Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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109 of 112 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome entertainment value, great for kids and adults who play along with them, September 7, 2005
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
My 7 year old daughter and I have been searching for a good computer game to play ever since we finished up 101 Dalmations on the PC more than a year ago. I've read her the first three Harry Potter books, and then discovered this collection. It is a big winner.
You get four different games (which each originally sold for the cost of this collection, or more). We finished the Sorcerers Stone in about two weeks of evening play. It has plenty of play value to get us to go back, mainly to find the hidden secrets we did not find the first time, and to play some better games of Quiddich.
We have just begun playing the Chamber of Secrets. Everything about this one is an upgrade from Sorcerer's Stone: smoother play, more spells, more hidden areas, new activities, new features. We are enjoying it immensely.
Some kids are game fanatics, and can handle the controls alone. Another reviewer was correct, a game controller makes these much easier. My daughter and I share the controls when we play together. In these games, she takes the mouse to cast spells and direct Harry's point of view, I work the arrow keys to move us around. We have quite a lot of fun together this way.
The games feature the same story line and content as the books. Expect the same (very low) violence level as the books.
So I'm giving this bundle 5 stars based on just games. Heck, I would have given it 4 stars for the Sorcerer's Stone alone, or 5 stars for the Chamber of Secrets alone. This is a super value.
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53 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! and HarryPotter!, February 18, 2006
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
First, several reviews, on the Amazon customer review site, mention that there are no codes, or missing codes, or that the codes were accidentally thrown away. The codes are on a "manual" that is very difficult to find in the box. The box's shape is not representative of how the contents are stored.
The long rectangular box contains 1 jewel case, approximately 1inch thick, containing all four of the games. The manual (resembling a folded white piece of paper) is wedged in the box among some of the partitions that prevent the jewel case from sliding around in a box that is 3 times the size of the game container.
Do not loose those codes, even if you have registered the games, you will need those codes if you uninstall the game and later wish to reinstall the games.
If you haven't lost your codes, and if Amazon doesn't delete my review, again...the games are delightful. These are family games that offer a pleasant pastime for adults and a challenge for youngsters.
The collection is a testimony to the advances made in PC gaming graphics from 2001 to 2004, each game represents a corresponding release year and each successive year is a graphical marvel to behold in its virtual, magical reality.
2001: The Sorcerer's Stone
The first of the Potter games sets the framework for the following games to come and introduces the player to virtual Hogwarts as playing Harry himself in third person. The collection of jelly beans and wizard cards, along with awards of house points and challenge stars from class are the goals and essence of the game. Being the oldest of the games, we have noticed the game doesn't play well with any of the options (video or audio) set on high. We have a powerful system. Other households have noticed the same phenomena. Set everything on medium or lower, don't try to play on anything higher than a 800 X 600 resolution. On our laser mouse, we have to set the mouse very low on the slide bar (setting just above off) for most of the gameplay. The symbol tracing exercise before every class does require the mouse to be set higher than what the gameplay setting uses. If you do alter the mouse speed to trace the symbol of the spell...remember to lower the option, or you will never be able to cast a spell on anything for the rest of the game.
Even though the majority of the gameplay is played out with a mouse an keyboard, we do like the Logitech Wingman controllers (joystick, gamepads) mainly because of the software that comes with these devices. Some games, like Stone, have no provision for controllers. Believe me, controllers and flight sticks (joysticks) make the broomstick training easier and more fun. Logitech has game profiles for both 'Stone' and 'Secrets'. That means you don't have to program keys to game pad buttons if you don't want to. These game profiles, obviously, work with Logitech controllers (gamepads/joysticks) only. You can download these profiles at the Logitech site through your controller's webpage via the software link and under "Other Downloads" clicking "Game Profiles Created by the WingMan® Team". We have both the Rumblepad 2 and the Extreme 3D Pro Joystick, both sold here at Amazon and both having the two Potter game profiles. (Hint: If you choose a joystick, duct-tape it to the desk so it does not move around.)
I've read many critics that call the Stone very easy, and a "children's game" that is much too boring and simple for adults to play. I'm getting so old, I might be considered beyond an adult, but I'm only able to defeat Malfoy (with the exploding crackers) by cheating. No one, that I know or heard of, has beaten Voldemort without entering cheat codes...not to mention how difficult Madam Hootch's broomstick challenge is.
2002: The Chamber of Secrets
My personal favorite, and the often most played game of the collection (in our house). Same problems occur with the 'Options" settings on high in this game (as with the Stone). Hot Tip: Play the dueling club over and over for extra beans to buy the Firebolt and the Armor. Also in this game, you can use jellybeans (won by dueling) to buy the wizard cards you might have missed during gameplay (at a hefty jelly bean price).
