Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

""Hem, hem""

As this is another review for a Harry Potter game from me (turns out I am a bastard of a masochist after all), I wish I could say that this time is going to be different – to say that this is the adventure game that does Harry complete justice, but, no, that's not what happened. I will say, Order of the Phoenix does try some new things that are admirable, but ultimately Electronic Arts fails on its execution of delivering the gameplay needed, and sorely wanted, for such a premise now in its fifth iteration on consoles.

To start off, I think I will skip the standard and repetitive part of my Harry Potter adventure reviews in detailing the mixture and presentation of the film/book storyline, because the game takes most of its presentation from the film including a Daily Prophet presentation. Just be assured that, much like the butchered stories the films live off of, if this game was a gesture to anyone who isn't familiar with the stories at all, it would be a glorious smack rather than a warm embracing welcome.

Now then, in the time of revelation of the Wii controller, aside from the love it/hate it debate, was the dreaming of how it would be implemented. Of course swords came to mind (lightsabers, obviously), but there was also a small clamoring of ideas centered around the wands of Harry Potter. This was quite a task for EA to live up to, as already there were fans dreaming of how it was going to be implemented in the Harry Potter games. Well, after all the dreaming a nightmare has presented itself, for while developers have tried to find the right balance of intuitive and gimmick, motion control still seems to be a problem for many. The developers at Electronic Arts UK seem to be in that lot, for implementation of the motion is not very spot on, and the main problem with Order of the Phoenix lies in the casting of spells.

You see, you must waggle the remote in various ways, in very precise manners to cast spells in the game. If your even a little off, the game may not register what your doing properly. An example is with the Wingardium Leviosa spell. You must, for some reason, use both the nunchuk and the remote to lift the object you wish. With both controllers starting in the pointed down position, you must flick them both upwards – and you must stop exactly with them facing upwards. If you don't and slightly tilt a bit back, say, a little towards your face and then a little bit forward to center them, it will register almost always as a substitute spell. Other spells can involve circular moments of both clockwise and counter clockwise, and they too can also register improperly. You really do need to be careful when using the spells.

Another annoying problem with the spells comes in the form of obnoxious movements. In the casting of the stunning jinx spell Stupefy, you must dart both of your arms forward with nunchuck and remote in hand. I really loathe this maneuver, and here it becomes tiresome because it is a battle spell, so you have to keep darting your arms out which can prove taxing and tedious over time. I'm no codger, but this method just gets tiring and intrusive after awhile. I gotta say about the intrusive controlling, I'm kinda glad Quiddich was left out here, 'cause I could only imagine what the devs would want there. (Putting the remote under my junk and pretending to fly around would not seem like a fun time for me – even with vibration.)

What makes the process of casting spells even worse is the awful targeting that goes along with it. The devs may have thought that having a more organic targeting system may make things feel more immersing, but it really is very amateurish in nature. In the game, a very floaty, spot-like shiny cursor acts as your targeting pointer. Always out, you simply point it at something with the Wii-remote and if it grows a bit larger on something or someone, or makes something or someone "flash," you can then practice some of your magic on it. Nice, simple idea, sounds like?

However, with the awful camera casting spells does become a nightmare. Things to target can quickly dart off screen because of the way you face, and things you want to target can be replaced with things you don't. You have to always face what you wish to spell cast on, as there is no lock-on to aid. With some spells using cloned gestures, such as Wingardium Leviosa and Levicorpus both needing the remotes thrust upwards, often targeting what you want to becomes maddening. The awkwardness of it all kills whatever fun you should be having casting spells.

Another piece of horrid implementation of immersion occurs with the knowledge of what spells you use. Harry can say the names of the spells along with your memorized movements for them for you to identify them, but Harry doesn't always say the names when the proper spell is cast. So, you could be in a situation where you are casting a spell that has to be specific and not know if you're casting the right spell because Harry's description is of no help.

Add to the unintuitive spell casting the layout for the controls, which is equally jumbled and poorly thought out as well. Having just come off playing EA's Godfather game (which is the best movie licensed game they ever made), I wonder why EA did not share that game's layout internally. That game had the best third-person handling I've played on the Wii, with being able to target, control the camera, and adventure very easily. I mean, in this game, when the C-button is twice used to further dialog and to help manipulate the camera, and the D-pad is neglected while playing, there really should have been more playtesting before pushing this game out. I don't understand why possibly holding the A button and waggling for some different spell wasn't thought of. And why not use the nunchuck for some aid as well? It would have been nice while using the Wingardium Leviosa spell to use the nunchuck as Harry's left arm in guiding an object manipulated more precisely. That would have aided in objects not spinning ridiculously thanks to the use of the overused in games Havok physics engine.

