Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

It was easy to learn, easy to understand, and it did a fantastic job of brining the Harry Potter saga to life. It’s without a doubt one of the better movies adaptations to hit a video game, and it’s a great title for younger gamers that are usually relegated to chasing and dodging in a linear fashion.

The Order of the Phoenix is the best Harry Potter game to date and the first one that’s a real treat for fans of the books and movies.

The experiment is a success and testament to the fact that EA really has been spending more time crafting these games as the movies and books become more ambitious. If "Half-Blood Prince" produces the same leap in concept as we've seen here, Potter fans will really be in for something.

The mission objectives are mundane, but all the little secrets littered throughout give it a sense of discover that Harry Potter games have failed to deliver in the past. If you’re a diehard Potter fan then don’t think twice about picking it up, and action gamers will find a lot to like as well.

Order of the Phoenix is without a doubt the best entry in the Harry Potter game series to date.

Sure, Order of the Phoenix is a little rough around the edges, but it's still the best Harry Potter game yet. Fans will get a huge kick over how well it recreates Harry's world.

They have delivered what is most definitely a game for the fans, and that can't really be stressed enough.

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.

Recommended to the die-hard Potter crowd, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a rich adventure that’s light on longevity.

A non-Harry Potter fan is going to look at Order of the Phoenix and only see the flaws -- the music drowns out the dialogue, sometimes Harry has trouble opening doors, and there's a graphical glitch here and there -- but if you know what a snitch is and what gillyweed does, you'll dig this game.

While everything is not perfect, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the first of the series to make an appearance on next-gen consoles and is a must own for fans of the wizard.

The extreme care taken with reproducing the world, characters, and story of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix results in certainly the best Harry Potter game yet and a perfect counterpart to the film.

Despite its occasionally frustrating design and lackluster combat, the sheer size and detail of the game world make this a must-play for hardcore fans of the series.

Mild targeting problems aside, Phoenix is the most engaging Potter game to date, with the 3D richness that adults expect but straightforward hidey-seeky gameplay that won't overtax a tween audience. [Aug 2007, p.74]

It really shows that EA not only took notes from the films and books, but listened to the fans to give them what they want.

The average gameplay can get tedious in its chore duty, so those who aren’t entranced by all things Harry Potter should be forewarned, but fans will have plenty of fun in the halls of Hogwarts found in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix .

EA truly made an extra effort here and created a good movie-based video game that players of almost all ages can enjoy, as long as they enjoy the whole Harry Potter premise.

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.

While the core mechanics of Order of the Phoenix are verging on excellent, the game that's been built around them is basically a series of chores in disguise.

Order of the Pheonix is all about homework and chores, and feels harder to take in than a whole book - those are poor marks for a video game.

Tedious puzzles and boring 'go here and collect this' missions destroy what could have been the most interesting Harry Potter title to date. So, it's another average movie tie-in then. What a surprise.