14 DAY TRIAL // 
I have to begin by saying that I hate Harry Potter and any media product associated to it, be it book, audio CD, movie or game. However, while playing this title I had to leave the prejudice aside and judge the game without taking into consideration my subjective opinion that would have given the title a straight four out of ten. One shouldn't be surprised that The Order of the Phoenix in its gaming version became available before the movie did, since this is the way it happened for most of this year's blockbuster movies and games.
Sometimes "blockbuster" is only a nickname for mass products, usually movies that turn into horrendous games. When was the last time you played a decent game inspired by a movie? The silence says it all? Can EA save face with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix? We'll soon find out.... In the meantime, feel free to check out our cheats section for a couple of neat unlockables.
Storyum Eternum Yeah, same good old eternal story, with a touch of Latin or Italian... That's how most of the spells in the games sound like, so why not be hip and call the game's plot Harry-Potter style? From what I've heard EA received the aid of a fan council while creating this game, so the plot's quite the same as the one in the movie and book, with a couple of twists. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix features Ron and Hermione, who have just been appointed prefects and their eternal companion Harry trying to convince everyone that Voldemort is about to stir some commotion. Everything seems to take place in the huge Hogwarts, where Harry has to face Dolores Umbridge, who is his new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher. She's not too keen on teaching students something useful, plotting instead to take control of the school. Mister Potter's plan of recruiting students into a wizard army that will defeat Voldemort is starting to crumble, since there's no solid way of learning some good magic. So, once again Harry, Ron and the now grown Hermione will roam around Hogwarts learning new spells and recruiting young wizards.
Concepto This game is based on J.K. Rowling's fifth book and the movie, being released on all major gaming platforms including PC. While you'll surely adore using spells thanks to the Wii's controls, things get a bit more complicated on the other consoles. If you're expecting to play the classic action game, forget about it, since Harry has gone sandbox, GTA and Bully style. Probably the comparison to Bully makes the most sense, specially because the setting is similar (a school), but the social interaction is given less importance in EA's title. Hogwarts is a gigantic environment, including 85 locations to explore and the player will have to complete 66 missions visiting the famous Ministry of Magic or Grimauld Palace. You'll be able to play the game at your will straying from the mission if you want to, completing sidequests and getting all the extra content. Harry interacts with objects through magical spells and the little fellow will prefer swinging his wand all day long to move a table instead of pushing it with his bare hands.
The Order of the Phoenix features lots of spells, with pitoresque Latin names like Reparo, Wingardium Leviosa, Depulso or Reducto. They will aid you in tasks like moving objects, repairing objects, setting people on fire and many other gimmicks. The moving stairs featured in the motion picture will also appear in the game adding a bit of the magical atmosphere one would be looking for while playing this title. While the Wiimote suits perfectly the use of Harry's wand, I couldn't help laughing while watching the teen wizard look like a man who had suffered a stroke in the midst of the spell casting action. On the PS2, casting the spell is as easy as saying "Incendio!". You'll only have to move the right analog upwards, downwards or rotate it clockwise, or counter clockwise. Many of you Potter fans will surely want to play as Sirius Black or Dumbledore and you'll do so, for a couple of minutes. The rest of 7 hours it takes to complete the game, you'll toy around with Harry and the Fantastic Two companions, Ron and Hermione.
Hogwarts may be a fascinating place to spend your 7 hours of gameplay in, but all Harry can do is run errands for other students, solve minimal quests and get lost in the gigantic location. If you get lost a lot, there's some sort of GPS that will save you: the player can open the map screen by pressing the Select button. The huge map will list all the important locations and some of the quests you'll have to complete. Once you click on one of those places or tasks and leave the map screen, footsteps will appear on the ground guiding you to a certain destination.
