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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
They've only polished the characters, Jeeves! The gameplay is about the same...
By JCH05
This Review's Trust Rating: Unrated
December 15, 2005 - It's year three at Hogwarts for Harry and company, and already irregular things have happened: the wizard Sirius Black has escaped from the Azkaban wizard prison, accused of betraying his friends, Mr. and Mrs. Potter, to that jolly blasted You-Know-Who, and as a precaution Professor Dumbledore has summoned the Dementors to guard the school! Oh madness, as if it couldn't get any worse for the boy, eh?
Oh! Terribly sorry for the bit of English accent in this piece, but it's time to depart from the choppy "Once upon a time.." and "Have you ever played a game?" introductions.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban revisits the events from the book and film and adds a few new elements in the process. It's something of a tense thrill ride players will expereince from the Hogwarts Express train ride to school to the final showdown with the Dementors near the Black Lake.
All of this as the young wizard finally gets to the bottom of his parents' demise.
The game opens aboard the Express, with Harry, Hermione and Ron talking about the escape of Black and how he supposedly "murdered" 11 people with one curse 12 years earlier. Of course, in the middle of the conversation, Ron's rat Scabbers runs away, pursued by Hermione's new pet cat Crookshanks. Only after this little moment do players get control of Harry as he must help Ron look for Scabbers. Along the way the pair are attacked by a charmed schoolbook and, eventually, Draco Malfoy and his band. Once they are out of the way, the train suddenly jerks to a halt and Harry begins to get weaker for some reason. True then are Ron's words, "There's something moving out there!"
A withered hand opens the door to the train car, only to reveal a Ringwratih-like creature on the other side--a Dementor! Hermione then beckons Ron to get Harry out of that car while she finds help. Okay, folks, this is where the game's uniqueness starts to shine! One will then take over as Ron, and will have to drag Harry out of the train car away from the oncoming Dementor. If the creature ever does catch up eith the two, all one has to do is shake the left analog stick around until the Dementor's connection to Harry is broken. Depending on how fast one is at dragging Potter away from the crime scene, one may only have to wiggle the analog once!
Once Ron makes it to the car door, none other than Professor Lupin arrives and wards off the Dementor. From there, it's some more dialogue about Harry and company finally making it to Hogwarts and Professor Dumbledore's announcement of the Dementors keeping guard of the place for the term.
This time, I'm going to talk about graphics and sound in just one paragraph to save words. The graphics have been repolished, so to speak, so that all of the characters resemble their movie counterparts to an extent. The age begins to show on Harry and his lot, as well as on Dumbledore, Profs. McGonnagal, Snape, Flitwick and Lupin, another new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher,
and Hagrid, who is not just playing as grounds keeper, but he's also the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher, too.
Everybody in PoA looks a good deal older now. The evironments where the gane takes place are larger as well. Hogwarts, its halls and seven floors, are all bigger than before. This makes room for more exploration at the end of the day... The sound is also upgraded for this game, and the Flipendo spell is evidence of this! The doggone thing sounds much different from its SS and CoS predecessor.
Other than that, some sound effects have made the return from previous entries. The Lumos spell for this game has also been given a new sound of its own.
The gameplay is somewhat similar to that of SS and CoS, but here's the catch: teamwork comes into play now. Harry, Ron and Hermione will all have to work together in certain areas of the game. For example, to pick up a large cauldron in a spell challenge. Also, PoA also plays on the strengths and weaknesses of the kids. Simply put, Harry and Ron are no able to squeeze through tight spaces or walk on ice. But Hermione can do to her small frame. Harry is the only member of the bunch who can climb ropes and jump across pits. Ron has an inherent "sixth sense" about him this time--with this vision he is able to see hidden doors and treasures the other two cannot. Also, one can switch among the three at the press of a button during certain parts of the game. It is this type of experience which makes gameplay even more lenient.
Furthermore, there are seven new spells in PoA exclusive to each character. Hermione, for instance, learns the Glacius spell, which allows her to freeze puddles of water and turn them to ice blocks. She can also freeze vast areas of water and walk across the ice with this spell as well as put out fires. One of Harry's exclusive spells is the Expecto Patronum, which he learns from Professor Lupin late in the game. This is the only spell that can drive off the Dementors. The only spell Ron gets to his name is Lumos Duo, an upgrade of the original from SS and CoS. With it, he can shines its light on crystall bals around the school and then reflect that light onto giant mirrors which can be moved around to hit a certain spot.
All told, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban epitomizes the graphics, sound and gameplay mechanics employed in the previous adventures. While it does a great job repolishing all of the characters to make them resemble their big screen counterparts, the sound effects and gameplay are nothing new in the action adventure genre. Although, I may be wrong about that, due to the ability to switch among Harry, Hermione and Ron on the fly when the occasion allows.
