Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

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I evaluate this game in three parts (playing at "normal" level):

1. exploration/discovery

2. tasks

3. dueling

1. exploration/discovery 5 stars

Hogwarts castle and surrounding scenery are truly spectacular on the PS3. Everything from the owlery to the Gryffindor common room to the grand staircase is amazingly detailed and beautifully rendered. As a fan of the series, it was a joy to seek out the nooks and crannies, gain "discovery points", and feel like I really lived there.

2. tasks 3 stars

The tasks in the first half of the game were my favorite finding all the students in the DA. These tasks gave me a reason to explore the castle and grounds, and find hidden objects and secret passageways. They also required improving my spellwork using the PS3 controller. I found some of the tasks after Christmas tedious, however, and sometimes I felt bored or downright irritated (especially when tasks required too much repetition.)

3. dueling 1 star

Here's where the game really missed an opportunity. I thought I was practicing my spellwork with all those tasks so I could become very good at dueling when the time came to meet Voldemort, Malfoy, and other baddies. Instead, it felt like the game practically took over for me, and I'm not sure I had much influence on what happened (although I do cast a good protego!) This was a shame, because OOTP has good fight scenes.

My game has hung once, and charms practice in Prof Flitwick's classroom has a bug and doesn't work properly.

I'm still pleased to own the game overall, for the sheer fun of "being at" Hogwarts and discovering fun treasures and clever rewards (I love the prefect's bathroom!) I also love seeing all my old favorite characters and hearing the real voices of the actors and the wonderful music. EA put a lot of effort into the game. They missed in some places and exceled in others. For fans, I'd say it's worth the investment.

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Bought this for my son for christmas but discovered he had already completed the game for the Game Testers Club he goes to. So have returned it. He enjoyed the game but felt it was a little too quick and easy for him (he's 13). Probably better for a younger child who make take longer to complete it.

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This "game" sucks. The castle and grounds are really well-done and it was fun to explore.... for about 30 minutes; after that, there really was nothing going on but a weak story and a lot of mundane chores. Also, not being to control the camera angle was aggravating on many levels. I often found myself wanting to blast Ron and Hermione for being constantly in the way and contributing nothing. Chamber of Secrets, with the poor graphics and all the cartoonishness was 10 times more fun because it, at least, had some challenge to it. Save your money.

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I recently bought a PS3 after not playing video games for years. Since I'm a big Harry Potter fan, I bought this game since it was the most rated among the Harry Potter series. I'm about 60% through the game and the challenges that Harry goes through in this game are mostly ver boring. They're mostly comprised of figuring out ways to climb on top of things and retrieve items. I had expected that the game will provide for some exciting challenges / puzzlers like the actual books / movies do. I would give the graphics and Hogwarts visualization a 4 star, so all in all I think the game is just mediocre. If you can get it for $10 or less, go ahead and try it out, not worth more than that to me.

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I've always loved the movies and have half of the games, they're amazing, and this one is one of my favourites, it was in perfect condition and came earlier than I expected