When I first read a Harry Potter book a couple of years ago, quidditch seemed like a great concept for a videogame to me. Obviously, that had also occurred to someone at EA. Now I've played the finished product, and it seems translation from book to game hasn't been as easy as it first appeared…

Graphics:

After the beautifully rendered opening cinematic, the graphics are a bit underwhelming. They to the job well, but the environments aren't very detailed. There is some variation in arenas but none of them delivers stunning visuals. The characters look better, and resemble the actors from the film.

Harry Potter insiders can enjoy the game world to their heart's content as it features loads of characters and objects from the books. From Gryffindor's keeper Oliver Wood to commentator Seamus Finnigan and from the Nimbus 2001 broom to the Bulgarian top player Viktor Krum, they're all there. I'm told a lot of them don't appear until the third or fourth book (I never made it that far), but if you're into this stuff you'll probably feel immediately at home.

Sound:

The game features music from the film which suits the game neatly. Voices are also well done, in English as well as in other languages. Well, in Dutch anyway. My version also contained Swedish commentary but I didn't understand one word of it. However, the attention the Dutch soundtrack has received leads me to believe other language will sound pretty good as well.

Unfortunately, the commentary gets repetitive quite soon, and there is no possibility to turn it off. These things really annoy me, especially as it would've taken little effort to include some sound options.

Gameplay:

Though the game is aimed at Harry Potter fans rather than sports fans, but I'll try to explain the principles of the game here first for those who are unfamiliar with the sport of wizards. Harry Potter veterans can skip this paragraph.

Imagine a football pitch, turn it into an oval, replace the goals with three tall poles with a vertical ring placed on top and you'll have an idea of the playing field. Here two teams of seven people on broomsticks play against one another. Each team has three chasers, who work together to throw the ball called quaffle through one of the three rings. Each goal is awarded with ten points. The rings are defended by a keeper. To make things more difficult, two out of control balls called bludgers are racing through the field. Each team has two players with sticks (beaters) to keep them away from their chasers and hit them towards the opponent. After some time the last and most important ball appears, the golden snitch. The seeker of each team hangs around the pitch until this tiny ball turns up. When it does, they'll race to grab the super fast snitch to earn 150 point. The game doesn't end until the snitch is caught.

The quidditch matches are fun to read about, and they make an interesting part of the movies. To play them is a different matter. While the licence brings many benefits – a game like this wouldn't even exist without it – it also limits the game very much. Unlike soccer, this is a figment of one's imagination and hasn't been fine-tuned in practice. Therefore it is too unbalanced to make a good videogame.

Three separate goals, albeit small, make it much too easy to score since there's only one keeper. In addition to this, controlling the beaters and seeker has hardly anything to do with the game (in contrast to football) so you end up using only three players, which limits you passing options. The third problem that the nature of the game causes is the importance of the golden snitch. Catching this reduces the importance of the game itself, as you only can afford to lose the race to the snitch if you lead with a difference of sixteen goals.

These problems aren't EA's fault, perhaps except for the fact that they ought to have decided not to make this game or not make without adapting the rules to the videogame format. What EA can be blamed for is the rather unnecessary combo system (plain passing is faster), the restricted use of moves such as dodging and the exaggerated super moves that ensure a goal. About the latter: sometimes a Z-button appears on the screen. When activated, a cutscene follows and you get to watch how your team scores an incredible goal. They never miss, but you always have to watch the same cutscene, which get annoying quite soon.

Another missed opportunity is the lack of use of a three dimensional environment. The fact your players are flying opens up a whole range of passing and player movement opportunities. EA has not explored this aspect, so you end up playing in a two dimensional field for the most part.

The criticism above doesn't mean quidditch is terrible to play. At times, it can be quite entertaining, but mostly for novice gamers. It lacks depth too appeal to more experienced players as well.

Playability:

The tutorial has been worked out properly. It takes the player in a gentle pace through the basics of quidditch. The controls are easy to get grips with, except for the combo's which require some practice. The tutorial also involves some matches against other teams on Hogwarts. After completing the tutorial, you can participate in the World Cup, which is the main part of the game.

Lifespan:

To lengthen the game's appeal, collecting cards is required to access all options, which a large part of the target audience may appreciate. The GBA can also be used for this, but it adds little to the overall experience.

Multiplayer options are minimalist: only two players battle each other. Two players or more on the same team would probably have led to camera issues. The mode that is included works well, though.

Final say:

Quidditch World Cup is a classic example of how a licence can be a curse and a blessing At lot of the game's appeal lies in the use of the world of Harry Potter which has been very well implemented. Unfortunately, quidditch doesn't lend itself very well for a full sports title. The lack of depth doesn't ruin the game, but only younger sports lovers and dedicated Harry Potter fans will appreciate this.