While EA UK could not, sadly, pin down spell controls, they did finally give this Harry Potter game some awesome life. In past games, Hogwarts was horribly barren with annoyances that made exploring a hassle. Well, I *can* finally say the Hogwarts in this game is the best ever. Back from the static Hogwarts of Goblet of Fire, the castle school is once again presented for exploration with grateful, almost seamless loading. This 3-D, sprawling treatment of Hogwarts finally feels grand, and proportionate to Harry and the other students. And finally there are other students! Sure, they all look like preppies with the same bodies for their genders, with different heads (Harry, Ron, and Hermione included), but at least they exist in abundance – outside and in Hogwarts.

With the sounds of these visible students in the background, and finally using John Williams' Hedwig theme, the sounds you have to travel about Hogwarts with are now at the forefront of the audio. Hogwarts feels alive, and the after some moments of solace allowing for ambiance, the wonderful orchestrated music can play appropriately. And just to touch on that for a moment, the music does have some beautiful quality of its own. None more so than Harry and Cho's melody that plays in their brief and cute encounter in the Owlery. I am definitely tempted to download some tracks, as they are better than the John Williams-less forgettable soundtracks we've been getting in the films since after Prisoner of Azkaban.

The only regret in the audio that I can recall is that of your "pals" Ron and Hermione. For three games now, Harry's best friends are your worst. Tagging along once more, they continuously repeat sayings over and over, once more, to the point of great hatred. It is a good thing you can send a Havok spinning bolder or cement bench at 'em in frustration, but, again, a Godfather route would have been appropriate with being able to leave one or both leeches someplace and pick them up at your will rather than drag them along with annoyance for much of the game.

Even with your grating tag-a-longs, the now gorgeously presented Hogwarts does truly make you want to walk about it and take in the sites. And thanks to a great map (that of the Marauders) with fading footprints presented to guide you to your destination of choice, it really is rather simple to do. You simply click your destination from the map and those footprints guide you. And you actually will have to travel all throughout Hogwarts with what the main theme of the story is about: Dumbledore's Army. You basically have to collect items to get students to join your secret army, and in this the game is a bit of a letdown. Fetch quests, including in "classes" take up much of the game and isn't really that captivating.

To be fair, the devs did try and implement some side stuff to do to and try for some extended play. You can play wizard's chess and exploding snap (which are quite fun to play, actually), fight Slytherins in the courtyard at will (but with the horrible gesturing for battle), and manipulate things and fix things around Hogwarts (but watch those controls). You can also go looking for secret stuff to fill up some stats and gain trophies you can, um, look at (?) in a special secret trophy room that also has unlockable stuff via discovery points that would have been much better offered right off the main menu (behind the scenes stuff like movie stills, interviews, and artwork).

The devs also have allowed for the controlling of other characters later in the game; however, your time with them is also a bit of a letdown. Playing as Fred and George in a small on-rails segment is fun, but playing as Sirius and the still awesome Dumbledore later in the game are way too brief and not that all compelling to be enjoyed. I don't wish to spoil anything for you, but if you like pong or tennis, you will greatly enjoy the final duel in the game. Oh and after that duel you can continue playing for stats/things you missed and go on another...fetch quest with, sadly, a more student-less Hogwarts presented.

If only the overall controlling was better thought out (it is manageable, but roughly so), and the story more, well, more this may have been the best, most tolerable Harry Potter adventure game yet. A lot has been improved greatly from previous games in this series to inch us closer to that Harry Potter game some of us fans still long for. With the Half Blood Prince game being delayed until Summer of '09, I expect a two year development cycle (the longest since the games started on consoles) to get us there. It wouldn't hurt either if the devs mixed more book into the game and add to it some of the scenes said to be deleted in the upcoming film by the wretched filmmakers (oh, why was Terry Gilliam forsaken?). And with Wii-motion Plus expected in Spring of '09, there should be no excuse for the controls and gestures to not be refined come our next outing.

Order of the Phoenix is still worth the time to play, and I do recommend it, but mostly I do for those who are familiar with the book or film, as they will appreciate it more. Whether or not you wish to line the already deep pockets of draconian DRM loving Electronic Arts by doing so, I will leave up to you, but if you choose to go the used route there is no harm in owning it that way. If you are like me and found past games in the adventure series on consoles a bit of a letdown, this game may still leave you with a bit of disappointment of what should have been more thought out, but it may also, finally, and most surprisingly, leave you with the most hope yet of what may come in Harry's next year at Hogwarts in video game form.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/12/08, Updated 02/27/09

Game Release: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (US, 06/25/07)