Game: Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone
Console: Sony Playstation
Developer: Argonaut Games
Release Date: 15th November 2001
If you're a frequent visitor to my blog, you may notice that I reviewed a game of the same title as this for Game Boy Colour recently. Having done a little research whilst reviewing that game, it came to my attention that there are four different versions of this title. The Game Boy Colour, Advance and PS1 games came out alongside the film in 2001 and were three completely different titles in gameplay and in many parts of the story. In 2003 remakes of the PS1 game followed with vastly changed gameplay for PS2, Xbox and Gamecube. I intend to play each of the versions of this game in an effort to assess which approach worked best and highlight EA Games laziness as a producer to license out the game to 4 different companies to make.
Having started with the Game Boy Colour game which follows the plot of the film almost perfectly, I expected the PS1 version to do basically the same but in a simple 3D setting. Upon starting the game, there's some narrated story which skips along to at least page 91 of the 223 page book. There's no letters from Hogwarts, no shopping in Diagon Alley and no Hogwarts Express. I understand the limitations of the PS1 but when playing a licensed game based on a film, much of the enjoyment comes from being able to re-enact scenes from the film. In keeping with completely ignoring most of the content of the book and film, only 3 or 4 of the things you're asked to do in the entire game feature in the book or film.
The game itself is incredibly short and it only took around 5 hours to complete. You're thrown from one mission to the next without much time to think, and the action appears to take place over the course of a single day, as Harry doesn't sleep at all and there's no indication of any time passing. Originally I was going to list all of the inaccuracies between the game and film/book but by the end of it I'd lost count. This isn't to say that it needed to be completely accurate to be enjoyable, but resembling the film that it's based on would have been an advantage.
The controls aren't too bad; the analog stick is used to move, R1 to target and X casts a spell while the triangle button is used to look around and free aim. More complex spells can involve button pressing minigames on which the timing can be severely off in some instances. Moving around the castle isn't too difficult as long as you're not required to jump, as this is handled much like in Zelda games; when Harry reaches a ledge, and the player is still pressing in the direction of the gap, he will jump. Unlike Zelda games though, the game decides not to jump sometimes and sends Harry to his death.
Most of the tasks that Harry is required to do require either simple platforming, use of his spells, some puzzle logic, or a combination of the three. With the aforementioned jumping problem, the missions where Harry must get to class on time, or race Peeves become much more frustrating. The game seems to guide players through the easiest parts of it and leave them to work out what to do in harder parts, which can also be a source of annoyance.
The final mission of the game follows the basic story of both the book and film, and makes the best use of the controls and gameplay styles. Personally I found this to be the most enjoyable part of the game besides Quidditch which plays like a flying minigame where Harry navigates through rings until the game allows him to reach out and catch the Snitch. Although it could have been less repetitive there are no major problems with the Quidditch part of the game, and there's even a standalone mode for it.
Graphically, the game's textures are very low resolution and the faces of characters are almost unrecognisable at times. It can be difficult to see where to go due to the poor graphics, in platforming challenges. With different voice actors to the film, it's hard to imagine the characters as who they're supposed to be too. The music of the game is fairly enjoyable, it seems to be mainly orchestrated versions of the Game Boy Colour soundtrack.
Overall with little resemblance to the film or book, unsatisfying platforming stages, and collectables which are so well hidden that I went through the entire game without even finding one, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone for PS1 should be well avoided. If you've read the book or seen the film you'll be shouting at the TV to correct the game's continuity errors and if you haven't you'll be thoroughly confused as to what's even going on, as it's not well explained at all.
Rating: 39/100
Grade: E
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