Product Description

Year six at Hogwarts' darker tone means more action, potions, puzzles, and, of course, more Voldemort. But, it's not all doom and gloom as even the videogame world addresses Harry's growing adoration for Ginny. Wii, PS2, PS3, PSP, Mac, PC, DS, Xbox 360, Electronic Arts, T.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3074 in Video Games
• Brand: Electronic Arts
• Model: 15475
• Published on: 2009-06
• Released on: 2009-06-30
• ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+
• Platform: PLAYSTATION 3
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .59" h x 5.40" w x 6.76" l, .30 pounds

Features

• Local 2-player multiplayer play option available and PlayStation Network Trophy support.
• Take part in thrilling wizard duels, battling against Death Eaters in Hogwarts, Inferi in the Horcrux cave and much more.
• Create magical potions with Professor Slughorn using the Half-Blood Prince¿s Potions book.
• Take to the air to lead the Gryffindor Quidditch team to victory.
• You may even get sidetracked by Ron's romantic entanglements as you journey towards a dramatic climax and discover the identity of the Half-Blood Prince.

Amazon.com Product Description

Based on the 2009 summer movie blockbuster of the same name, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince transports fans both old and new to the beloved and action-filled video game universe of Harry Potter. In this most recent adventure players return to the famous Hogwarts school for wizards, as well as other surrounding parts of the wizarding world, to help Harry survive a difficult and danger filled sixth year. Duel against friend and foe. View larger. Mix it up in Potion Class. View larger. Compete in Quidditch matches. View larger. The Story In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince the Video Game, Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Together they work to find the key to unlock Voldemort’s defenses and, to this end, Dumbledore recruits his old friend and colleague, the well-connected and unsuspecting bon vivant Professor Horace Slughorn, whom he believes holds crucial information. Meanwhile, the students are under attack from a very different, but equally unavoidable adversary as teenage hormones rage across the ramparts. Harry finds himself more and more drawn to Ginny, but so is Dean Thomas. And Lavender Brown has decided that Ron is the one for her, only she hadn't counted on Romilda Vane’s chocolates. And then there’s Hermione, simmering with jealously, but determined not to show her feelings. Yet as romance blossoms throughout Hogwarts, one student remains aloof. He is determined to make his mark, albeit a dark one. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again. Gameplay Like earlier video game releases in the Harry Potter franchise, the action in Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince the Video Game revolves around the exploration of Hogwarts and the action that results from what you uncover. The game features both an engrossing single player mode as well as local multiplayer modes for up to two players. During their adventures, players will have a chance to engage in exciting wizard duels, mix and brew magical ingredients in potions class and take to the air to lead the Gryffindor Quidditch team to victory. Players may even get sidetracked by Ron’s romantic entanglements as they journey towards a dramatic climax and discover the identity of the Half-Blood Prince. Key Features Compete for Gryffindor in the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup as you take on Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin in the most exciting wizarding sport. Perfect your Quidditch skills and prove you can dodge a Bludger and can catch the Snitch. Take part in thrilling wizard duels, battling against Death Eaters in Hogwarts, Inferi in the Horcrux cave and much more. Join the Gryffindor Dueling Club. Perfect your dueling skills before you take on the other houses. Will you become the Dueling Club champion?/li> Create magical potions with Professor Slughorn, using the Half-Blood Prince’s Potions book. Explore Hogwarts at night, taking on nighttime missions while the castle sleeps. When you get stuck, call on Nearly Headless Nick for clues and tips to help you complete your challenges. Relive the action of the movie...from the Hogwarts Express, to the dramatic revelation of the Half-Blood Prince. See more of the wizarding world as you explore new magical places like The Burrow, the Horcrux cave and more. Travel with Dumbledore to piece together Voldermort's past, and sneak around Hogwarts to discover Malfoy's secrets. Local 2-player multiplayer play option available. PlayStation Network Trophy support.

Customer Reviews

Return to the Castle
One of the things that I most loved about Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was being able to wander around Hogwarts at will, visiting classrooms, Hagrid's Hut, the Owlery, even to Harry's bedroom above the Gryffindor Common Room. Based heavily on the sets from the movie, the immersive three dimension atmosphere charmed and made for a truly fun experience. Fortunately, the makers of "Half-Blood Prince" retained most of the Hogwarts from the game, and gives you yet another in-depth experience in "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" for PS3.

