Product Details
 | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban |
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Product Description
Platform: WINDOWS 98/2000/ME/XP Publisher: ELECTRONIC ARTS Packaging: DVD STYLE BOX Rating: EVERYONE The Dementors areing... and this time Harry needs his friends. Offering a host of new features and opponents Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban looks to offer fans of this series a refreshingly new story line as Harry and friends face their most terrifying opponents yet. For the first time in the series gamers will be able to switch between Harry's friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger to face challenges and ovee enemies using the specific skills each character possesses.Together their strengths will need to bebined and their spells mastered as they unravel the mystery surrounding Sirius Black and his escape from the notorious wizard prison Azkaban. Revealing these secrets and solving the mystery will not be easy as sub-quests creatures and the mystery of the Marauder's Map all block the path that will lead players to the finale on the shore of the great lake at Hogwarts. Features:Play as Harry Ron and HermioneFace the DementorsFly BuckbeakAll new spells and best-ever graphics! System Requirements Windows 98 2000 ME XP600 MHz processor Intel Pentium III256 MB RAM850 MB free hard drive space8x CD or DVD-ROM drive32 MB Dirct3D Video Card PCP/ADPDirectX 9.0bpatible sound cardDirectX 9.0bpatibleKeyboardMouseProduct Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #3800 in Video Games
- Brand: Electronic Arts
- Released on: 2004-05-25
- ESRB Rating: Everyone
- Platforms: Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows XP
- Format: CD-ROM
- Dimensions: .45 pounds
Features
- Play as Harry, Ron and Hermione, switching from one player to the next
- Face opponents such as Sirius Black and the Dementors
- Unravel the mystery behind the wizard prison
- Exciting sub quests
- For 1 or 2 players
Customer Reviews
Lots of fun but rather disappointing in a number of ways
Harry Potter and The Prisoner
of Azkaban is a great game, but I think it falls far short of Harry
Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in terms of gameplay, atmosphere, and
most certainly duration. I enjoyed the chance to play as Ron and
Hermione, but it's not as if you choose one for a certain situation -
it's all predetermined by the game itself. I was happiest when the trio
stayed together and worked as a team - a number of different actions
require the skills of more than one of our young wizard characters. Nice
new additions such as this to the HP gaming experience turn out,
unfortunately, to be few and far between. Much more is lost than is
gained here.
The graphics are quite good, for the most part, but
they just don't make Hogwarts come to life. In fact, Harry is pretty
much just thrown down in the middle of the place and sent to class
without any adequate introduction - there's no animation clip of Harry's
departure from the Dursley household, no get-together in the Great
Hall, only the briefest of welcomes from Professors Dumbledore and
McGonagall, and little chance to really settle in. Hogwarts itself seems
to lack character, especially when viewed from outside the grounds - I
never felt as if I were really "home." The experience is further
diminished by the nonexistence of Quidditch matches, a House Points
Championship, or extracurricular activities such as wizard dueling. Then
there's the length of the thing. Just as I was settling in and planning
to get start exploring the place in earnest, I found myself almost at
the end of the game. This feels more like a demo than a complete game.
You basically only learn three new spells here, and the spell challenges
are much shorter than those of the earlier Harry Potter games. And even
though Hogwarts looks bigger in this game, there is much less to do and
explore than I was expecting based on my memories of Harry Potter and
the Chamber of Secrets. The only association you really have with your
professors is in the challenges; in fact, there is hardly any
interconnection with characters other than Harry, Ron, and Hermione in
the entire game (even Draco Malfoy is kept out of the picture almost
completely). Things come much too easily, even when Harry has to battle a
horde of Dementors. As bad a player as I am, I had little trouble
advancing quickly past all of the challenges - that is a clear sign that
the game is much too easy.
The game does have its good points.
