Last year saw the eventual arrival of the fifth Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, while movie fans have had to wait for this week to see the third instalment on the big screen.
Devout JK Rowling readers will know that the third novel, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, saw a shift towards a more sinister narrative. By all accounts the movie has successfully incorporated this darker approach, with parents being forewarned that this is not something young children should watch.
Electronic Arts (EA) recently released the latest Harry Potter game to coincide with the hype surrounding the new movie. Would this title be similar to the previous two and merely cater for the younger market, or does it offer something for slightly older gamers?
The answer is a mixed affair. On the one hand, EA has succeeded in maintaining the essence of the first two titles with loads of cards, magical beans and other things available for collecting. While being slightly more difficult to play, Azkaban should provide less experienced gamers with a fun challenge without being too difficult.
On the other hand, Azkaban allows players to control Harry Potter and his two close friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley for the first time. This introduces a new game dynamic insofar as all three characters are essential for the completion of the game.
Each character has his/her own strengths and weaknesses for the player to exploit. Unfortunately, these are not as pronounced as they could have been.
The advantage of having three characters to control is that there are a wider variety of spells at the player`s disposal. It is especially fun to control different creatures via a transfiguration spell. There is also a stronger focus on mini-games, with a plethora of challenges awaiting the player.
Both the graphics and sound have been overhauled, with Hogwarts coming alive with students, teachers and other diverse creatures. Allowance has also been made for the player to explore much of Hogwarts during interludes in the main quest. This succeeds in drawing the player more into the game world than the previous two titles have ever done.
While Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban will not present much of a challenge for more serious gamers, it finally awakens the game franchise to the possibilities of benefiting from a strong licence. This is definitely one to get if you are a Potter fan.
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