They've only polished the characters, Jeeves! The gameplay is about the same...
By JCH05
This Review's Trust Rating: Unrated
December 15, 2005 - It's year three at Hogwarts for Harry and company, and already irregular things have happened: the wizard Sirius Black has escaped from the Azkaban wizard prison, accused of betraying his friends, Mr. and Mrs. Potter, to that jolly blasted You-Know-Who, and as a precaution Professor Dumbledore has summoned the Dementors to guard the school! Oh madness, as if it couldn't get any worse for the boy, eh?
Oh! Terribly sorry for the bit of English accent in this piece, but it's time to depart from the choppy "Once upon a time.." and "Have you ever played a game?" introductions.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban revisits the events from the book and film and adds a few new elements in the process. It's something of a tense thrill ride players will expereince from the Hogwarts Express train ride to school to the final showdown with the Dementors near the Black Lake.
All of this as the young wizard finally gets to the bottom of his parents' demise.
The game opens aboard the Express, with Harry, Hermione and Ron talking about the escape of Black and how he supposedly "murdered" 11 people with one curse 12 years earlier. Of course, in the middle of the conversation, Ron's rat Scabbers runs away, pursued by Hermione's new pet cat Crookshanks. Only after this little moment do players get control of Harry as he must help Ron look for Scabbers. Along the way the pair are attacked by a charmed schoolbook and, eventually, Draco Malfoy and his band. Once they are out of the way, the train suddenly jerks to a halt and Harry begins to get weaker for some reason. True then are Ron's words, "There's something moving out there!"
A withered hand opens the door to the train car, only to reveal a Ringwratih-like creature on the other side--a Dementor! Hermione then beckons Ron to get Harry out of that car while she finds help. Okay, folks, this is where the game's uniqueness starts to shine! One will then take over as Ron, and will have to drag Harry out of the train car away from the oncoming Dementor. If the creature ever does catch up eith the two, all one has to do is shake the left analog stick around until the Dementor's connection to Harry is broken. Depending on how fast one is at dragging Potter away from the crime scene, one may only have to wiggle the analog once!
Once Ron makes it to the car door, none other than Professor Lupin arrives and wards off the Dementor. From there, it's some more dialogue about Harry and company finally making it to Hogwarts and Professor Dumbledore's announcement of the Dementors keeping guard of the place for the term.
This time, I'm going to talk about graphics and sound in just one paragraph to save words. The graphics have been repolished, so to speak, so that all of the characters resemble their movie counterparts to an extent. The age begins to show on Harry and his lot, as well as on Dumbledore, Profs. McGonnagal, Snape, Flitwick and Lupin, another new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher,
and Hagrid, who is not just playing as grounds keeper, but he's also the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher, too.
Everybody in PoA looks a good deal older now. The evironments where the gane takes place are larger as well. Hogwarts, its halls and seven floors, are all bigger than before. This makes room for more exploration at the end of the day... The sound is also upgraded for this game, and the Flipendo spell is evidence of this! The doggone thing sounds much different from its SS and CoS predecessor.
Other than that, some sound effects have made the return from previous entries. The Lumos spell for this game has also been given a new sound of its own.
The gameplay is somewhat similar to that of SS and CoS, but here's the catch: teamwork comes into play now. Harry, Ron and Hermione will all have to work together in certain areas of the game. For example, to pick up a large cauldron in a spell challenge. Also, PoA also plays on the strengths and weaknesses of the kids. Simply put, Harry and Ron are no able to squeeze through tight spaces or walk on ice. But Hermione can do to her small frame. Harry is the only member of the bunch who can climb ropes and jump across pits. Ron has an inherent "sixth sense" about him this time--with this vision he is able to see hidden doors and treasures the other two cannot. Also, one can switch among the three at the press of a button during certain parts of the game. It is this type of experience which makes gameplay even more lenient.
Furthermore, there are seven new spells in PoA exclusive to each character. Hermione, for instance, learns the Glacius spell, which allows her to freeze puddles of water and turn them to ice blocks. She can also freeze vast areas of water and walk across the ice with this spell as well as put out fires. One of Harry's exclusive spells is the Expecto Patronum, which he learns from Professor Lupin late in the game. This is the only spell that can drive off the Dementors. The only spell Ron gets to his name is Lumos Duo, an upgrade of the original from SS and CoS. With it, he can shines its light on crystall bals around the school and then reflect that light onto giant mirrors which can be moved around to hit a certain spot.
All told, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban epitomizes the graphics, sound and gameplay mechanics employed in the previous adventures. While it does a great job repolishing all of the characters to make them resemble their big screen counterparts, the sound effects and gameplay are nothing new in the action adventure genre. Although, I may be wrong about that, due to the ability to switch among Harry, Hermione and Ron on the fly when the occasion allows.
Cricket
37