- Publisher: EA
- Developer: EA Bright Light
- Also On: PS3
- ESRB Rating: “E” for Everyone
- Genre: Action
- Pros: Exploring Hogwarts; dueling; making potions; funny
- Cons: Very short; Quidditch is mad boring; graphics & sound only so-so
The first thing that needs to be said about the Half-Blood Prince videogame is that it doesn’t really tell the story of the book or the movie. Yeah, it tells the story sort of, but it skips over huge chunks and doesn’t really explain anything so if you haven’t read the book you’re not going to know what the heck is going on. The point of the game isn’t to simply re-tell the story, but to let you live in the story’s universe and it does a great job of that. You wander around Hogwarts. You go to classes. You talk with other characters. You play Quidditch. You really get absorbed into the world and it is pretty dang fun if you are a fan of the series.
Gameplay
The gameplay is split into a few different segments. The main game is just simple third-person exploration where you can explore Hogwarts to find hidden crests. There are also mini-crests (which look like Lucky Charms marshmallows) in glowing objects all over the castle, and when you collect enough mini-crests they combine into a large one. You have to use magic to burn away bushes, repair broken crests, or to levitate objects or break things to release crests. It is fairly fun and using all of these spells in practical applications is rather interesting.
The second aspect of the gameplay is dueling. Either in organized dueling clubs, or when a pesky Slytherin (or perhaps someone a bit more powerful than a mere student) picks a fight, you go into dueling mode. In dueling mode you cast spells such as Stupify, Expelliarmus, Levicorpus, or Protego to attack your opponent or protect yourself. The spells are easy to do with the control sticks, and the duels can be pretty darn fun and strategic against skilled opponents. Better yet, you can duel in local multiplayer, which is neat.
Potions
Potion making is another part of the gameplay. Onscreen instructions tell you what and how much you need to use, and it is your job to grab the right stuff and pour the right amount to turn your potion the correct color. Some ingredients have to be shaken up and you also have to stir or heat up your cauldron. You are just following instructions so it is pretty easy, but doing everything quickly and accurately and getting high scores is kind of thrilling. You actually really feel like you are accomplishing something.
Quidditch
The final gameplay chunk is Quidditch. It isn’t quite what you’d expect, though. You play as the seeker, but all you got to do is move your character around onscreen so they fly through colored stars. When you complete the course, you catch the snitch and the match is over. It is super easy. Super boring. And most of them go on for way too long. Quidditch is easily the weakest aspect of the gameplay.
There are a couple of bonus set pieces that are noteworthy. The first is that you get to play as Ron who is under the influence of Romilda Vane’s love potion (which was intended for Harry) and it is great because you see everything through rose-tinted glasses and there are hearts everywhere and Ron says some hilarious stuff. The other set piece is when Harry drinks his Felix Felicis luck potion and the view switches from third-person to first-person and you are kind of along for the ride as Harry walks around the castle. Awesome “ladies man” jazz music plays, and Harry is real slick and confident, and nothing but great things happen to him. It is incredibly funny and great.
Graphics
Graphically, Half-Blood Prince isn’t a huge step up from Order of the Phoenix. The character models are decent and everyone looks like their movie counterparts, but it is far from great. The animations are pretty stiff all around. Hogwarts is nice and detailed, but isn’t going to blow you away.
Sound
The sound is a little better. The sound-alike voice actors don’t actually sound much like the real characters at all, but once you get used to them you won’t really notice. Sound effects and music are right from the movies and fit in perfectly, which is nice.
Bottom Line
