Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Order of the Phoenix is another inoffensive entry into the Harry Potter videogame archive. It does little to frustrate or impress, but there's plenty here for fans of the series.

There is a great feeling of wonder and magic in this latest Potter game, assuming you have the patience to discover it.

Is Harry Potter a good game? No, not particularly. The story's vague and badly realized; the characters aren't especially likeable, and the tasks you're given are tedious and involve a lot of plodding about Hogwarts. But does it capture the feel of the franchise? Absolutely, and if you really get involved in the game you'll forgive it its flaws.

Order of the Phoenix is the first movie game of the year that would be considered solid for a game, period. For a movie tie-in, it's spectacular.

Magical game fun for kids; brief fun for adults. [Aug 2007, p.99]

What it does provide is a gaming experience that's the closest you're able to get to truly feeling part of the magical Harry Potter universe. For that harmless escapism alone it deserves praise, especially from anyone who wishes their childhood was just a little bit closer in the rear view mirror.

If you’re looking for an action/adventure game for your Xbox 360, which is what this is despite the pretense of an RPG, then there are a lot better ones available than this. But, if you can’t get enough of Harry Potter then this could well be just what you’re looking for.

The fact that it is built upon completely ordinary tasks may seem pointless, but it's all the more believable for it.

A step forward for the Potter series, but still a country mile behind the next big guns. [Sept 2007, p.74]

Out of all of the books, games, and movies, it allows you to get closer to the school than ever before – all at the expense of actually enjoying your stay. It’s boring and tedious, just like a real school is. However, it’s also a place where your Harry Potter knowledge can bloom. On this note, only hardcore Harry Potter nuts should enroll.

Harry Potter fans will no doubt love Hogwarts that has been lovingly and carefully recreated for us all to gawp at, however the tedium of the repetitive mini-quests and lack lustre battles are a let down.

Controlling Harry in his battles against the Ministry and Voldemort while exploring a sandbox-like Hogwarts is a concept that seems to write itself. However, instead of the excitement and magic that surrounds Hogwarts, you get the monotony of backtracking through an incoherent castle combined with the "excitement" of cleaning up someone else's messes.

While there's lots of story and flavor oriented material here that Harry Potter fans will enjoy, the overall game is little more than a laundry list of chores tht Harry must complete.

Thankfully, the game isn’t terribly long so only a limited supply of caffeine is needed to get through it, but at $60, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is overpriced and only recommended for the ten year old Harry Potter fan that may not need gratifying gameplay when simply walking around Hogwarts as Harry Potter is enough.

The broader fault is simply that by the time you've spent an hour in Potter's company, you'll have sussed out the rest of the game, leaving you with even less to look forward to than usual - because of course you know what's going to happen to everyone anyway. If you don't, you're better off reading the book.

The video game version of Order of the Phoenix captures none of the magic in the Harry Potter books or films.