Sometimes, with games such as these, the makers try to change too much of a game that was well loved, removing some elements that a player would truly love for something different (the awful game Spiderman 3 comes to mind). Electronic Arts knew better. This game appears to follow the plot of the movie quite well (since it hasn't been released yet, it's hard to actually judge this, but it does follow the book). Harry is back at Hogwarts. This time, along with the plot of the movie, you have three different tasks: join the dueling club, the potions club, and a fun ride with Quidditch games and practice. As Harry wanders around the castle, he must also collect shields and mini-shields, upon which additional powers and abilities are awarded.

If you didn't play the "Order of the Phoenix" game, you will love the vast expansive Hogwarts. One of the selling points of that game was the fact that there are no "load times", which is still true about this game. You wander around the castle at will, and really never have to wait while entering a classroom or transitioning from inside to outside. While you are constantly given "tasks", important to the plot, you can delay the task and roam around, which I found myself doing. Once of the skills that I quickly developed was dueling, which you grow through joining different house dueling clubs and defeating the people. If you get lost in Hogwart, a quick button push and Nearly Headless Nick comes and will escort you to your next task.

Another aspect I liked from the first game is the ability to complete magic spells. You have spells you learn to be used during dueling and fights, and then you have other spells to use as you wander around the school. While the spells are few, you really do feel like you have some fun control over them. You mostly use "wingardium leviosa" to make things fly, like benches, flower pots, and chairs. Still, great fun!

One of the downsides to the game is the fairly wooden aspect of how some of the people look, especially the girls (and their plasticine looking hair!). And is the game challenging? I wouldn't say that. But I don't buy a game like this to be challenged, but to get a chance to "experience" Hogwarts as if I were in one of the movies. And with that, it's very successful.

I'm anxiously anticipating seeing "Half Blood Prince" after a six month wait from last year. Until then, you'll find me roaming the halls of Hogwarts in my new game.

Short game, rent it first
OK, first of all let me say that this game is incredibly short. If you really tried you could beat the story part in 4-5 hours without much effort.

The game pretty much consists of three "mini-games" that you must play to advance the story every now and then. Other than that it's pretty much just going from place to place (and some places can be hard to find and take a while to get to, more on that later) to advance the story.

The three "mini-games" are: potion making, duelling and flying.

Potion making has you making a variety of different potions, whether it be in potions class, as a favor to someone or in the Potions Club Harry can join. The actual potion making has you selecting the different ingredients as the book on the right tells you what you need, then adding them to the potion. Not the greatest mini game, it tends to get boring quick (and frustrating if you're trying to earn one of the games many "badges" which you get for achieving a certain goal, like mix a potion in under 35 seconds, etc.)

Duelling, is definetly a step up from potion making. Harry can join up to four "Duelling Clubs" in the game (one for each Hogwarts House) and battle other students with spells such as Stupefy, Expeliarmus, Levicorpus, Wingardium Leviosa, etc. (yeah I know I probably spelled most of those wrong:P)

And last but not least is Flying. There are Quiditch matches that you must play to advance the story, but you can also join the Flying Club to fly anytime. Flying consists of you simply flying through stars as you follow the Snitch. If you miss too many stars though, you'll run out of time and have to start over. It's not that difficult, though.

Other features:

Navigation~
You can press the select button to bring up the helpful ghost, Nick and he will take you to your current destination. You can also choose the "Where is..." option from the menu to select a location yourself and he will lead you there.

Hogwarts Crests~
There are 150 Hogwarts Crests hidden throughout the game, so that adds a little replay value, if you wish to find them all (you can continue searching, even after you finish the main story, as well as anything else you want to do)

I think that pretty much wraps it up. Unless you are just a die hard HP fan, I'd definetly rent this one first (as I did). If not at least wait till a price drop, because [..]is a little much for such a short game.

If you like dueling
It was rather suckish in my opinion. You duel, then you make a potion, then duel again. No real quests like in the others. You usually just end up doing someone elses homework (potion making) and then fight someone. Yeehaw.