Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

The Harry Potter books unfold in a formula constructed around an academic year at Hogwarts, and the same holds true for EA?s games.

Young Potter fans will have a fine time romping around Harry?s world in EA?s second year at Hogwarts, but everyone else will yawn at an adventure game that lacks the slightest wheeze of innovation.

Chamber?s gameplay borrows heavily from the Zelda school of adventuring, but the fun comes from filling Harry?s shoes?this game would be lifeless without the license. But if you scoff at such Muggle-like concerns, you?ll enjoy seeing everything from Diagon Alley to the Whomping Willow drawn in such rich, lustrous colors and accompanied by such cheery, perky audio. The gorgeous GameCube version delivers the best graphical pop in the slew of Chamber of Secrets games, and the screen?s always loaded with bright magical effects or other eye-catching moments.

The lousy camera is a handful and a half, though, as it rarely orients itself properly and often abandons the player outright. That flaw aside, the game is very easy to play and offers lots of help, which makes perfect sense given its appeal to a young audience. Overall, the GameCube version ranks as the best of this year?s class, and as long as your Potter fandom never falters, you?ll see the magic in exploring this Chamber of Secrets.

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