More advanced skill is required in all areas of gameplay...specifically running and jumping. After two years of playing COS I am still discovering new surprises, and I am delighted when I do. There are many "secrets" to discover in the 'Chamber of Secrets'...I, myself, have found a few that I haven't found mentioned in the numerous walkthroughs, reviews, and faqs that I have researched, its a very surprising game to explore...from the point of view as a player and/or a (potential) writer. We all play the game entirely using the mouse and keyboard.
2003: World Cup Quidditch
The only game of this collection not developed by Amaze (Know Wonder) Entertainment for EA.
This is the game where you need that rumble pad force feedback game controller. Console gamers have criticized the game for being too easy and repetitive (once the controls are mastered). There's too much flying going on for me, so I haven't attempted World Cup beyond the Practice Challenges. The eleven year boy, though, loves his quick advancement through World Cup and is very proud of his accomplishments...and rightly so. Again the Logitech Wingman Rumble Pad with lots and lots of buttons and joysticks is perfect for this game. This is the very first Potter game that lets you choose who you want to be and what team you want to be on.
2004: The Prisoner of Azkaban
The most visual appealing of the collection. Many new devices are added for easier movement within the magical fortress' walls such as magical numbered doors to take you to the floor number you wish to be at. The artwork takes a dramatic sophisticated turn, especially for the Carpe Retractum Challenge. This is the first game where you get to play as all three heroes, each at different intervals of gameplay. This is also the first time a little girl gets to play as a girl.
We again had problems setting the options on high. The fifth round of rings could not be completed with the world detail set on high. No one could navigate Buckbeak, on a near to last leg of the fifth round of rings, on high detail at all. He crashed into invisible walls, and sometimes literally couldn't go through a particular ring ... no matter what. Setting the "world detail" on medium or low solved the problem instantly. Every member of the family played POA with a mouse and keyboard.
The entire collection is a category unto itself and a genuine keeper to play over and over.
How I got deleted in the first place:
I know for a fact that the installation codes provide no protection against anti-copying. EA is now registering the codes with the user, but only for support (LOL). As far as I know, similar versions of the Potter games by EA on XBOX, PS2, and Game Cube do not have installation codes.
I opened up another children's PC game today, the Hobbit from Vivendi, which needs no codes, as Lemony Snicket needed no codes nor the Incredibles needed no codes. If these codes are so valuable, why are they only on a piece a paper that is difficult to find, and based on other games, most parents don't know about?
These are not expensive online MMORPGs, where the stakes are high, the profits are large, and hackers are beating down every door. These are the games that children, who received them, couldn't play during the holidays... because there was no information concerning codes, except on the folded piece of paper that was thrown out with the wrapping.
These games are wonderful, and can't be copied with or without the installation codes. EA please let the rightful owners play. If EA demands that parents and children fiddle around with installation codes for support registration, at the very least the codes should be where the owners can find them. As far as support goes (if anyone can find the email support page), well...wouldn't it be nice if a rep played the game in question and answered the gamer in the same language asked?
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36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Games in a Great Set at a Great Price!, December 17, 2005
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
This set includes the first 4 Potter games for PC: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban and Quidditch World Cup. This is a cool deal! This set cost less than more stores sell Prisoner of Azkaban alone. The Games (1-3) are model closely after the stories including much that the movies skip or alter. Like tje Hagrid's gift of a flute in Sorcerer's Stone. They also include Peeves the Poltergeist. The Hogwarts Castle is styled after the film and the books and a great deal of effort went into capturing the feel of the famous school of witchcraft and wizardry. It is loaded with secret passages, candy and wizard cards. The graphic are pretty good (on all platforms) and the actors used create their own interpretation of the chief characters. Game 3, Prisoner of Azkaban is much more in the spirit of the movies rather than the books, the faces of the characters more closely resemble their Warner Brother counterparts, and the Hogwart's students wear school uniforms (instead of robes with crests over street clothes). This isn't a complaint, either way. I enjoyed both versions of the series.
The fourth game in this set:The Quidditch World Cup is not an adventure game, but a sports game, using elements from basketball, soccer and football to recreate Quidditch game play more elaborately than in the other 3 games. THIS GAME WAS NOT BASED ON THE NEWLY RELEASED MOVIE, but came out based solely on the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
You can play proffessional Quidditch play for the World Cup as a team in the Quidditch League using players like Krum, playing the country of your choice (including playing for the States). This leads me to my one complaint: YOU CAN'T PLAY IRELAND. You can't play as, or against Ireland's Quidditch team. But, QWC is still the best game of the set.
If don't want to play in the league for the World Cup, there is also the option of Hogwarts house play.
All 4 games come in a single-4 disc jewel case, not individually packaged within the 12" box.
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