Along with the Lord of the Rings, EA are clearly investing heavily in the equally popular Harry Potter franchise. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets is available on virtually every format currently around – GameBoy Colour, GameBoy Advance, GameCube, X-Box, PC, PSone, and PS2!

Following the same plot as the book and film, 'Chamber of Secrets' is essentially a third person 3D adventure, yet it contains aspects from many different genres. There's platform-style fun, action antics, and even elements of Metal Gear Solid's emphasis on stealth type gameplay. You are Harry Potter, and the game begins with Harry and his friend Ron Weasley having to de-gnome the garden of Ron's family home. This is a basic training mission, with Rons older brothers giving you tips on how to cast spells, and what to cast them at! They also explain about the various objects that are around the place, and give you some hints such as how to improve wavering health.

Diagon Alley is Harry's next stop – a wizards 'Westfield Mall', where all the basics for a successful school year are to be procured. The missions progress on a day-to-day basis, Harry having to complete various tasks with the help of his friends. More tasks unfold throughout each day, which must be completed before some well earned sleep is allowed.

There's the main mystery of who is turning each of his classmates to stone to be solved, but also many 'sub-missions' to undertake. Along with de-gnoming the Weasleys garden, Harry has to learn to fly a broomstick, and help his friend Neville escape from being trapped behind a tapestry, among many others.

The graphics are considerably more detailed than the first game on the PSone, as you would expect, and exploring the lush grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is really good fun in itself. Other locations from the books also feature, and play a large part in the overall game. Each of the characters is beautifully modelled – Hermione, Ron, Neville, Hagrid and the many others are very authentic, and look almost exactly like their big screen counterparts. Harry can interact with everyone who he comes into contact with, and the voice acting and cutscenes are easily up there with the best efforts around today. The accents are perfect, and the in-game orchestral music is atmospheric and absorbing.