The boy who lived is back and, funnily enough, it seems he is still living despite many close calls. Of course, I am talking about the one and only, Harry Potter. You know, the boy with the magical scar on his forehead and the circular glasses on the end of his nose. No doubt every Potter fan has fantasised about hands-on interaction with Harry’s wand in the past, and now Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Electronic Arts have made it a reality thanks to the assistance of the Wii Remote.

The videogame version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is very similar to the movie of the same name. However, the main downside of the videogame is that it leaves out vital segments of the storyline, making the plot incomprehensible if you haven’t read the novel or seen the movie. I’ve come to the conclusion that these segments were removed from the storyline because the videogame was released about two weeks before the film, meaning the developers of the game were required to leave out particular sections since the story was already far too similar to its movie counter-part (dialogue and all).

Now that the storyline issues have been addressed I can discuss the meat of the game with all of you Barry Trotter Harry Potter fans out there. In the Half-Blood Prince the player takes control of Harry Potter (no way, really? – Ed.), and with the assistance of Nearly Headless Nick they run around Hogwarts in search of objectives. These objectives are actually just three mini-games that get harder and more technical as the player progresses through the game’s main quest.

The first mini-game players will encounter in the Half-Blood Prince is duelling. Duelling is a face-off between two wizards, two witches, a wizard and a witch or (insert combination of your own choice here). In this mini-game Harry (the player) duels both friend and foe, with the difficulty of these opponents gradually increasing as the game progresses. The duel mini-game involves using the Wii Remote as a wand whilst directing Harry about with the Nunchuk. To cast a spell such as Stupefy, all the player has to do is flick the Wii Remote forward, and Harry will mimic the action on-screen. There are six spells to learn throughout the game, and each is cast in a different way. All the work EA and Warner Bros. have put into the spell system and control scheme is impressive, but unfortunately the Wii Remote and Nunchuk motion sensor lets it down. The main problem is that the motion sensor doesn’t always recognise the controller’s exact movement, meaning Harry will often cast a different spell on-screen. As a result of this, players may find themselves constantly waggling the Wii controls and hoping for the best.

That's the last time we hire M.C. Escher as the architect.

Next up is potion making. Potion making occurs throughout the game and requires the player to make a magical potion under a set time limit with the assistance of a pot and a number of ingredients. Just like duelling, potion making utilises the Wii’s motion controls. In this mini-game, players use the Wii Remote and Nunchuk to pour ingredients into a pot, and stir and bubble the potion. As the game goes on the potions get harder and take longer to make. The difficulty can often become frustrating and the amount of time it takes to create some of the potions near the end of the game is far too long. I swear some of the potions I made took 5 minutes to create and there were also many occasions where I had to restart just because I made a minor error. In all, potion making is a fun game the first time round, but after that it repeats the same methods over and over again, which gets tiresome very quickly and really does make it seem like you’re in some boring science class (or in this case, potion class).

The final mini-game in the Half-Blood prince is Quidditch. For those who have no idea what I’m talking about, Quidditch is a wizard-sporting game where two teams face off against each other on flying broomsticks. There are seven players, and each person is assigned a specific role. The aim of the game is for both sides to score as many points possible by throwing a red ball called a Quaffle through one of the opposition’s hoops. The catch with Quidditch is that the game doesn’t end until one of the team’s seekers catches the golden snitch, and this is where the player comes in. Harry Potter just happens to be Gryffindor’s seeker, so the player’s goal in Quidditch is to catch the snitch. To do this, the player must guide Harry through star-shaped rings, which is quite easy because Harry’s broom seems to be on auto-pilot, making this mini-game effortless. This combined with the fact that player’s can only play as the seeker in Quidditch makes it yet another disappointing mini-game overall.

Burn the Twilight books, they're stealing our audience!

Besides the three mini-games, players are able to explore Hogwarts and do side quests such as collect crests or take part in club activities. Collecting crests unlocks cheats and club activities allow players to play the three mini-games outside of the main quest. Whilst these are pretty average ideas they help add longevity to a title that has a very short main quest (five hours to be precise). One other feature that I must mention is the multiplayer duel mode. The inclusion of it is nice, but it really does nothing to keep players interested and makes me question why the developers even bothered including it in the game.

On another note, the visuals in the Half-Blood Prince are a mixed bag. The in-game graphics in this title such as the scenery look outstanding and make the game look similar to the film. The FMV sequences also look quite spectacular as well, however, the in-game cut scenes look awful, which is weird considering that the in-game environment and characters look superb. The audio isn’t as bumpy as the visuals department and everything seems to fit in adequately enough. The only real disappointment with sound is that there are only a handful of tunes, and the characters weren’t voiced by the real actors.

I would love to say Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a magical game, but the truth is that it relies too heavily on three basic and very repetitive mini-games. Sadly, the other aspects of this title such as the sound and visuals aren’t enough to recover the mess either, as they also struggle in their own unique ways. If you’re a gamer, Harry’s latest videogame is hard to recommend because of its lacklustre gameplay, but if you’re a Harry Potter fan you should pick this title up because I’m pretty sure you will be pleased with it no matter how bad it is.

By Liam Doolan

Graphics: B+

I would have given this game an A for graphics, but the in-game cut scenes are unforgivable when the rest of the game looks so good.

Sound: B

The sound in this game is Harry Potter-like, therefore, it deserves a…

Gameplay: D+

Some of Hogwarts’ side games are almost fun and so is Quidditch (if you overlook the auto-pilot broom), but the fact is that the title’s three mini-games are very repetitive and boring.

Overall: C-

Remove the minus and add a plus to this final score if you’re a Potter fan because you will no doubt like this game regardless of how bad it is. As for gamers, try out one of the earlier Wii games in the Harry Potter series if you desperately need a HP fix; they’re a bit better than this effort.