Product Description

Ignoring Dobby the house-elf's grave warning that disaster will strike if he returns to Hogwarts, Harry embarks on his second year to find Dobby's predictions coming true. Harry soon finds himself entangled in a dark plot against his "Mudblood" classmates, as students keep turning up petrified. Could Draco Malfoy be to blame, or is something even more malevolent at work? With the help of returning friends Hermione, Ron, Hagrid, and Hedwig, Harry will attend new classes to learn second-year spells that will aid him in a quest to uncover the true identity of the "Heir of Slytherin".

Enter fantastical free-roaming 3D environments from Harry's world, becoming Harry Potter and delving not only into his world but also into his personality, via an internal "voice". Conversing with unique characters like Moaning Myrtle, shopping in Diagon Alley, and exploring the convoluted corridors of Hogwarts, you'll make crucial and independent decisions within Harry's world. Additionally, Harry can, of course, cast spells against foes--but these spells must be perfectly executed, or they could be miscast with humorous or critical consequences! Mini-games within levels can be revisited, so players can help Mrs. Weasley with "de-gnoming" her garden, challenge other students in Professor Lockhart's Duelling Club, or complete other mini-games again and again

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5489 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Electronic Arts
• Released on: 2002-11-15
• Platforms: Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows XP

Amazon.co.uk Review
With wand in hand and friends in tow, the world's most famous bespectacled wizard returns to the PC in a very welcome 3-D action adventure. And for families in search of a game to enjoy around the computer, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets fits the bill comfortably.

Embellishing the plot of the film and book, the game's main focus is 3-D exploration, as the player controls Harry, interacts with characters and generally pokes around a fabulously realised Hogwarts School. Yet to the game's credit, there's a lot more variety than you'd expect, thanks to its willingness to go off-narrative for a while to introduce a sub-game or added task.

There are several factors worthy of merit. The learning curve is superbly thought out, moving you through the game while you get used to things. Spell casting is fun too--Harry Potter might not be the first game to activate on-screen magic via mouse movements, but it certainly works a treat here. And then there's the graphics and particularly the sound, both of which really do add to the fun.

Downers? Cutting edge entertainment perhaps it isn't, and while the game neatly compiles several styles, it doesn't really define one of its own. Yet for its target family audience, these are minor quibbles, and will do little to detract from the overall fun.

Ultimately, it's a game that's captured the flavour of the Harry Potter world, and instilled it with a sizeable amount of entertainment. It's an enjoyable, thoughtful adaptation, and good fun too. --Simon Brew

Manufacturer's Description
Be Harry Potter in a new adventure with more magic, friendship and danger. Learn new spells, undertake new quests, make new friends and challenge new adversaries to confront the powers at the heart of the Chamber of Secrets. Do you dare take the chance that you might face You-Know-Who again? Harry's second year at Hogwarts begins in November 2002.

Customer Reviews

Much better than the Philosopher's Stone
This is the follow-up to the first game, Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone. Although there are some similarities to the first game, the Chamber of Secrets is much improved. Harry remains to know the spells from the first game and the controls are ultimately the same. The changes that have been made include making quidditch easier (thankyou, i was never very good at it!), making the spells easier to learn (you now have to press corresponding arrow keys as they appear over the spell symbol) and giving Harry alot more freedom in Hogwarts, enabling you to explore more.

The game follows the story of the book closely, which I think adds to the enjoyment of the game as a whole. Because of the added freedom, as you play this game, it really feels as though you are at the school. the time you have to explore results in being able to discover a lot more secret rooms and Wizard Cards than the original. It is due to this freedom that made me realise just how much bigger this game is than the first; I have got to the end of my first loaded game and I haven't been able to find any of the gold Wizard Cards yet, proving there is a lot I still have to discover.

A few other points of advice; this game includes a Wizard trading system for the Bertie Botts Beans, a great feature which you should make good use of. Look out for students trading Wiggentree Bark and Flobbeworm Mucous (you need these for Wiggenweld Potion - you'll lots of this for the end). Also, take part in the duelling competition and quidditch competition. On my first go, I neglected these and because of that my House Point score wasn't very high.

I have really enjoyed this game, it is very addictive, for people of all ages. Even if the first one disappointed you slightly, buy this and try it - I doubt you'll be disappointed with this one.

