Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - (Multi)
Developer: EA
Format: Multi
Genre: Action


Harry Potter makes a magical return



Everyone's favourite boy wizard makes a long overdue return in the game loosely based on the imminent movie. In the game of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, players return to Hogwarts - reproduced from movie blueprints in exacting detail - to help Harry survive a fraught sixth year. In true attention to detail fashion all the key locations in Hogwarts school grounds are present and correct, from the heights of the Astronomy Tower to Professor Slughorn's Potions classroom in the depths of the dungeons and iconic locations in between such as the Gryffindor common room and the Great Hall.

A much improved wand combat system, an all new potion mixing feature and a chance to chase down the Golden Snitch as players take to the air as the Seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, is just a few of the improvements in this title that was originally pencilled for release in Christmas 2008 before being rescheduled for a July 2009 debut, to coincide with the summer cinematic blockbuster.

Although the action is still visually reminiscent of what's gone before ( a typical third person action adventure), the atmosphere is still dripping in Potter magic as a full supporting cast of characters will help Harry on his variety of missions, earning badges and collecting a 125 crests - to name but a few core activities.

Potion making was a stand-out in-game feature, largely thanks to the sheer inventiveness of it all. There's 16 potions to concoct in total with players utilising a first person view to mix and blend a wide array of ingredients in their faithful cauldron. The game is much tougher than it looks thanks to the complicated recipes and practices used in later potions - but fun it is, nonetheless.

Wand combat is a vast improvement over the Order of the Phoenix offering, with players now having the ability to move and cast spells simultaneously, creating much more fluid, less cumbersome, wizard duels. There's half a dozen different spells to work though each with unique abilities that are well worth exploring.

The only real downside lies with the plot itself. EA hasn't done the best of jobs fleshing out the story, instead relying on well known backdrops and isolated cut scenes to keep the action bumping along. But for the legions of faithful Harry fans, EA has once again delivered a largely authentic slice of Potter pie. Fans of the films, youngsters especially, should flock to this title in droves.