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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 38 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 4 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game >
Game Info
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: EA Bright Light Studio
Genre(s): Action, Adventure
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older)
Release Date: June 30, 2009
Summary
In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Together they work to find the key to unlock Voldemort's defenses and, to this end, Dumbledore recruits his old friend and colleague, the well-connected and unsuspecting bon vivant Professor Horace Slughorn, whom he believes holds crucial information. Meanwhile, the students are under attack from a very different adversary as teenage hormones rage across the ramparts. Harry finds himself more and more drawn to Ginny, but so is Dean Thomas. And Lavender Brown has decided that Ron is the one for her, only she hadn't counted on Romilda Vane's chocolates! And then there's Hermione, simmering with jealously but determined not to show her feelings. As romance blossoms, one student remains aloof. He is determined to make his mark, albeit a dark one. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again. In the game, players return to Hogwarts to help Harry survive a fraught sixth year. They also have a chance to engage in exciting wizard duels, mix and brew magical ingredients in Potions class and take to the air to lead the Gryffindor Quidditch team to victory. Players may even get sidetracked by Ron's romantic entanglements as they journey towards a dramatic climax and discover the identity of the Half-Blood Prince. [Electronic Arts]
Also On Metacritic
GAMES: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central
Also On The Web: Official Website
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
GameDaily
While EA did a poor job fleshing out the story, some of the sound-alikes aren't nearly as good as the film's cast (Snape doesn't even sound close) and a few facial animations look bizarre, but for the most part, Half-Blood Prince is one of the best Harry Potter games we've played.
Read Full Review >Vandal Online
Electronic Arts has proved how to make a good use of a character license, offering hours of fun and a magic world to explore.
Read Full Review >IGN
It's not groundbreaking and it's not the most engaging experience in the world, but there is something fun about dropping worms into a cauldron and desperately looking for 150 hidden crests.
Read Full Review >Gamer 2.0
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a title that gets a lot of stuff right because of its glorious presentation of Hogwarts and interesting bits of gameplay with the potions and duels.
Read Full Review >Console Monster
On the whole, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is a great title that Harry Potter fans and gamers alike will enjoy, though its short length doesn’t make the title worth its £40 price tag.
Read Full Review >MEGamers
The game across all systems is a solid effort, a little problems in each department manages to pull the game down however.
Read Full Review >Cheat Code Central
A fun movie tie-in game, and it certainly lives up to what is expected of it. Although it isn’t terribly long or deep, it will give fans of the series some solid gameplay , and it certainly isn’t too challenging for younger fans who might want to play it.
Read Full Review >ZTGameDomain
A solid movie tie-in game with a few setbacks. While light years beyond the mess that was Order of the Phoenix, it still needs a few tweaks to be considered a great game.
Read Full Review >Team Xbox
It has some really nice features, but for every nice one, there are an equal number of strange design choices or flaws.
Read Full Review >WonderwallWeb
The mini games are real good fun but are over very quickly, leaving you with a lot of running around to do. Good clean fun that will keep you quiet as you wait for the film.
Read Full Review >Meristation
Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince is a funny game for children that allows us to play as the famous magician. EA did a good job by introducing some features in this game. However, Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince is a linear game without innovative aspects. Just buy it if you're one of Harry's supporters.
Read Full Review >Gamer Limit
Though was fun to play, it felt a bit too much on-rails and more freedom would have been appreciated.
Read Full Review >Game Informer
Concocting potions and humiliating dark wizards is fun for a while, but once the novelty is gone, Hogwarts loses all of its magic.
Read Full Review >Game Over Online
Targeted at the younger audience, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a decent game overall, but it doesn’t live up to the potential and grandeur of the Harry Potter legacy.
Read Full Review >XGN
Harry Potter and the Halfblood Prince is a nice action adventure game. But more depth and variation in the gameplay would have been welcome. The game doesn't always give the player a magic feeling, but it still remains fun to be able to use some magic.
