Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix - Review
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RRP: £Various
Out 29 June
Buy PC for £24.98 >>
Buy PS2 for £29.98 >>
Buy Wii for £29.98 >>
Buy X360 for £39.99 >>
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Order of the Phoenix is known to be the least popular book in the Harry Potter series. Harry’s in a pretty foul mood throughout: things are not exactly going well for him, either in the overriding “save the world from Voldemort” story or in his personal teenage life. It’s all rather bleak, and responsibility lies heavy on the shoulders of the young wizard. The game has you recruiting 28 students to join the secret Dumbledore’s Army to protect Hogwarts from Voldemort. However, despite following the general plot, the game takes quite a different tone. It’s all about exploring.
Despite having more pressing things to deal with story-wise, Order of the Phoenix offers the most massive, stunningly beautiful and infinitely explorable depiction of Hogwarts School yet. The whole building, the grounds, the towers and the forest are one seamless and massive environment with no loading screens. It’s so big that the Marauders Map has been integrated: you point to a person or place on the map and footsteps will appear on screen to lead you there. You’ll need them as well – it’s very easy to get turned around in the warren of corridors and rooms.
You’ll use the right stick on control pads or the Wiimote to cast spells – such as Incendio to set things on fire and Reparo to reconstruct broken pathways – or paintings are used to solve puzzles and move through the school. You’ll also employ your wand in duels with other characters. The Wiimote is far and away better than normal controllers because it works just like a wand actually might. It’s excellently integrated and since the graphics on the Wii are incredibly good (if not quite up to the X360 or PS3’s standards) it’s definitely the platform of choice for this game. A few frame rate and camera issues aside, this is a genuinely magical game.
8/10
Review by Kirsten Kearney
