DVDizzy Forum

Has anyone else played this yet? While we adored Chamber of Secrets on the Xbox, the Philosopher's Stone game was a huge let down - it was in affect nothing more than an expansion pack. But an expansion with less playabilty and even adding new bugs.

However The Prisoner of Azkaban game is fantastic. It really is an upgrade and time and effort has been taken on the whole thing.

Reasons it rocks:

1) Switching between 3 characters adds to the puzzles (not that they are difficult, but they are fun). Plus there's always a dialogue going on between the characters, including a few not so subtle hints for solving the puzzles.

2) The graphics engine is totally new and overhauled. The opening in the Hogwarts Express is astonishing. The windows show the landscape passing by outside, but also reflect the carriage interiors. And wait until you see the dementor and watch the windows, glasses and light bulbs shatter as it advances down the train...

3) A proper dueling club mini-game!

4) Owl racing mini-game! (Plus, you can "be" Hedwig!)

5) You can ride Buckbeak!

6) Hogwarts is similar in architecture to the previous two games, but has been expanded slightly. So now you can enjoy exploring again.

7) Whoever thought of "Ronsense" deserves a medal!

8) Lots of little touches make for a magical experience. More moving images on the paintings. Moths flying around candles. Taunts from Peeves. It rains outside. Pixies lift the characters up. Spells distort the screen with a cool "heat haze" effect.

We're only at the end of day two and we love every minute of it!

It sounds great, I might check it out sometime. Can you play the minigames whenever you want? Also, there's quidditch, right?

I don't think there is Quidditch. The first match is interrupted by Dementors (Cut scene) and isn't it banned from then on in the book?

Yes, you can play the mini-games from the main menu!

Well, there were like three matches shown in the book. There was the one with Harry falling off his broom. The second one had Malfoy and the others pretending to be a Dementor, and the one where they win the cup. I don't think it was banned, but in the fourth book, they canceled Quidditch for the tournament...

Is Chamber of Secrets fun enought to buy?

The Chamber of Secrets game is amazing. There's so much more freedom in it than in Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone. You can do the various spells and challenges in basically whatever order you want whereas in game 1, you were limited to following the levels in a traditional linear sense. But if you want a great HP game, then you must buy Quidditch World Cup. As much as I love the previous two games, QWC blows them out of the word (can't speak for Prisoner of Azkaban since I don't own it). You can play as any country (or house if you choose to only play at Hogwarts) you want, and along the way you learn various tactics and moves to help you win the Quidditch World Cup.

As for PoA, I've heard that it's very disappointing. People have been complaining about how from a story perspective you can barely tell this is Prisoner of Azkaban because so many plot elements are left out of the game. I've also heard that the game is amazingly short, far shorter than the previous two. Going to Amazon's user comments for the game will show you what the general public seems to think of it. As for me, I plan on buying this game, anyway. Even if it blows, I still want it for my collecton since I already have every Harry Potter video game to date (even the horrid Lego Harry Potter ones).

quidditch sounds boring i dont want to play that only part of the movie.

I don't know how short the game is, but I think it's well worth getting. It is a vast improvement over the previous games (and we loved Chamber of Secrets).

I don't really care if it follows the story 100% or not. The point is, its got a lot more atmosphere than the previous games. The characters interact with each other. Graphics are astonishing. Hogwarts is bigger. How wants to play through a story anyhow when you know what's going to happen next all the time? I'll take at atmosphere and the experience anytime!