Harry Potter’s movie and book endeavors are the stuff of legends – the boy wizard’s exploits have almost always been entertaining. Well, except for his videogame adventures. Sadly, virtual visits to Hogwarts have always been a mixed bag. Electronic Arts has tried and failed multiple times to capture the spirit of each new movie. With Order of the Phoenix, however, they definitely got it right.

The Flamel Effect

The very first Harry Potter game, The Sorcerer’s Stone on the PlayStation really attempted to do nothing more than give players a chance to explore the massive Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and to meet the original cast of characters within. It was a great idea that really wasn’t executed very well.

Order of the Phoenix revisits that noble theme but with the power of more modern consoles behind it and a better overall design. The idea works incredibly well this time around. Yes, there’s an underlying story here, but really the point of this game is to explore every nook and cranny of Hogwarts, meet teachers and students, and perform sometimes mundane tasks for them. And even though the tasks tend to be nothing more than fetch-quests, fans of the series will find themselves not really caring because it gives them even more of a reason to run around the superbly recreated movie sets.

Underage Magic

Obviously magic is first and foremost on the mind of most muggles peering into Harry’s world. Once again, the development team behind Order of the Phoenix has done a great job of making it easy to immerse yourself in this world. On the Xbox 360, you’ll perform different spells, 12 in all, by moving the right analog stick in different ways. Reparo is done through spinning the stick clockwise; Wingardium Leviosa by pushing up and waving the stick back and forth; and so on.

But for a real treat, play the game on Wii. Here your wiimote controller acts as Harry’s wand. It’s one of the very few times where Nintendo’s revolutionary control scheme actually brings something to an otherwise traditional game design. You will sacrifice a bit of camera control for the added level of immersion.

The Boy Who Lived

Sure, Order of the Phoenix has some problems. The Wii version is graphically inferior to the 360 and PS3; Ron and Hermione have a nasty way of blocking your path in tight quarters; and there are the aforementioned, seemingly endless fetch-quests. Even with all that, this is easily the best Harry Potter game to date, and it’s simply one of the most entertaining movie tie-ins on the market. 

Article by: Greg Sewart