PSone - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Format
PSone
Publisher
EA
Developer
EA
Country of origin
US
Genre
Puzzle

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

By David Rasmussen
2nd Dec 04

Studio - EAGames
Age - E for Everybody
Genre - Platform/Puzzle

Here we go again.
Once again back for another year at Hogwarts we have the returning "Boy Who Lived", Harry Potter.
We have Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the minor cast who didn't do much last time but give unsolicited advice and ask for help.

Last time you had to face off against the Professor of the Defense Against the Dark Arts who... oddly enough... had fallen to the Dark Arts and became the two faced (litterly) minion of the bad dude Voldemort who killed your parents... but promises NOT to cut off your hand and claim to be your father.

He was after the Sorcerer's Stone (Philosopher's Stone) so he could gain eternal life... or maybe just turn things to gold to finance cloning research to get a new body... or kickstart a singing career and become the next Hogsmeade Idol... something.

Anyway sooner or later you had to confront the bad dude Voldemort, and after you beat Voldemort and retrieve the stone you go home to your dreary life back with the Dursley and that's it... until now.

Year 2 starts off way differently than Year 1. While you started that game at school this time out you start it off at the Weasley's residence. Eventually you'll be heading to school and once again the problem of being dragged headlong along the plot of the movie will be facing you.

Once again there will be places to explore (more this time than last time), and once again they will for the most part be easy to find... however this time out you can't complete them all until you completed certain tasks and learned certain spells to help you along.

Class is once again the same Rube Goldberg task of long complex to learn short easy spell.
Run an obstacle course (more difficult this time out) and win a trophy (new this time).
Push buttons to learn a spell... and get a letter grade (new this time).
Then go through a complex task to learn your spell (new this time).

There is more to do this time out.
More mini games, more fighting, more puzzles, more depth and more just about everything.
New challenges like the dueling challenges await you, which links to the finding of Famous Witches/Wizard cards (you'll unlock battles with house champions with the more cards you find). You'll also have more things to do like driving the flying car for a level or two (think it's two but I didn't get far enough in the game to see that).

With new things to challenge you, and plenty of extras this game is an improvement over the original game, which makes Prisoner a disapointment since it's improved in someways and yet degraded in others.

But I'll save my thoughts on that for my review on that game sometime in the future.
Okay. Breakdown time.

Harry Potter Breakdown the 2nd
What's Hot? - Now the game is getting more complex, which means more effort to beat it.
I haven't beaten this game because I got stuck at one point and gave up. So this game is harder than before... which is kind of sad when you compare it to the next game since the third game goes right back to being way too easy to beat (instead of becoming more complex).

Also if you get the PS2 or GameCube version you'll have an additional area to check out that is not available in the PSOne version. Not bad.

However once again we go right back to the whole thing about these games being only interesting if you are a die hard Harry Potter fan who can forgive the differences between the game from the novel.
It sticks to the movie, with only some variations, but don't expect that to last for long since the third game just goes straight to left field and doesn't seem to have much to do with either the book or movie at all!

What's Not? - Again the appeal factor. Also this is probably (for the time being) the only really challenging Harry Potter game out there. The first and third were too easy, and Quidditch World Cup is not very good.
At least this one has some challenge to it... why it slides back to being too simplistic next time out instead of becoming more of a challenge however is something I don't understand.

And that is another "Not" for me. Are the games evolving or devolving? This one has more challenge, but the next one is right back to square one difficulty wise. Sure there are more bells and whistles on that one (the extras, better graphics, new mini games and spells, and the ability to play as Harry, Ron or Hermione being the best part of the third one) but in comparison to the difficulty of this one it's a letdown considering how easy it was to beat.

I beat the first one, I'm stuck here, but I beat the third one... strange. I would have thought I'd have a even harder time of it when I got to game 3.

So are all the games after this going to be cakewalks, or will they (as the movies are supposed to) evolve?
In a year's time the fourth game will come out... guess I'll know then.
But if Prisoner of Azkaban is any indication somehow I don't see Goblet of Fire being any real challenge... unless something happens before it releases to change my opinion of it.

Moments to Remember?
The game does do something the movie doesn't, and puts back the Deathday scene that was removed from the movie. Otherwise it's mostly straight movie interpretation.

What to Ignore?
The third game doesn't seem to have much to do with the book... and I'm afraid the fourth game will continue this downgrade. Ah, you should ignore that anyway since it's probably the only way they could make the game "exciting".

Let's see... what else... can't think of much else... actually I can but I'll give the game a break for a change and not harp on every little thing.

Overall?
When I think of all three games (to date) in the seven game trilogy? This is probably the only really challenging one of the three presently available Harry Potter games to date.
In comparison to the first game this one, at least, is "evolved" past the previous one which isn't the same with the third game.

Yes, the third game sports improved graphics and gameplay, but it slides right back to being simplistic and easy to beat like the first game which is a disappointment. It makes me worried about the content of the fourth game when it finally comes out in November 2005.

Once again, however, one thing remains the same... the people who will find this the most fun to play.
I figure you'd have to be a diehard fan of the series to be playing this one because it looks like there might not be much appeal past that batch in terms of playing this... but since it is improved over the first, and the only game with some challenge to it, it might yet find some appeal outside of the Harry Potter set.

Still I wouldn't recommend getting this for anything past bargain basement prices. It's still only good to go if you can get it really really cheap.

And now your treat for having waded through this review.

MY COOKING for the PSOne
Available only in Japan.

Read my review of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for my first bonus review, and the ground rules behind these bonus reviews.

As for My Cooking? My Cooking was released in 1999, and is probably the closest in terms of game mechanics and style to what an Iron Chef video game would look and feel like.

Set in a fictional place known as the Goo Kingdom (a shopping district of the bizarre), you are a short order cook who bounces from job to job plying your trade.

Using the controller as your "tools" you cut, peel, slice, fry, bake, mix, pour and so forth as you run the kitchen in this game. Your customers, at the bottom of the screen, file in as you cook.

You have four options from what I can see on the previews I got a look at.
Cutting, oven (baking), wok (frying) and something to dispense liquids and desserts.

Using these and all the tools at your disposal, your job is to keep the customers happy.
Simple enough task, right? Well if you can't keep them happy they'll walk out on you if you don't cook fast enough (which isn't as easy as it sounds). And considering your playing with no assistants it won't be easy to cook quickly for so many when there's only one of you and a whole lot of them.

It also doesn't help that distractions come your way as you play.
Kitchen becomes infested with cockroaches? Go local on them and wipe them out with your slippah... sounds like one of the game developers used to work in a fast food joint in Hawaii.
Somebody got drunk in the place... which shouldn't be too hard to do since you seem to pour beer on the job like other people pour water... call the cops.
Somebody runs out without paying (turning into a ninja as they bail and run)? Go after them and chase them down (as they laugh at your during the whole chase sequence)! All this while trying to cook a good meal!
Make enough progress and you'll face the head cook of the place your working at to challenge said cook.

If there was something out there that laid the groundwork for what could be a most interesting Iron Chef video game than this is that something. Now this is something I would like to see ported over here, if only to try it out for myself.
Though it seems the game forces you to be a one man restaurant since you do everything from prep work, to cooking, to cleaning the kitchen, to running after non-paying customers. Sheesh!
But still, this is the best "blueprint" for an Iron Chef video game... too bad nobody thought of that Iron Chef game I mentioned, that would have been good.
Okay. Bonus is done. Bye for now.

-- David Rasmussen 2nd Dec 04

PSone Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Images