"He caught it. Maximum points for Griffindor!" cheers commentator Lee Jordan, as do I when I played this game.
Game play is split up into two parts, on foot and on broomstick.
When Harry is on foot, you'll control him using the control stick to move, the A button to interact with the environment and the B, X or Y buttons to cast a spell. You can only cast a spell that is allocated to one of those three buttons, so you can only have three allocated at a time (duh!). You can do this by pressing the START button and selecting the option. You can also charge a spell before releasing it giving it more power. The controls work great and there is a sharp reaction time. You're given almost complete freedom to explore areas within and outside Hogwarts, which I liked. You can also talk to people who are interesting because they either say good things to you or say rude things to you. If they insult you blast them, but you can't kill them.
You will obviously need to use spells to navigate the environment. One of them is Flipendo which is a spell used to attack enemies and another is Lumos which lights up a dark area so you can navigate the area easily. There is one spell which I think is called "Aloahamora" which is used to unlock locked treasure chests and some doors. Here's the problem it can unlock only treasure chests and SOME doors even though it is called the "Unlocking spell" which is a huge bummer. So even with an "Unlocking spell" you can't enter every area. You can unlock spells by finding spell books that tell you how to perform them, which does not make sense because Hogwarts is a school and students should LEARN how to cast these spells. Harry should not be told to go looking for a spell book hidden deep within the bowels of the teacher's classroom of which the entry is behind a portrait and when he finds it spell learned! Finding the spell books however was rather enjoyable as they would be tricky platforming sections to go through. At night you'll be told to go an area which is normally forbidden and a bit of stealth action is present. The hard part actually comes in entering the area (normally behind a portrait) which is surrounded by prefects. You better have smoke bombs ready. When you enter the forbidden area, expect to run into annoying books. Puzzle-Platform gamers be ready because these sections are challenging and entertaining.
I mentioned treasure chests earlier which you can find. These chests may contain a pumpkin pastry to re-fill your health or assorted colored and flavored jelly beans which you can trade with Fred and George for new things (other than spells) to navigate Hogwarts or dare I say... 101 Witches and Wizards Collectible Trading Cards. Be warned though, if you think you can return to areas you've visited then you are sadly mistaken. This is a shame because collecting these cards could have added more replay value. Instead you have to collect them the first time you play through story mode otherwise you'll have to restart the game in order to do so. Some people have trading cards which you can trade if you have more than one of the same card which is good.
When flying use the control stick to steer and the A button to accelerate. You can also cast a Flipendo spell while flying and you can press B to brake. The controls here are good however they are inverted, which means if you tilt the control stick up you'll go down instead. You can change it if you wish but I didn't. Flying a broom would be pointless if you didn't hear "Welcome to Quidditch. I'm your commentator Lee Jordan!" Ah yes Quidditch. In Quidditch, Griffindor competes against fellow houses that are Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherine. You as Harry of course must catch the snitch before your opponent does. When playing you'll see yellow rings which you must pass through to gain a burst of speed. When you're close enough to the snitch, you'll enter a quick-time event and you need to press the A button at the right time to catch it. I like this game mode because unlike its predecessor you're actually competing against someone.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is an okay game. Some hang-ups like being unable to re-visit areas and no replay value cost it some points. Otherwise graphics are an improvement, controls are great and the story is entertaining.Try this game and if you like it buy it.