Product Description

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry returns for his fifth year of study at Hogwarts and discovers that much of the wizarding community is in denial about the teenager?s recent encounter with the evil Lord Voldemort, preferring to turn a blind eye to the news that Voldemort has returned. Fearing that Hogwarts? venerable Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, is lying about Voldemort?s return in order to undermine his power and take his job, the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, appoints a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher to keep watch over Dumbledore and the Hogwarts students. But Professor Dolores Umbridge?s Ministry-approved course of defensive magic leaves the young wizards woefully unprepared to defend themselves against the dark forces threatening them and the entire wizarding community, so at the prompting of his friends Hermione and Ron, Harry takes matters into his own hands. Meeting secretly with a small group of students who name themselves "Dumbledore?s Army," Harry teaches them how to defend themselves against the Dark Arts, preparing the courageous young wizards for the extraordinary battle that lies ahead. With the ability to play multiple characters, including Harry Potter, Dumbledore and Sirius Black, the videogame of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix offers fans the opportunity to wield a wand, explore all around Hogwarts, and experience one of the most exciting and dangerous years in the life of the Boy Who Lived.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #719 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Electronic Arts
• Released on: 2007-06-28
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Platform: Nintendo Wii
• Dimensions: .33 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review

‘The boy who lived’ is another movie hero whose video game adventures never seem to have matched up to the quality of his films (or books). Rather than simply repeat the predictable third person action of previous games though, this is something a bit different. It’s almost a sort of Grand Theft Auto: Hogwarts (or a variation on The Simpson’s: Hit & Run for those that are too young to know about Rockstar’s naughty blockbusters).

What this means in practical terms is that you’ve got almost the whole of Hogwarts school to explore from the off, with different missions of varying degrees of importance available from different locations. You now control only Harry, with Hermione or Ron reduced to supporting roles, although there are some short sections where you can play as Fred and George Weasley instead. The re-focus on Harry is a result of the sheer number of magical spells available to him now, from standard offensive and defensive magic to summons and levitation spells that help you uncover and unlock the hidden secret of Hogwarts.

Casting spells isn’t as simple as just pressing a button though, as you’re made to actually trace out a magical symbol using the controller (something that works particularly well on the Wii), which adds greatly to the sense of immersion. There’s also a range of similarly controlled mini-games, including wizard chess and gobstones, which you can play either in or out of the game. It’s all a vast improvement on the previous titles, with similarly superior graphics and a general air of effort not usually associated with film tie-ins.
Harrison Dent

Customer Reviews

NOT an Awful Game, Sorry!
I had to do a follow up to the 'awful review' because i dont think its deserved. Okay, its not the greatest game ever made and its no Resident Evil, but if you dont want to go around hanging up paintings, fixing things, etc. you dont have to! These are just sub missions to the game which increases its life span. Otherwise the game probably would be over quite quickly. There is alot of running about in the game when you have to build up Dumbledor's army and get 28 people to the room of requirments, which can get quite boring (hence the little sub-missions of repairing things and actually doing something rather than just running around) but with most of the kids, you have to do a little mini quest, so i found it entertaining enough.

Plus, there are bonuses to doing these pointless tasks, because you become a stronger wizard level and also unlock special bonus videos of the makers and some of the film cast talking about the game. Then again it is quite fun using your wii-mote as a wand anyway

I think its a good game to buy if your a younger gamer or really enjoy harry potter because i think this is the best film-to-game made so far for the wii, especially when you consider Spider Man 3, POTC 3, Silver Surfer were all pretty poor.

Its received good reviews of around 75% from gamespot and similar websites so it isn't a pile of crap.

If your debating whether to buy it, just give it a quick rent or borrow if from a mate.

Good Points
+ Good Voice Acting
+ No Loading Screen, Just 1 Constant Flow
+ Graphics are good (for wii anyway)
+ The Castle is exactly like from the film
+ Unlockables
+ Best Game based on a film on the WII
+ Use your remote as a wand!

Bad Points
+ The Camera Angle comes back on you so you may be finding yourself running the wrong way.
+ Lots of running around
+ Quite short if you do not do the sub missions

I love this game. But it is far too short.
I love this game. The recreation of hogwarts is fantastic and awe-inspiring, as you explore and run around the school you feel like you are really there. The use of the wii-mote as the magic wand is great fun as you use it to cast spells to solve mysteries and defeat enemies. Fantastic. There are also some really fun mini-games littered around the school for you to take part in.

The downside of the game is the length - it is far too short and if you put in a serious gaming session you could probably finish it really quickly, especially if you avoid the mini-games and sub-quests. However, I would recommend this game.... buy it for the fun, and when you finish it you can sell it on or trade it in.

Great fun!
Harry Potter fever has hit the World again in July 2007 with a new book (Deathly Hallows), a new film and this new game, 'The Order of the Phoenix', which is based on the film that is based on the book by JK Rowling.

The game starts in Little Whinging, like in the book, where Harry and Dudley are walking through the park when they are suddenly attacked by two Dementors. After producing a Patronus, the next thing you know you're at Grimmauld Place talking to Sirius Black, completely missing out Harry's rescue from Privet Drive by The Order. As this was such a huge book (over 950 pages), the game has been cut to pieces, jumping chapters at a time by using newspaper articles to explain the story very simpily and quickly. Although this avoids many cut scenes filled with dialogue, for anyone who hasn't read the book I imagine that the plot of the story would be very hard to follow in this game.

With this small issue aside, The Order of the Phoenix for the Wii is a great game, featuring a brilliantly detailed Hogwarts that seems to have every corridor, classroom and stairway from the film looking perfect. With it being such a big castle there's so much to explore and do but if you only stick to the main tasks given, the game will be over fairly quickly. You really need to speak to the other pupils and play games like Exploding Snap and Wizard Chess with them and also repair various objects around the school to really make the most of this game. Some tasks involve finding a school friend on the other side of the castle which can mean that you'll be making Harry run up and down corridors for minutes at a time. This is where speaking to others can break up the main story quite well, avoiding boring and repetitive gameplay. Most of the characters are featured and all look very realistic to their film counterparts, although some of their voices are not too good (Hermoine, for example, sounds completely different).

The controls on the Wii version work really well and are very fun, using the Wii Remote as your wand to cast spells. The spells are pretty easy to pull off and gives the game a more interactive feel to it. The only problem big Harry Potter fans may find is that the spells are performed differently to in the books and films. For example - Winguardium Leviosa in the book and film is "swish and flick" but in the game it is a flick of both the Wii nunchuck and remote at the same time. A very, very minor niggle - sorry!

The Order of the Phoenix for the Wii is a game that fans of Harry Potter should love and is the easily the best Harry Potter game so far. The difficulty is quite easy though, so older gamers should perhaps play this on either the Normal or Hard setting or else it could be finished a little too quickly.