Slightly more than a year ago, the Harry Potter franchise made its big screen and gaming debut. Only the hype of the (then) forthcoming Fellowship of the Ring movie managed to surpass that of The Philosopher`s Stone.
However, both the Harry Potter movie and the game came across as lifeless imitations of the novel. It had many people thinking that while the adaptations were nice, it could have been done so much better. Well, it is that time of the year again where we can look forward to both the new Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings movies and games.
The Chamber of Secrets opened in cinemas last week. While it is much longer than the first movie, it is much darker and more emotionally mature than its predecessor. The initial reaction from critics is that this is a better adaptation of the book than the first movie.
The PC game of the same name was released a couple of days before the movie and has already proven to be quite popular. It must be said though that gaming sequels have proven to be much better received than movie sequels.
At first glance, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets does not appear to be that different from the first game in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher`s Stone. It has the same third-person perspective and the gameplay is almost a replica of the first one.
However, it does improve on the dismal game released last year. Whether Electronic Arts has learned from the criticism it received is a moot point. The fact is that the developers have put together a title that is more fun than the original.
Arguably the best part of the first title was the Quidditch matches and it still forms a fun part in the new offering. However, it is the wizard duels that have taken over from Quidditch as the best part of the game.
You can challenge another student to a duel by betting a number of Bertie Bott`s Every Flavour Beans on the match. There are three spells to choose from in the duels. These are Rictusempra (knocks back the opposing duellist), Expelliarmus (knocks opponent`s incoming spells back to them) and Mimble Wimble (causes the opponent to miscast their next spell).
Additionally, Harry can now learn how to make a stamina-restoring potion from items available in the school. If finding these items may be too tedious for some players, you can easily get them by trading either Beans or Famous Witches and Wizards Cards.
In fact, trading has become a very useful feature in the Chamber of Secrets. As mentioned previously, you can either trade your beans or the magic cards you get by exploring Hogwarts. In most case you will need to trade these cards for either bronze or silver wizard cards that can benefit Harry in a number of ways. For every 10 bronze cards you collect, Harry gets a permanent increase in his stamina. Ten silver cards give Harry access to a secret area in the school.
The two things that annoyed me no end was the save points and the magic lessons. While I can understand the reasoning behind the save points, they are just too few and far between to be very effective. It quickly becomes frustrating to redo a sequence several times just because you can`t save when you want to.
The magic lessons consist of sequences where Harry`s teachers show him how to cast a particular spell. Thereafter, Harry gets three chances to cast the spell successfully by pressing buttons in the correct sequence. I don`t know if it was just my luck, but no matter which buttons I pressed, the game did not recognise it and I subsequently got a scolding response from the teachers.
Bar the annoyances, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets will be very popular as a Christmas gift this summer. Gamers (and parents) should note that it is best to forget the first title in the series and to approach this one from a fresh perspective. While more serious gamers should avoid this title, it is a perfect game for the youngsters out there.
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