Flying Buckbeak is loads of fun and makes for an almost serene
experience. Expecto Patronum makes a fine addition to Harry's repertoire
of wizarding skills, the ability to create and temporarily control
small dragons makes for a bit of a fun challenge, and Carpe Retractum
offers up a different and rather risky way to get around inside a
challenge. The ability to create little rabbits and send them out to
explore the local area is fun at first but eventually feels a little
silly. I also have mixed feelings about the new Glacius spell, largely
because sliding down frozen streams of water just doesn't seem to jibe
with my concept of Hogwarts and Harry Potter in particular. All of this
points to the most problematic issue with the game - it all too often
wanders far afield from the events of the novel and movie. This renders
the whole Sirius Black storyline as almost incidental and anticlimactic
at best. Giving the game designers such a free hand in terms of content
seems to have led to a concentration on the gaming aspects rather than
the storyline, and that weakens the whole experience.
Harry is
basically just going through the motions in this third installment of
the HP gaming saga. When I finished the Chamber of Secrets game, I went
right back in and played it a second time. Having finished The Prisoner
of Azkaban, I feel no such commitment to the experience and may or may
not ever return to this adventure. It's still a fun game to play, but
give me HP and the Chamber of Secrets any day over this newest addition
to the HP gaming series.
Fun, but not as
good as Chamber of Secrets
I've really enjoyed the Harry
Potter games on the PC -- they're a great combination of adventure and
(mild) combat, and bring the Harry Potter universe to life in a fun way.
But
I wasn't thrilled with this one. I liked it, but had some reservations
and disappointments, especially after the complex and really enjoyable
PC version of Chamber of Secrets.
What I liked:
* Overall,
the game is a solid effort. It's fun and diverting, and the kids will
love it.
* It was great to be able to play all three main
characters at different points of play. Unfortunately the voice acting
is a lot less solid this time around -- all three kids just don't sound
all that convincing (or even very English)
* I loved the
Draconifors Challenge -- a really innovative challenge in which Hermione
must play enchanted rabbits and dragons through a series of steps.
Enchanting and really clever (the rabbit sits and scratches when
inactive; the dragon is just as cute. These also involve some of the
best graphics in the game.
On the down side:
* Like others
who have posted here, I have a near-new, screaming machine, yet could
not play the game at the highest resolution either; is this really a
driver issue for EA or a bug?
The game ran fine for me, but
whether it's the resolution or a change in animation styles (or
deadlines), this is a far less beautiful game visually than Chamber of
Secrets. There are a lot more closeups, too, and they look terrible,
very pixellated and blocky. The characters don't look bad, but they just
don't look great, and they should.
* The game is way, way shorter
than Chamber of Secrets. Aside from a few relatively easy side games,
gone are most of the challenging and time consuming moments from the
previous PC versions (I still remember how long it took me to beat
Voldemot with that darned Flipendo spell on the mirror). I would have
preferred just a little more challenge. So -- no more wizard duels, no
more Quiddich (although I admit I have a love/hate thing with Quiddich
because I'm horrible at it).
The challenges are far easier here,
and (bummer) there are a lot less secrets to find. I loved the sheer
numbers of secrets and hideaways and goodies in the first two games,
especially COS, but this one, aside from a few really clever
brain-teasers, they're very obvious.
* Hogwarts seems a lot
smaller, too. We never get to see very much of it, and it doesn't feel
like a real place, unlike the COS version, which really felt like you
were exploring Hogwarts.
* The game ultimately feels kind of
hasty. Why is it that there are so few secrets? So many portraits that
have no purpose, so many doors that never open? In the previous games,
each time you mastered a new spell, this led to new hidden areas to
uncover so that as the game progressed, you were always finding new fun
corners of Hogwarts to explore as each spell was mastered. In this one,
if you thoroughly explore each floor for secrets in the beginning of the
game, with a few exceptions that's pretty much it.
* WARNING: Do
everything you need to do BEFORE taking the characters to their final
exams! You do not get to go back, you cannot go find missing items, etc
-- the game simply ends abruptly.
