In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry returns for his fifth year of study at Hogwarts. The wizarding community is in denial about his recent encounter with the evil Lord Voldemort. The Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, appoints a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher to keep watch over Dumbledore and the Hogwarts students. The young wizards are woefully unprepared to defend themselves against the dark forces threatening them, leaving Harry, Ron and Hermione to handles things themselves. Harry prepares a group of young wizards calling themselves “Dumbledore’s Army” for the extraordinary battle that lies ahead.
- Immerse Yourself in Magic—Interact with magical objects, ghosts and portraits in every room, corridor and courtyard—all faithfully recreated from the movies.
- Perfect Your Wand Work—Cast spells to unleash powerful fifth-year magic.
- Lead Dumbledore’s Army—Recruit fellow students and teach them defence against the dark arts.
- Relive the Magic of the Movie—…from the Dementor attack in Little Whinging to the epic battles at the Ministry of Magic.
- Unleash Advanced Magic—Play as Sirius and Dumbledore as they fight Lucius, Bellatrix and Voldemort in the Ministry of Magic.
List Price: $ 9.99
Price: $ 29.93
Depends on What Type of Gamer You Are,
I just got this game today, and one for the first things that struck me was that this game’s “fun factor” greatly depends on what type of gamer you are. If you prefer games with a clear storyline, then mabie you should consider other Harry Potter titles (I would suggest Prisoner of Azkaban). But if you LOVE to explore, especially Hogwarts, then BUY THIS GAME! I like exploring a lot, and have been waiting for a game where they make Hogwarts as accurate to the movie/books as is possible, and now they’ve finally done it! The Hogwarts in this game is big, it’s accurate, and honestly a bit confusing. I find myself lost at times in Hogwarts, saying “I don’t think I’ve ever been here before.” The graphics for the enviorments are very good, the floors are shiny in parts, and if you look closely, you can actually see parts of the rest of the castle through the windows (it’s hard because a lot of them are stained glass). I was however dissappointed with the graphics for the people. They aren’t very good compared with the castle. DO NOT GO BY THE VIDEO ABOVE FOR GRAPHICS! The video on this page is a preview of the Wii version, and the people in the PS2 version DO NOT LOOK LIKE THAT! I agree with other reviewers, so far as I’ve gotten the story isn’t very obvious.
Pros: ~Hogwarts is big and confusing, as it should be
~The enviornment graphics are fantastic
~Hogwarts is an explorer/Harry Potter fan’s dream!
Cons: ~Story not very good/clear
~People graphics aren’t that good
~Navigating Hogwarts can be time-consuming
Overall: This game is pretty good, Hogwarts is fun to explore, though fun at first it can be time-consuming to go to places (but a good marauder will find that there are many time-saving passages
). The music is pretty good here, though much of it is recycled from old games, however, whatever music has been newly composed (about 40% of it) is beautifully done. I like the new way of spellcasting much better, I think it really makes the whole magic experience more authentic.
If you are a true explorer, or one who has always wished to explore Hogwarts, BUY THIS GAME! For everyone else, atleast rent it.
NOTE: If you are worried about the complexity of Hogwarts, don’t be. By pressing “select” you bring up a very simplified map of Hogwarts. The map has a function that allows you to select a specific location/person, and the map will lead you to it (little Marauder’s Map footprints appear in-game, and you follow them down stairs and through halls to your destination).
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|Just like being at Hogwarts!,
I’m a casual gamer, playing games that might interest me only, not really on the lookout for the latest and greatest. I’m also a big Harry Potter fan. In past years, I avoided the Harry Potter games merely because of some of the other movie tie-in games that I’ve played were basically on the intelligence level of an eight year old and rather silly indeed. But with the new book coming out this week, and the movie as well, I was sucked into purchasing this game, and have been pleasantly surprised.
Order of the Phoenix follows very closely the book and the movie, starting with a quick Dementor attach, to learning spells in Grimmauld Place, to quickly landing at Hogwarts. In the game, you are required to assemble the new D.A. by performing tasks, and to train the army with Defence spells. Along throughout the castle, you are asked to use your wand to repair things, clean up things, and discover many secrets hidden in the castle to earn more magical power for Harry.
Now, as a serious, challenging game, this isn’t it. I’ve been finding it fairly easy to complete the tasks. In some occasions which the game required magic to complete a task, I found it easier to hold the controller with one hand while operating my wand with another. It was great fun to use spells to make things fly across the room, make carpets shake, and set lights on fire. Again, not challenging, but fun.
Let me say that the visual representation of Hogwarts is magnificent. It really is very complex, many leveled and layered. The details put into each room is just like being on the movie sets. The Grand Hall is beautiful, the Gryffindor Common Room has lots of little details, and even the journey to Hagrid’s Hut is long and breathtaking. It really does simulate Hogwarts beautifully, and with the amazing ability of having NO load times between rooms, you really feel like you are there!
The pitfalls I’ve found are thus. You do bump into Ron and Hermione frequently., especially if you are in a small room and need to get out. In several of the rooms. In one occasion, a student was stuck partially through the ground. The biggest issue is the sound. In several rooms, I keep hearing this grating, grinding noise that doesn’t seem to have any part in the story. In some cases, it is so loud, I cannot hear the characters speak. Occasionally, characters voices would cut out or sound fuzzy or buzzy. I would restart the game, and most of the problems were solved.
But overall, I do feel like I’m really getting my money’s worth. Just by feeling like you are in Hogwarts is an amazing feat. This will be one game, after I’ve finished the tasks, that whenever I feel like visited the old magical school, I’ll return to time and time again.
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