It’s amazing to think that there has been a Harry Potter game on nearly every system released since the PSone days. It’s striking enough to have watched the film’s cast grow up from annoying ten-year-olds to annoying Skins cast members, but watching as the games have evolved from system to system and generation to generation has been enlightening. Well, it would have been if there had actually been much progression, but, as before, the official Harry Potter game of the latest movie, Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, runs the same gauntlet that every other Potter game has run. The only real difference is the story that accompanies it and the visuals.

The Half-Blood Prince sticks surprisingly close to the film and the book on which it’s based, and anyone who knows that story will know that means it’s potions time. And boy, do you have to mix a lot of potions. Effectively a timed mini-game, it really isn’t that taxing, and finding the right ingredients is as easy as matching the symbols. You’ll get to run around Hogwarts, mainly as Harry but occasionally, story permitting, as the other characters. This is Hogwarts: home to the most magical and amazing stories to come out of Rowling’s head – but the game falls a little short in capturing the depth and majesty of the world.

Harry controls like a tank, and the Quidditch game seems to have taken a step back, but as well as mixing potions you’ll also get to indulge Harry’s dark side with a spot of duelling, and this is surprisingly good fun. There’s nothing terribly bad about the latest Harry Potter game, sure, and although it doesn’t look great and controls like it’s running through mud, hardcore fans of the series will find a nice, safe, haven where they can experience Hogwarts for what it really is.