love Harry Potter buy this game.

This game borrows a great deal from the Zelda series for Nintendo. Graphics are nice and appropriately splashy, and many (but not all) of the story elements are in tact. They've made the book work well as a computer game.

The best thing about this game is Quidditch. I stayed up all night playing through the tournament. It's FANTASTIC. You get a real rush when you zoom way up over the field to try and find the Snitch...and when you spot it....vrrrrrrrrrmmmmmm....you nosedive down to scoop it up. All the while, you're dodging Bludgers and other players. Lee Jordan even gives commentary. It's just incredible and they're crazy not to make a full online Quidditch game. Once you get to the first Quidditch match in the game, you unlock an option on the main menu to play a tournament at any time.

The puzzle/platform levels are fine, but Quidditch alone makes it worth every penny

When I considered asking for this game for Christmas, I read the reviews like mad. I am a deep critic, and, in my opinion, I say it like it is. If you are considering purchasing or asking for this game, read this review, and take my word for it.

THE BASIC BASICS

This game is good overall. The sound and graphics are wonderful, and the controls are precise. The amazing amount of characters you can interact with (including Ron, Hermionie, Hagrid, Filch, Pro. Flitwick, Pro. Quirill, Pro. Snape, Madam Hooch, Pro. Dumbledore, Pro. Sprout and Malfoy) make the game realistic. Even those who aren't crazy about Harry Potter may throughly enjoy it.

SPELLS & CHALLENGES

Let's move on to specific details in the game. You attend a variety lessons, all in which have a challenge after them, that in which you may use the spell you learned in that lesson or any of the previous ones. You "learn" a spell by drawing the symbol of that spell in the air. You don't have to do this when casting it, only when learning it. Other people may ask you to do favors as challenges, such as collecting Fire Seeds for Hagrid or sneaking past Filch in the Invisibility Cloak to give Norbert to Charlie. Along the way, you collect Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs to boost your energy, and Wizard Cards which you recieve after a challenge.

QUIDDITCH

Quidditch is a very interesting game to actually play. It is fast-paced, colorful and clearly commentated by Lee Jordan. It is a challege to catch the Snitch, but it is possable. Put in simplist terms, Quidditch is, well, ausome!!!

All in all, I really like this game. I suggest you buy it, if:
- You are 7 to 13
- You have read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone or seen
the movie
- You like and appreciate Harry Potter to a fair extent

Well, I hope this review helped you. Thanks for reading it.

I read all four Harry Potter books when they first came out, I saw the movie less than a week after its release, and I won a copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for PC. I read a rather overbearing review that called the game "mediocre" and "suitable for children only." So, after six or seven sleepless hours spent playing "Harry Potter" here is my verdict (please note that I have not yet completed the game so I cannot comment on end cutscene):

Pros:
+ Excellent, detailled graphics (textures, lighting, effects) that bring Hogwarts to life
+ Cutscenes that preserve most of the suspense and humour from the book/movie
+ The game tries to closely mirror important events from the book (Quidditch matches, using the Invisibility Cloak to rescue Norbert, attending Potions, Herbology, and Defence Against the Dark Arts classes, putting Fluffy to sleep, battling Voldemort)
+ Character voice acting is above average and characters sound like their movie counterparts (only the Snape voice was a little off--trust me, I know Alan Rickman's voice when I hear it)
+ Attention to detail (except that they could have made the images in the pictures move like in the book/movie)
+ The Challenges offered a chance to try out new skills/spells and had interesting obstacles
+ The characters: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Draco, the professors....all look, act and sound like their book/movie counterparts
Cons:
- Some sequences are ridiculously easy and then the next minute are impossibly hard--lacks continuity in spots
- Some of the tasks are too contrived--i.e. Hagrid's garden caves collecting Fire Seeds
- Quidditch controls are very awkward
- No background information given, introduction was too little, story skips around in spots
- Saves are automatic and in inconvenient spots
- No way to adjust difficulty level

Final verdict: This is a game worth a look if you liked the Harry Potter books/movie. Has some very good action sequences and beautiful graphics. Medium to hard difficulty level in spots.