Techtite's PC Game Reviews!

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"Should I look for all those secret wizard cards...?" 

Good Question. The game tells you that the elusive card #25 is awarded to anyone who can find all 24 cards, plus 250 beans, plus defeat the evil villain in the end of the game. This rewards you with the 25th card, which isn't a big surprise when you consider the obvious person who'd deserve a card (and no, it's not JK Rowling, as I suspected myself when first trying to find all cards). Of course, the quest itself for all 24 other cards opens a whole lot of added intrigue to the game. However, all it leads to are two added "pages" to the epilogue, where Ron hands Harry the 25th card as a gift. Aside from the card itself (viewable from your inventory menu), that's it. If you're not a diehard adventurer who wants to find all secrets possible, I'd say it's totally up to you if this added quest is worth the added struggle.

The hardest game to make (or sell) is a movie tie-in. I suppose everyone is jaded after the first of the worst movie tie-ins, which was E.T., The Extra-terrestrial for the Atari 2600 game system, way back in the 1980's. As for any mere "game" based on a novel, forget it. When you consider this, it is an even bigger surprise how enjoyable Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone truly is; an action adventure for the PC, based on both the popular book series, and the newly-released film. Of course, it helps that it's a fun game, plain and simple. So fun, that one might be coaxed to read the book just by playing it. In other words, its everything that the book series deserves in game form, and everything a fan of Harry Potter would want.

What makes this game particularly successful is, it is not a mere retread of the film, which was released in theaters at the same time the game hit store shelves. Making this game a carbon copy of the film would've been a mistake; that would feel like a copy of a copy of the book. Instead, this is yet another perspective in how to abridge the rather lengthy story of the first JK Rowling novel in the Potter saga. Some parts are shorter than in the film, some are longer. Of course, it helps that this game offers what the film could not; it lets you walk freely through the halls of Hogwarts School of Wizardry, and interact with its tenants, as if you were actually there, right behind Harry. Cool!

This is a game, however, and the programmers wisely chose a format not unlike a "Super Mario" title. The gist of many quests is to search for Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, as well as all those secret Wizards and Witches Collector Cards. There are 24 cards to find, which include characters from the book, as well as classic magicians from old-time legends, like Morgan Le Fay (shown here). These quests are completed via the roughly half dozen spells you'll learn from your teachers throughout the game. You must use those spells to pass the "training grounds" of each class. You must also learn how to fly your broom properly through the magic rings, and yes, play a good game of Quiddich. 

The book's finest moments are nicely interwoven into the action-adventure format. You'll get to converse with popular book characters, including Hermione and Ron, and even characters seen only briefly in the movie, like Flitch. Bigger puzzles involve the more unforgettable parts of the story, like Ron and Harry's rescue of Hermione from the Troll, and Hagrid's pet dragon. Other quests may seem to be dragged in merely for a few added challenges, though so what? This is a game, after all.

I liked the spell casting best of all. Some may not like how automatic spell casting is (just aim at an item, and Harry automatically chooses the correct spell). Others may not like how you must "aim" spells with the mouse (even if right next to a magic door, you must aim the spell at the center of the door, by holding down the left button and moving your mouse). However, fans of the book will like how the spells learned are exactly as described in the story. He'll use these 5 spells in various areas of Hogwarts, both in classroom "training grounds," and even in places he might not be supposed to use them, like the forbidden corridor. While there are many RPG games out there, there are few adventure-story games which capture the fun of magic spells, potions, and secrets. This game handles this brilliantly (as did the book it was based on, of course).

Then, there are some gripes. Harry's friends, like Hermione, should've been more than just NPC character cameos in the in-game cutscenes. As for the final battle, it is way too tough for its own good, and totally inappropriate in an otherwise harmless, child-oriented game of this type. Regardless of this near-impossible final battle, however, you'll be done with the whole game in as little as one weekend, even if you search for all those hidden Wizards and Witches Trading Cards. Personally, to add a little re-play value, I would've appreciated an "open house" option of sorts, where you could explore the School's grounds at will, outside of the linear story. It makes sense that a game based on a book would be so linear, though this opens another gripe, just the same...

Making matters worst of all, is that there's no turning back of the page, so to speak. When a friendly ghost introduces the "Save game scrolls" to you, you'll cry of the foulness of "console-itis (i.e., only being able to save your progress at "check points" scattered in each level). However, this is only part of the problem. The book this game is based on allows you to easily go back and re-read your favorite chapters...yet this game forces you to keep going forward. Your old game is over-written with the new save game data, so there's no turning back. This is worse than "console-itis" where you can only save at key moments; in this game, you're not allowed to re-play favorite game moments you've completed, unless you start a whole new game from scratch. The game does, at least, allow you to play Quiddich any time you wish, and yet this version of Quiddich requires little more than quick reflexes.

Not unlike the film, minor, preventable gripes such as these knock this game's rating down from the flawless "Deep Impact" grade it otherwise deserves...though not by too much more. This is still a good tie-in with the novel series, and it is still totally cool to walk the halls of Hogwarts. This should be a real thrill to anyone who has either read the book, seen the movie, or both. When you think about it, this game is so fun it may even coax a few of the more illiterate video game junkies to read the book the game was based on. How many games can achieve that?