[.ca] Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Amazon.ca Preview:
Even though they were clearly aimed at children, the first Harry Potter games nevertheless managed to be quite good--an extraordinary feat considering that film-license games are usually awful. For this second crack at the gaming wand Harry moves to next-generation consoles too, and, from the two-level demo we played, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is looking even better than 2001's efforts. Looking and playing similarly to Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda, the first level has you zapping gnomes with a stun spell and ejecting them from the garden they're roaming around in. Although simple in gameplay terms, this first little section allows you to get used to the pleasingly intuitive and flexible controls. A subsequent level is based on more traditional action set pieces, with you as Harry jumping about on platforms, avoiding elves, and using a magic spell to chop down ropes. It's a real surprise to see a game this high profile, which would easily have sold a million if it'd been a blank disc with the Harry Potter logo, being made with such care and imagination. In fact, so good does it look so far that the old lie about nonfans of the movie/book being able to enjoy it might actually be true. --David Jenkins (This preview refers to the PlayStation2 version of the game.)

pretty good game:
Graphics are horrible, but what can you expect from the original Playstation platform? We enjoyed the Autosave feature on this one, unlike the original where you have to go back and find the Save gave book every time. A little annoying that it doesn't let you go back after the Polyjuice potion to redo parts you missed. We finished the game with only 83% complete because we thought we could go back! All in all, a decent way to waste a few hours!