Read Full Review >GameZone
Certainly a more enjoyable Potter game than last year’s Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince for the Xbox 360 still doesn’t quite manage to be a great Harry Potter game.
Read Full Review >Gamervision
Mindless, shallow, and temporary entertainment, deserving of a rental and not much more. The way the story is presented as an afterthought is inexcusable, and the repetitive fetch quests and contrived missions can only keep one occupied for so long. It’s not a failure, and it is far from being the worst movie tie-in of the year, but Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince once again falls short of being a worthwhile game to add to your collection.
Read Full Review >GameFocus
While the game was delayed for a few months after the movie was delayed it appears the developers did little to improve on the game and if they did it was not in good shape before the delay. A few issues bring down what could have been a great title and makes this a rent nothing more.
Read Full Review >InsideGamer.nl
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is to a certain degree pretty enjoyable but it simply never attempts to try anything special with the universe to which it is connected. It's absolutely not horrible and the true fans will definitely enjoy it but we hope the next game contains a bit more 'magic'.
Read Full Review >Worth Playing
Altogether, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is not a great game, but it's decent enough to be playable, and I can see the charm that younger fans of the franchise will enjoy.
Read Full Review >NZGamer
The game lacks that sense of polish and depth that the franchise sorely needs. Gameplay is entertaining at first, but fails to remain so after extended play.
Read Full Review >Planet Xbox 360
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is not worth anything more than an afternoon sit-down or rainy weekend rental.
Read Full Review >Absolute Games
Get ready to fly on brooms, mix reagents in a pot and swing the magic wand… Until you yawn.
Read Full Review >Gamer.nl
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will give fans some enjoyment, but it doesn't offer much challenge and the story is told in a lackluster way. However, the game's visual presentation is impressive and the offered mini-games are fun to play.
Read Full Review >VideoGamer
There's little to no challenge present throughout the entire game, the story only makes sense if you already know the plot and there's a lack of things to do outside of the three main gameplay mechanics. Buy if you're a mega fan, but avoid if you like your games with even a tiny amount of depth.
Read Full Review >Xbox World Australia
In the end, I find it too hard to recommend this game to anybody that isn't either a fan of the Harry Potter franchise, or a parent in search of a simplistic experience to keep the little ankle-biters busy.
Read Full Review >MondoXbox
An overly simplified game, suited for children and casual gamers looking for a few hours of diversion between Hogwarts walls. The lackluster storytelling makes it more suitable for people already knowing the complete story, and it misses on giving the player any kind of challenge: it's basically comprised of the same three mini-games repeated over and over through the five hours needed to complete it.
Read Full Review >Xbox360Achievements
The entire game is almost identical to the last offering, only with the focus shifted to Quidditch, dueling and potions. If that floats your boat then prepare to spend a few hours just repeating those tasks until the game ends. This may be enough fun for rabid Potter fans but provides little in the way of entertainment for the rest of us.
Read Full Review >X360 Magazine UK
A minuscule improvement, Potter is coasting now. [Issue#48, p.85]
Everyeye.it
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a modest tie-in. Creepy graphics and simple (too simple!) gameplay do not convince neither the hardcore gamer nor the Harry Potter fan.
Read Full Review >PALGN
Movie tie-in or not, competent or not, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a half-arsed effort given the source material.
Read Full Review >Official Xbox Magazine UK
It's a distinctly average game from Harry, so a fittingly average mark for him as we give him a "five".
Read Full Review >Official Xbox Magazine
It slowly dawned on us that that's all there is to the game. [Oct 2009, p.82]
Xbox World 360 Magazine UK
Certainly faithful to the fiction but inferior to the last game in almost every single way.
Read Full Review >HellBored
The source material is wasted, with the end result being nothing more than a shoddy runabout broken up by, for the most part, mundane mini-games.
Read Full Review >GameShark
That’s how I felt after playing the game: that I didn’t really do anything. I’m a big fan of the books – a bit less so of the films, and the games still fail to remotely live up to either.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this game is 7.7 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
