Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

The Harry Potter series is an iconic staple for cinephiles and bookworms alike. But a little known fact is its solid spot in the world of gaming as well. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a game developed by Electronic Arts for all mainstream platforms of the time. This game is fifth in a series of Harry Potter titles that follow the plot of the books and movies. In Order of the Phoenix, you get to witness a lot of Hogwarts and the Wizarding world in a sandbox-style adventure.

Harry Potter games are quite difficult for developers to make. The 2 hour long movies usually contain a lot of dialogue and a few action packed scenes. With Order of the Phoenix, EA created an atmosphere that lets you explore Hogwarts as a student. The school is like your open world to explore, and you can mingle with students on campus. Students and NPCs react differently to Harry depending on the house they are from. Usually, this means that Gryffindors are friendlier, while Slytherins are less so.

Story

The game follows the events of the movie, but some parts are edited to fit the gameplay. Harry is currently in his fifth year at Hogwarts and he discovers the false rumors surrounding his encounter with Voldemort during the events of Goblet of Fire. Meanwhile, Dolores Umbridge is the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts due to an appointment by Cornelius Fudge, the minister of Magic. She is part of a conspiracy from the ministry of Magic to suppress Dumbledore’s influence due to fears of his prominence. However, Dolores Umbridge’s methods are cruel, so Harry and a group of students begin to uncover the sinister matters at play. The events of this game require you to defend the school against the looming darkness of evil.

Gameplay

Gameplay in Order of the Phoenix is moderately complex. Everything is designed to encourage exploration in its sandbox style universe. EA opted to remove the HUD in exchange for a more immersive universe. You can interact with objects, use spells and speak to other characters to earn Discovery points.

You can even duel against Slytherin characters within Hogwarts. You’ll usually find some bloodthirsty Slytherins at the Paved Courtyard, Entrance Courtyard and in some corridors.

In the story, you’ll play as Harry for majority of the time. However, in some duels, you get to play as Dumbledore and Sirius Black. Once you’ve earned Discovery points, your spells become more powerful. The Discovery points also grant you access to some extra special behind the scenes footage of the making of this game.

There are also a few minigames you can partake in for rewards or fun. Some of these include Gobstones, Wizard chess and Exploding Snap.

Pros

• Fun gameplay
• Interesting story
• Great soundtrack

Cons

• Annoying bugs

I'm Sat In a small, dark room, lit only by a flickering spotlight Will Porter stalks determinedly round my chair. Suddenly he leans in close and whispers menacingly in my ear: "Have you read the books? Seen the films?" At last he crumples, defeated, into a nearby chair and, with a sigh of resignation, agrees to hand over the review.

Despite always enjoying the films, I've never transcended into Porter-like levels of devotion or participated in debates over which side Severus Snape is really on. So it was with some surprise that I found myself strangely captivated by the game. OOTP is a vast improvement on the other Harry Potter titles, and perhaps the first one to really do the franchise justice.

Set in a free-roaming Hogwarts, the game features all of the locations fans have grown to love in glorious detail, from the animated paintings on the Grand Staircase to the pumpkin patch at Hagrid's Hut. The cast are all present and correct too, with accurate likenesses of the onscreen actors and official voice-overs featured. Plus, there's more than a hint of GTA influence as you discover some of the many side-quests, collecting missions, secret passages and mini-games dotted around the wizard's school. As such, there's plenty to do beyond the main storyline, and the experience of exploring Hogwarts is made thoroughly enjoyable by the attention to detail EA have lavished upon this episode.

Spellbinding

You'll also get hands-on experience with spells, as casting them is accomplished by moving the mouse in patterns while holding down one of the mouse buttons. Obviously inspired by the Wii controller, unfortunately the success rate of spellcasting on PC differs from great (when you initially learn the spell) to disastrous (when you actually really need it).

OOTP has some minor issues, most noticeably the Marauder's Map that annoyingly doesn't store any quest details, and the fact that Ron and Hermione can block you into tight spaces, leading me to call them names that I'm pretty sure don't crop up in Potter's vocabulary. But overall, EA seem to have worked their magic to make OOTP an instantly likeable, captivating and lengthy game for kids and fans alike. Even if you're too old to be caught reading the book.