I hate Harry Potter, my parents, brothers, lover and friends love the bloody stories about some poor old idiot who goes to some magical school in the middle of nowhere. But I do know my stuff and I do know about the game of Quidditch. Basically JK Rowling wanted to create a sport aspect to her books, encompassing the school life, but it couldn't just be football oh no… so she invented Quidditch. A game that takes place on a broom, a dangerous game where chasers need to shoot large balls through hoops, a seeker can end the game by catching the high scoring snitch and bludgers are balls that try and knock the players off their brooms, it is the job of the beater to stop that happening. So soon enough EA make the official game for the sport that doesn't exist.

Due out for Christmas this is the third Harry Potter game from EA and, believe it or not, it may actually be a little good. One of my friends went as far as to try persuading me to choose Chamber of Secrets over the latest Zelda instalment. Also said friend is a massive fan of the Quidditch mini-game existent in both the previous Harry Potter games. And so I gave it a blast, and it wasn't half-bad. You play as Harry as the seeker attempting to get the snitch, but EA informs us that Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup encompasses all aspects of the game. From the beaters to the chasers, all aspects of the Quidditch game are involved. This means the seeker mini-game that exists in the main adventures are a mere taste of things to come.

So what is the game all about? Well developed by the UK department of EA the game plays very much like a sports game. You learn the basics up at Hogwarts and you choose to play as one of the 4 houses (e.g. Gryffindor) where you are trained by the best. After that you choose your country of choice as you attempt to obtain the Quidditch World cup, all the characters who play Quidditch in the books are of course involved plus a host of others. It is set up similar to the FIFA series; it has no storyline and your main mission is to work your way out of Hogwarts and win the World cup unlocking the 8 teams on the way. Each team has their own unique characteristics and strategies; they possess their own kit and stadium too, which is always nice. So it is all looking very sporty and, strangely for EA, rather unique with connectivity promised (although still not unveiled) between the GBA and Gamecube… it is looking rather rosy.

Graphically it looks very pleasing and childish and despite EA promising a fast paced and physical game we won't see much of the red stuff flowing from Harry's happy go lucky face… damn. The game also adopts Nintendo's sport game stance, easy to pick up and play… but hard to master. You can simply play using an analogue stick and the context sensitive button that allows you to pass or shoot depending on how hard you press (there is a lot of emphasis on the chasers (those that actually shoot at the hoops)) but other buttons control the other players. Such as those satisfying beaters who stop you getting knocked off your broom.

It looks all sugar and spice at the moment and it has been in development for nearly a year now, which is a while for an EA game. Nevertheless don't expect it to break new grounds for games or to revolutionise the industry. It will probably be all right, with GBA connectivity and this unique concept giving it an above average if not good score. So perhaps, if Mario Kart, Mario Golf, F Zero, Viewtiful Joe or Final Fantasy doesn't float your boat, you should give Mr. Potter a blast. Now where's that new book I queued for four hours at midnight to get…

Did I say that out loud?