Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Dare to Return to Hogwarts

EU release: 15th November 2002
NA release: 15th November 2002
JP release: 23rd November 2002
Developer: Eurocom
Publisher: EA (NA/EU), EA Square (JP)
NGC Magazine Score: 78%
Mods Used: Widescreen Code

The early Harry Potter are rather odd in that there are so many different versions of them. With Chamber of Secrets, the GameCube, Xbox and PS2 versions are the same, but you’d also find completely different versions on PC, PS1, Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Colour. These aren’t just adaptations to different platforms, but they have very different gameplay, different level design and include or exclude different elements of the books. They even have different depictions of the characters and locations. The voice actors are the only consistent thing.

Another notable thing about the games is that, while they were released to sell alongside the films, is that they’re not specifically based on the films (well, for the first three, anyway), so characters look like book designs, although some aspects do seem inspired by the film sets. In the GameCube version, the story is extremely abridged. It’s unusually rushed at the start, with the Weasleys and Harry going to Diagon Alley on the same day as getting the Hogwarts Express, with Ron and Harry missing it right as they’re talking to Lockhart and other people having just left a few seconds earlier. Speaking of Lockhart, they talk about his greatness, and one optional NPC is suspicious of him, but he vanishes half way through the game. If you don’t know the story well, you won’t get anything coherent from the game.

Luckily, then, the gameplay itself is quite entertaining. For the most part, it’s a simplified Legend of Zelda, with spells taking the place of items. Spells are gained from little dungeons, which contain enemies and puzzles where you’ll need to figure out how to get past. There’s nothing too taxing, though, and the main duels take inspiration from Gannondorf fights in Ocarina of Time as you play tennis with spells using expelliarmus as a shield (which is very different to how the spell is used in the books). There are also a few stealth sections, which you can make easier with distraction tools, although running past everything also tends to work.

There are also some sections where you can use the broom. There are some quidditch matches where you fly through rings to chase the golden snitch to win matches (as Harry’s position is the only one that matters), and you can fly around the Hogwarts grounds, which I was quite surprised by as you can’t do much walking around – start walking to Hagrid’s hut and you’ll be warped there, yet you can fly the whole distance if you want. One nice touch is the tutorial tells you to fly up and will automatically assign normal or inverted based on how you move the stick.

Chamber of Secrets is an enjoyable yet simple game that could have done with a little bit more to it, even if it was a few more missions and a bit more focus on the actual story. There is a lot of optional stuff, like extra minigames and exploring Hogwarts more, so there’s a bit of extra stuff to find if you want all the Chocolate Frog cards. It’s short, but enjoyable when it lasts. One additional thing I did find charming was the narrator, which fills in a few aspects of the story. They used the actors who read the audiobooks. As I played the US version of the game, it meant I got Jim Dale introducing a few chapters of the game, a voice that suits the whimsical nature of Harry Potter well and gave me warm memories of Pushing Daisies.

Fun

Throw off your Cloak of Cynicism and pull on your fetching Hogwarts school kit, because guess what? The latest Harry Potter game is a bit of a corker. Okay, so hardcore gamers might be put off by platform gameplay that hardly breaks new ground, but for sheet pick-up-and-playability you can’t really fault The Chamber of Secrets.
Lee Hall, NGC Magazine #76

Remake or remaster?

It would be interesting to have collections with the different versions of the game on.

Official Ways to get the game

There’s not official way to get Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.