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Graphics: I knew going into it that the Wii graphics wouldn't live up to some of the stunning footage I'd seen from the 360 and PS3 versions, but I was not prepared for what I saw. Inexcusably crunchy graphics and a muddy, dull color palette. I could tell that on any other system this game would look beautiful, but here on the Wii, it just didn't cut the mustard. The character models were great and actually looked like the actors, but that was little consolation.
Camera: This has got to be, hands down, one of the worst cameras I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with in a game. The mainly fixed camera never seems to be at quite the right angle and even though you are supposed to be able to center the camera behind Harry, it only works about seventy percent of the time. Often, the fixed camera angles in certain rooms make it extremely difficult to navigate, especially when it comes to multiple flights of stairs.
When you approach another character, you can talk to them using the A button and the camera is supposed to snap to a view of that character. On many occasions, the camera angle on these shots was so bad that I was greeted with a screen full of background and the bobbing top of the character's head at the bottom of the screen. In one instance, during a scene while I was supposed to be listening to Hermoine and another character describe what was happening next, Ron's AI somehow got caught on camera and spent the entire conversation distracting me by walking back and forth and bumping face first into the camera. Shamefull... how did this make it past testing?
Controls: In general, the controls aren't too bad and the actual magic wand moves are rather fun and easy to memorize. The Wingardium Leviosa levitation spell is a bit awkward though, as once you have something actually floating around in the air, it is difficult to get it to where it goes. Moving things up and down is particularly a problem and many times I found myself spinning wildly in circles that were difficult to recover from.
One of the only redeeming qualities is the use of the Marauder's Map to get around the often confusing world of Hogwarts. By selecting a place or person on the map, you can follow the footprints on the floor around you to get there, thus making it harder to get lost in the endless hallways.
The Story: I thought OOTP was one of the best of the HP series and I'm looking forward to seeing the film, but the game's hack job on the plot made it almost impossible to follow, even for a fan. Cut scenes were broken up and often referred to things or events that we never saw or heard about happening. Often the scenes just ended nonsensically leaving me wondering what deaf monkey edited the script.
The Wrap Up: This game just plain sucked. Poor graphics, terrible camera and a difficult to follow story make this title a definite no purchase even for the most hardcore Potter fan. The magic casting is fun, but not enough to make up for all the other atrocities heaped on us.
That said, I would be willing to give the game another chance on the 360, if for no other reason that to see the game graphics as they were intended. But, I flatly refuse to run out and drop another fifty bucks on it, so I guess I will just have to live with my hatred.
The one saving grace of the entire experience? There was a free ticket to the movie in the manual. I'll be sure to use it when the film comes out and hopefully it's cinematic wonder will make me forget the horror that is this game.
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