Better than the Philosopher's Stone... (Much Much Better)
The reason why I bought this game was because it's Harry Potter... and I have to say that I haven't been disappointed so far. Where the first game looked a little rushed, this game looks more detailed, for instance the characters no longer look like they've had their faces glued on (sorry EA). They've developed an ingenious trading system between the students involving everyone's favourite and dreaded sweet and Fred and George. There is more to do and it feels like you have more freedom in the castle. It looks like they've made Quidditch easier (thank you thank you - I could never get the hang of it myself). Spells are easier too, now you just use the arrow keys for them. But it's still a simple game, an adult will have no problems with it, and the children will have loads of fun discovering all the new spells that Harry has to learn and all the hidden areas. Oh, good news, he still knows all the spells he learned in the Philosopher's Stone game. Oh and for all the newcomers or people who want to brush up on their skills there is a kind of tutorial at the beginning, but if you don't like that there's a short guide that comes with the game and you can skip the scences with a quick press of the return key.

The only draw back that I have found is that while I was playing my msn messenger signed in and I was taken to my desktop, but I couldn't get back to the game properly (it might just be me though). But to me the positive of the game really outweighs the negative. If you're a Harry Potter fan then you certainly won't be disappointed.

This may be my favorite game of all time
This is going to sound strange, but I don't think I've ever enjoyed playing a game as much as I enjoyed playing this one. I thought Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was a great game, but Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a hundred times better. Almost all of the minor issues I had with the first game were addressed more than adequately, and I have been all but addicted to this game since the day I got it. This is not some cheap game thrown out there to make money off of Pottermania; it is challenging, it is exciting, and it is absolutely addictive. Harry Potter's world really comes alive here. You start out at home on Privet Drive, visit Diagon Alley to get your school supplies, and fly right onto campus, into the clutches of the Whomping Willow tree, in Mr. Weasley's flying Ford Anglia. From that point on, you are immersed in the Hogwarts experience. The opening action is done quite well; while there is no tutorial per se, the game walks you through the opening scene, reminding you how to use the spells you learned during your first year at Hogwarts. At that point, you are ready to experience the events of Harry's second year from the first day of class with Professor Lockhart to the concluding House Points ceremony at year end. The cut scenes from the first game are gone, letting you see and experience every event, and the game is by and large simply beautiful. There is more interaction with the teachers this year, there are almost limitless nooks and crannies of the campus to investigate, and not only are there enough challenges to satisfy just about everyone, the challenges can all be completed successfully by even the youngest of Potter fans. If I can finish a game without resorting to a cheat or two along the way, then I know everyone else in the world can do it.

There are some rather significant changes from the first Harry Potter game. First and foremost is the ability to now skip through cut scenes; I did a lot of the challenges several times in order to accrue as many House Points as possible, and it was wonderful to be able to skip right past the opening scenes each time. The way you learn spells has also undergone a radical change; I prefer the old way, but this new method probably makes things easier for younger players. Speaking of something being easier, the Quidditch matches (and there are six of them, each of which you can replay as many times as you like) are radically different. The first game's Quidditch play was fun, but at times I thought I would never be able to grab the Snitch. In this game, Harry automatically follows the Snitch, making for much shorter matches. The fun part here, though, is the fact that you must battle your opposing Seeker; this means that you get to kick and punch the other player around, a most satisfying experience when you are going up against Slytherin and their new Seeker Draco Malfoy. The championship match even takes you underneath the trenches, trying to dodge wooden beams while giving Draco the business. Another great addition to this game is wizard dueling. Not only is it great fun to duel your classmates, it provides an easy way for you to increase your supply of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. These beans serve as the method of exchange on campus, and with them you can buy all sorts of wonderful things, from a Nimbus 2001 to Flobberworm Mucous to wizard cards. Wizard cards are important, and they, like the beans, can be found all over Hogwarts. There are fifty bronze wizard cards to collect, and each tenth card you find provides you with an additional stamina level. If you find all forty silver wizard cards, you get access to a special room. Even if you complete all your tasks, you will want to find or buy enough silver wizard cards to gain entrance to this room because here a final challenge awaits you, promising eleven gold wizard cards of the most important wizards in the world (guess who number eleven is?).

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets also makes it easy to maintain your health (although falling into pits, which I frequently did, pretty much turns you into the boy who didn't live); you can locate and/or buy Flobberworm Mucous and Wiggentree Bark, the essential ingredients needed to concoct Wiggenweld Potion. This potion restores stamina, and my best advice to the future player is to acquire as much of this healing potion as you can before taking on the basilisk. You can win beans by dueling, so any time you find yourself in need of more funds, just zip down to the Great Hall and show your opponents what you are made of. I was woefully unprepared for my first two confrontations with the basilisk, but I actually didn't mind because it gave me an excuse to start a new game and do everything again. It takes longer than you might think to actually complete Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and I have no thoughts of putting this game away now. It is as much fun to play the second or third time through as it is the first.