Customer Reviews

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

It was really fun and the 3 character spells where fun. I liked that there were more challenges than in previous games. The only thing is that it was sooooo short! And easy except for a couple of things (buckbeak mission). Will definitely replay this one though :)

Prisoner of Azkaban is the newest game in the Harry Potter series, and most likely, the worst.
The graphics of the game are horrible, unless you have a very good video card. They come out slightly blurry.
The spell challenges are very, very short, much like the ones in the first game, the Sorcerer's Stone.
Harry is now accompanied by his friends, who follow him. Everywhere. I couldn't take two steps without running into Ron or Hermione.
Pros:
You get to be a dragon and rabbit in Hermione's challenge.
Instead of the four, normal challenges, you get six. There are three spell challenges, and then three finals.
In Harry's challenge, you get to freeze things. And the ice slide is FUN.
More things to trade, instead of bertie botts beans.

Cons:
Bad graphics.
Ron and Hermione are almost ALWAYS around.
They got rid of Flipendo, which I really liked.
It didn't follow the story line to well.
There was not one trip to Hogsmeade.
The school, in my opinion, was to big. I didn't like the scenery, either. I liked the first two games, much better.

It's a good game to get, in my opinion, but be prepared to be disappointed.

This third installment is excellent. First, you can use all three characters - Harry, Ron, and Hermione. But I think EA could make it a bit better by letting you change characters whenever you want to, like in PS2. One of my classmates has the PS2 version, and switching between characters yourself could be cooler.

The spells are brilliant (no kidding). Carpe Retractum lets Ron fly everywhere (I'm exaggerating), and Draconifors and Lapifors allows Hermione to transfigure these statues into live animals, Glacius provides Harry a chance to deal with fire-dwelling salamanders and slide everywhere. And Expecto Patronum is quite cool, except that you don't have many chances to use it.

Hippogriff-flying may prove a bit of a challenge in the beginning, but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty simple. Still, I think EA should have let the players fly Buckbeak up to the tower to rescue Sirius themselves, instead of turning it into a cutscene.

No Quidditch (only a cutscene). I don't think that's bad. Quidditch is really frustrating anyway. I hate wasting time trying to catch the Snitch. In the previous two games, the Snitch is so prominent (it glows golden and leaves a trail of golden sparks and colour rings behind), it makes you feel it's a pain, chasing everywhere. But perhaps EA could put it as a mini-game, which would satisfy some people.

Graphics are supposed to be excellent, but then your computer's software and hardware has to be tip-top, so in most cases, the graphics might not be so good. However, it is tolerable.

The plot doesn't follow JK Rowling's book very precisely. Basically it's similar, but I hope EA could follow the plot more.

Some reviews here comment that the game is too short. If that is called too short, I suggest they play the first one again. It's about as long. All right, this one might be shorter than the second one, but it's good too. They say they can finish it in one day. How many hours do they play per day. If they play an hour and half each day, they would take five days to finish it. It's better for the eyes anyway.

I would definitely recommend you to buy it. It's a fantastic game!

PROS-
-Fun to find Many secret compartments,statues and other hidden things that give you beans to buy collectors cards
CONS-
-The graphics arnt better than chamber of secrets
-Hardly follows the real plot
-In spellcasting,(which is most of the game) the computer chooses what spell to use and then all you have to do is click, making the game extremely boring and easy
-You can beat the game in a few days and then its not fun to play anymore
-Gets extremely boring and you wont want to finish the game anyway
-Because of terrible spellcasting, most of the challenging parts are just puzzle-solving. Could be good or bad depending on who you are
-If you dont have a near-new computer loading and saving can be VERY slow, and playing can sometimes be choppy

I got this game for my birthday. I rented the second game once; it was fun but this game is great! You get to explore Hogwarts (the design of the castle grounds is different from the other game) but you also get to learn new spells. Also you can play as Harry, Ron or Hermione most of the time. Each has special spells. Another thing you get to do is collect wizard cards and collect things for points . The one thing I miss from the old game is you can't charge up your spells to make them more powerful. If you like the Harry Potter books and movies you'll love this game. Buy it ,its worth it.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was defintely a good game, but it had sone downfalls. The graphics were awesome, Fred and George's shop was defintely a convienence,and you got to switch characters, but some other things just weren't as good as the previous games.

- Harry was followed around the whole time in the castle and on the grounds. This was very annoying because every step Harry took there was pitter pats behind him.

- It was just plain easy! The dementors couldn't kill you, if you fell you lost a millimeter of stamina, and Choclate Frogs boosted your energy by 50%!

- You had to finish everything before you could end the game i.e get all 10 challenge shields, perfect all hippogriff courses, battle and defeat pixies and monster pages of books.

The game was fun though. Some things were really cute, the spells were cool, and Harry's Glacius challenge was really fun.(you get to slide on ice and defeat salmanders). Harry said erm alot though.(erm,I better use the glacius spell, erm Hermione we aren't done yet, erm I'll guess I'll take it and so on) The game is defintely worth buying and playing for a little while.

I love it but the castle is annoying. There are so few secrets..in 10 mintues I found them all. I cant get past the anti-dementor lesson, Im down to the part where you have to fight like 3-4 REAL dementors! You have no choise! And when Hermonie says 'Driconifors' she sounds like shes asking it all around...

Good things:
Its fun for a while
Harry is HOT!

Bad things:
The castles too small
There arent enough secrets
You have no choise with alot of stuff
Ron looks like his head is a box.

This game was highly anticipated by fans of the first two, and there was much advertised hype about the quality of the graphics. Perhaps this overabundance of enthusiasm prior to the game's release led to some of the disappointment after.

The graphics, frankly, don't seem any better or worse, for the most part, than they were on the "Chamber of Secrets" game -- but they are hogging up a lot of system resources. My computer (not brand new, but with a video card that meets the game requirements) runs it smoothly only when I take the advice given in the game instructions and shut down every running process possible. If you're noticing a stutter, try doing the same.

The plotline of the game bears the least resemblance to the book of all three; it's more like the movie, but even then, the similarity is faint. Honestly, I paid little attention to that part of the game and focused on challenges and hunting around the grounds.

Challenges are fun; Harry's "Glacius" skating is a hoot. I'm still stuck trying to complete the last Hippgryff challenge, but I suspect that's just me -- I had trouble with the flying aspects of the previous two games as well, LOL. It's fun to collect the other items along with the beans. Especially appreciated is the "Requirements" screen which shows what you've accomplished and what you still have to go. Finally, a small but HUGE improvement for me: the blasted Chocolate Frogs basically sit put in this one, thank goodness. In the "Chamber" game, they were sort of pesky to catch!

It's not that difficult, and it's more just for fun than any really skill. I personally found the Dementors quite simple to defeat, and thought that part of the game was a bit disappointing. Exploring the castle was easier and yet more interactive in the "Chamber" game; this one's introduction of password portals took a bit of the fun out of it.

I gave this review four stars, but I would've preferred to say 3.5 -- because although it's fun to play, it's a bit of a let down from the previous two. Personally, I'm hoping they improve things a bit with the next game.

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.

I've read all the books and seen movies 1 and 2 a hundred times (only seen #3 once so far ) and I think this game is awesome. My favorite part is when you fight the dementors. I also like the glacius challenge. I liked the bean bonus room.