Gameplayum Although Harry Potter is one of the kids' favorite characters, there are many adults and teenagers who love the wizard and desire to be in his shoes even for one virtual day. Some of these guys are hardcore gamers, ex-Quake fans that loved Doom 3. They hide in their bedrooms, playing The Order of the Phoenix secretly, because the other gamer friends would mock this choice. While it's fairly easy to say that you hate Harry Potter, it's a lot tougher to admit that your undies have Hogwarts written all over. Initially I loved Hogwarts' atmosphere and the vast environment I was about to explore, but as I went on playing, the lack of things to do brought a magical boredom upon my tormented character. Having played Prince of Persia and the new Guitar Hero, my fingers were aching for some action, so the fact that I had to learn the combat spells quite late in the game, plagued my enthusiasm and desire to progress.
However, these magic attacks are pretty cool, as Protego deflects the enemy's spells, Stupefy stuns the foes and Expelliarmus disarms your opponents. Getting used to the game's controls and spell casting system will be a ball, because there's a pretty good tutorial in the beginning that focuses more on spell casting and requires you to do the same actions twice. The big question is "What does Harry DO in The Order of the Phoenix?". Well, he'll run around, saying "Hi!" to other fellow students, helping them, fixing benches, paintings and urns, playing some sort of large scale chess. There are less combat sequences than you'd expect, for such talented wizards with an arsenal of spells at the point of their wands. I have to outline again that the universe you can explore in this title is huge, comparable to GTA's virtual world, if not bigger.
The atmosphere created by the students, Hogwart's architecture and the story that's being told is superb, but you'll end up getting frustrated that you don't get to do much. In games like God of War or Spider-Man you navigate through the environments at high speeds performing combos thanks to the action buttons. The Order of the Phoenix is at the opposite pole, only requiring you to mess with the right analog stick and stalling you when you're in a hurry. Getting from one place to another is an ordeal, because of the vast playing ground and the fact that the fixed camera tends to get in your way rather than giving you a better orientation. Wonder why I didn't mention the AI? There's no such thing in The Order of the Phoenix, because the game's designed for peaceful people who enjoy living in a fantasy world, other than World or Warcraft.
The combat you can take part in is extremely non-violent, so the challenge of the AI is minimal, as the title relies more on exploring Hogwarts and solving puzzles. I'm not saying that this is a bad thing, but it all comes down to the type of gamer you are. If you're the Alien versus Predator type, you'll hate this title, however if you play Pokemon and Zelda on a regular basis, this is the perfect media product for you!
Videorum This is the game's department where the title shines the most, rivaling the other next-gen versions. Similar to Transformers: The Game, the PS2 manages once again to put to shame the newer platforms, thanks to its graphics and the brief, almost non-existing loading times. The beautiful paintings that protect hidden doors are as funny as ever with their crazy dialog lines and great colorful looks. Hogwarts is a superb collection of medieval, gothic environments, gigantic indoors, large courtyards and colorful parts of the campus.
That fascinating set of stairs never looked this good and EA has done a terrific job with recreating the fairy tale atmosphere that made Harry Potter the phenomenon it is. Hermione sure looks sexy, Ron's the usual pest and Harry's change of looks is almost as bad as in the movie. However, the characters have a je-ne-sais-quoi missing that makes them all look like lifeless robots, instead of human beings. So, even if the game features all the famous wizards and teachers you adored or despised in the movie and book, their lack of attitude will spoil the whole experience.
Soundus EA's got a great orchestra and 22 actors of the original cast, all gathered to make Harry Potter the Order of the Phoenix a great audio experience. The characters sure sound like their motion picture counterparts, but the NPCs are just lame, greeting Harry like they just saw a spectre, with the same lines each time. The music's perfect, perhaps the best I've heard in the latest games inspired by movies and the atmosphere created by the title's soundtrack will make you imagine that you're playing a Lord of the Rings, instead of Harry Potter's latest adventure.
Conclusium Leviosa The Order of the Phoenix is the best title in the Harry Potter series so far, offering the Potterheads a great opportunity of playing the adventures of the teen wizard and his friends. Hogwarts is available in its best version yet and it's great place to spend your virtual summer holiday, if you're keen on sandbox games. Too bad that there's not one single serious quest to complete during the game. After learning groovy new spells, all I can do thanks to them is light torches, reassemble paintings, tables and urns or take part in bad combat sequences, where you never die. Well, sixth time may be the charm for this neverending series so we'll just have to wait and see....
