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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. Muggles and Muggle parents are in a frenzy! We wizards and witches understand, don't we? The Muggle Rowling has released her final book regarding our world, the fifth movie is enchanting movie screens why! Every Muggle child and many adults want to be wizards! And why wouldn't they? Once again Electronic Arts given them the chance to cast spells, defend Hogwarts, and guide "The Boy Who Lived" and friends on another adventure. So, how goes the wand waving this time out? "Order of the Phoenix" is more ambitious than the last Harry Potter videogames it boldly tries to introduce a great deal more freedom to the game. Meaning: instead of simply playing out the story, the game gives you some freedom of movement but look closely and play a while and the magic wears off a bit. Presented in 3rd person the game follows the film's plot so we don't get Quidditch here either and it lets players do a fair bit of exploration in Hogwarts itself. This is pretty cool and I've already seen kids getting frustrated that missions keep popping up when they'd rather play around on the constantly shifting staircases, or looking for familiar paintings. Missions include helping the Order of the Phoenix monitor Volde-... er... He Who Must Not Be Named, countering Rita Skeeter's lies about Harry in the Daily Prophet, and recruiting for and practicing with "Dumbledore's Army" in the Room of Requirement. Each version is fundamentally the same. The PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 have terrific graphics, making the other versions look plain by comparison. The Wii is on par with these less-powerful systems but it boasts a more interactive spell-casting system. The Wii remote is wand-like, so you can wave it around. This is more challenging than it sounds because it's so imprecise or maybe the spells are too difficult. Expect to believe you've nailed the intricate movement only to find out the spell didn't work because the remote lost connection for a second or you dipped too high or low for the sensor. Overall the game feels dull and uninspired. It's only draw is being inside of Harry's world. With better interactivity, that'd be worth buying by itself, but the game, sadly, pales in comparison with Rowling's prose and the magical films.  
The movie is PG-13 but the game remains E-10. This is mainly because the movie's violence is more disturbing and the game, correctly, opts to omit some of the more upsetting scenes.
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. This review edited by Michael Anderson 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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