I hated this part! In COS (in a
vast improvement from Sorcerer's Stone), you were informed bluntly that
you could "finish up last-minute business (like hunting for those last
missing Wizard cards)," and only when you were ready for the end of the
game, you could go on to the last assignment (the meeting hall).
So
-- it's not a bad game. But COS was so lovely and immersive --
beautiful graphics, great music and sound effects (the growling spiders
freaked me out), and just a really big, complex, challenging game for
those who enjoy the books. The first two games each took me three or
four days minimum: This one is cute, fun, and took me two (short)
afternoons to complete. Still worth buying for Potter fans, but still
kind of a bummer.
Great graphics,
design, and gameplay, but too dang short!
I just got the PC version
today. I will say, I'm pretty much amazed that graphically, they did so
much with so little, AGAIN. Still using the original Unreal engine,
they've managed to put together a gigantic, gorgeous playground where
you can pretty much roam freely. The grounds and forest look amazingly
realistic, a varied assortment of clouds pass overhead, and there are
secrets and explorable areas galore. (I've yet to get all the secrets,
but I'm getting there...) The scene where Harry first produces the full
patronus is actually quite amazing. And, the scenes where Sirius, Lupin,
Pettigrew, and McGonagall change form? Whoa!
As beautiful as it
was, I have one MAJOR beef with this game, and it's a doozy. There isn't
enough of it. Instead of doing their own adaption directly from the
book, as they've done in the past, Know Wonder atempted to adapt the
already super-shortened story from the movie. (I haven't seen it yet,
but I have seen the reviews.) The result feels horribly rushed. It's
like watching a 2 minute generalized synopsys. They didn't even explain
WHY Sirius was after Pettigrew. Sirius appears for a total of what? 15
seconds? Rather than adding Quidditch as a side-game as in the previous
games (which could have been great if you ask me), they make a single
cutscene. Darn. The few complaints I've heard about the PoA movie are
usually about the idea of non-bookreaders being completely lost. Well,
prepare to be lost in space if you haven't read the book OR seen the
movie.
In a nutshell, by not following their own continuity and
creating their own story adaptation straight from the book, Know Wonder
really screwed themselves over this time. There's a lot of missed
possibilities in this game. A LOT.
To it's credit, they did manage
to lengthen gameplay by adding a heck of a lot of secret mini-levels
and side games, as well as obstacle courses for "final exams". The
secret mini-levels do add a lot of explorability, but I do wish they
could have covered things such as the tunnel to hogsmeade, or a boggart
level with the entire trio. With the assortment of new moves and spells,
they really could have added more levels. There's also more notable
characters running around. Neville meets up with you at one point, and
Padma can be seen selling wizard cards. Oddly enough, there's a few kids
running around with a hispanic accent. I'm guessing it's a tribute to
the director. ^^;
The gameplay is still as fun as ever. FPS-style
controls with third person action. Lots of secrets, lots of exploring,
and a heck of a lot of jumping puzzles. The glacius challenge was
probably the most fun (WOOT! Skater Harry!) even though to get all the
items in one try, you have to commit suicide and jump to your death
several times. (The items you've already collected are saved.) Not a
pleasant thought by any means, especially since the scenery is something
out of the old Doom games. (Hellish red and blue fire behind open
windows, and the entire level is very dark with a creepy orange light.)
o_O
Well, all that said, overall a very good, if very short, game.
It took me less than a day to beat, while the previous two took me
about 2 days each. I'm still looking for the last 9 cards. (And no beans
for guessing what the very last card is. LOL)
I may as well say
this now. Likely, Know Wonder is already working on the game for Goblet
of Fire. Personally, as action packed as it is, I think it should be
relatively easy to adapt as a video game. Know Wonder, if you're out
there, please PLEASE follow your own continuity next time! That way,
everybody wins.
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