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> Results: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
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The ESRB Says
Fantasy Violence: GamerDad had occasional spell duels with other young wizards. The pattern is well established by now - a movie is announced based on a major license, and soon after we get the announcements of games coming to every game platform known to mankind. Along with these are details showing how this game will be the one that rises above the mediocrity associated with the overwhelming majority of movie license tie-in games. This scene played out for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, this time made even more interesting by the focus on next generation consoles and particularly the wand-like Wii-remote control system. Unfortunately, despite loads of promise the game collapses under the weight of trying to do entirely too many things on too many platforms in too short a time. This game looks like brilliant fun on paper but manages to suck the will to live from you as you play. The game is a third-person action-adventure that is presented as a 'sandbox' style game with loads of exploration, but tied into the storyline so your actual freedom at any given time is pretty restricted. If you have read the book or seen the recent highly abridged film the game is based on, you can guess the main tasks that comprise the game - doing stuff at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, dealing with the Hogwarts school year, addressing the lies being told in the Daily Prophet, recruiting and training members for the DA and preparing for the final battle. There is no Quidditch, nor any of the simple flying or other exercises seen in earlier games. The Order of the Phoenix as a book is densely packed with character development, teen angst and story exposition - it is a wonderfully written tale but the least action-filled of the first six tales. So the movie and game needed to do things a bit differently, which dovetailed nicely with the popularity of free-exploration 'sandbox' style games. Unfortunately the technical implementation kills the game - the controls are not optimized very well on any platform, the camera angles are under the control of the game and are mostly terrible and make exploration a chore, and the graphics come across like a worst-case compromise that look inadequate on high-resolution PC's and next-gen consoles and are over-taxing on lower-end systems. Spellcasting controls - one of the major lures of the game - work pretty well on the Wii and PS3 with motion sensing hardware, but are actually more stable and sensitive using a dual analog stick setup. The handheld versions fare worse than the consoles in every regard, from controls to performance to features. There is a load to do in the game, but the great excitement of exploring the gloriously detailed Hogwarts castle will have worn off by the time you've chased down all of the members of Dumbledore's Army and performed the 'fetch' quests for all of the people roaming the halls. The bottom line is this - no matter what else they pile on, it is dreadful just walking around. Therefore it is not fun exploring, and therefore it is a grind to perform a single task for anyone. This is the type of game that you will get because you are a fan, will get excited about watching the opening cinematic and perhaps even performing the first few tasks, but that you will very quickly regret having purchased. Do yourself a favor - see the movie again rather than bothering with this mess of a game.  
Despite the tone of the books and movies which has steadily darkened over time, the basic ratings and content have remained mild and accessible to almost all Harry Potter fans. This game contains nearly every element from the PG-13 movie yet is rated E-10+, and it feels quite appropriate. There is little dueling that happens, and most of it feels very impersonal and not at all visceral. The rest of the game is about building up the 'army', getting your reputation back with the Hogwarts houses and exploring the castle. Certainly anyone able to see the film is ready for this game - but it is unfortunate that the game is of terrible quality or I would suggest that those kids a bit too young for the movie play the game instead.
Other Platforms: PSP: Version reviewed. Worst framerate of all versions, and terrible controls DS: Scaled down version focused around a set of mini-games based around tasks from the console version, uses stylus as wand. Not very good. GBA: Similar to the DS version but even scaled down from that. Highly not recommended. PC: Version reviewed. Same as the next-gen console versions, mouse gestures work fairly well but movement and camera systems are abysmal. Mac: Not released at time of review. PS2: Not very good graphics but still tax the system, analog controls for wand work pretty well. PS3: Excellent visuals with choice of analog or motion controls for spellcasting. Wii: Perhaps the most disappointing with very average visuals and unresponsive controls. XBOX360: Same as PS3 version but without motion controls for spellcasting. Comments? Chat about it in our forums! Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix |
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