Harry Potter : Order of the Phoenix
If you have read the series – this is a ‘must play’.  At least for a little while…
Before I talk more about the game, I must confess that I was originally against the whole Harry Potter series for my kids. Check out my blog from last year on this called “I used to be prejudiced against witchcraftâ€
But since then, my oldest son and I have read the series together – and it has really strengthened his passion for reading and given us another connection point.
If you have similar discomfort on the book series, please read the earlier blog link above. And if you don’t disagree – read on. On to the game…
This particular Harry Potter game is based on the fifth book of the Harry Potter book series – the Order of the Phoenix.
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(SPOILER ALERT – if you haven’t read the book, this review gives a few things away)
As with the book, the game starts out at 12 Grimwald Place, the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. This is essentially a tutorial area where you’ll learn a few magic spells. Â
In this game, you’ll learn to interact with the environment using your magic wand to push, pull, levitate and repair items – with the use of the right-stick of your Xbox360 controller. These are fairly easy and will become second nature fairly early on.Â
And then it is off to Hogwarts.
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Why you should play this game
At Hogwarts, you will get to explore every corner of the famed school – from Gryffindor’s rooms through all of the floors, the Room of Requirement, Hagrid’s hut, and many famous classrooms. You’ll get very familiar with the magic staircases, go through the library, discover many secret passages protected by paintings and passwords — and really get a sense of the great hall and its four household tables.
If you have enjoyed the books, this allows you to explore all of these locations. Even if you have watched the movies and have some visual references, this is the difference between reading a guide book (the movies) and exploring someplace yourself.
And to make things as authentic as possible, they enlisted most of the movie cast do to their own voices – so between the Xbox360’s great graphics, EA’s artwork, the intuitively interactive environment and the cast’s voiceovers – you will really feel like Harry Potter.
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GamePlay
A big part of this game is doing minor quests while you recruit the 28 student members of ‘Dumbledore’s Army’ (DA). To do this, you will traverse most of the key areas and talk with quite a few folks
You’ll get to use your (right-stick) wand for not only push/pull manipulation-style magic, but also duels with your nemesis’ from the house of Slytherin. There are more duels and bad-guys towards the end of the story – and if you’ve read the book , you know know who I am talking about but should not be named.
Dueling can be fun – versus Slyterthin students
You’ll also have the opportunity to do some classroom time, which are mini-games that fit very nicely within the overall story – and prepare you for the culmination of the main story.
To make things easier to navigate, you get the famed ‘Marauders’ Map’ which will allow you to locate the students that you need to interact with (just like the book) as well as every classroom and location.
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Discovery Points, Side Quests & Extras
Another large aspect of this game, is discovery points. For every item that you interact with or room that you discover, you will continually get discovery points. As you accrue points, you will reach up up to 13 levels of discovery.
As you progress through the discovery levels, you get a few benefits:
- Each discovery level is an Xbox achievement (cha-ching)
- Your magic becomes stronger as you gain levels
- Each level unlocks new ‘extras’ from the HP:OotP movie
The extras feel a lot like the additional features from a DVD – with interviews with the cast and production teams, scene photos from the movie, etc.
To enjoy these new extras, the game introduces a new ‘Room of Rewards’ hidden behind a painting and constantly monitored by Moaning Myrtle.  As you complete side quests, additional trophies will be unlocked – and of course each comes with an Xbox achievement.
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There are two ways to play this game
If you just want to experience a taste of being Harry Potter and explore Hogwarts, then you will likely spend 6-10 hours to wander around, you can gain around 300 Xbox Live achievement points and I would recommend renting this game for a fun long weekend – or a week’s long excursion when your favorite HP reading kid is out of school.
If you are an achievement point hound (like me) or just really love the book series (me too), you’ll devote a significantly greater amount of time to discover literally everything hidden throughout Hogwarts. To help you with that, the Marauders’ Map shows the percentage of every room that you have discovered. From drapes that reveal chess pieces to stone gargoyles that talk – everything is worth discovery points or contributes to side-quests.  And of course, those equate to more discovery levels, which equal achievement points, which results in extras getting unlocked.
You’ll get very used to traversing the grand staircase as you explore
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Go get it
This game is actually about two years old, so you may find it more easily at your local GameStop or an online retailer like Amazon, than at a retail store like Best Buy – but wherever you get it – if you like the books, play the game. Summer is a great time to dig up games that you haven’t previously discovered – and as a single-player, exploring adventure, your HP-reading youth will enjoy a long diversion.
And this will get you and your youth ready for the upcoming sixth movie this summer – coming to theatres in July 2009.
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May 2, 2009
Tags: Harry Potter Posted in: Game Reviews, Games for Kids
2 Responses
My Father says to flee from evil. The world in which we live offers a grand assortment of entertainment for which the devil has purposed to draw man unto himself. Harry Potter is one such attraction. I have read countless the comparisons of the Narnia series to other fantasy games that include magic. I can understand where this might be confusing; however, Narnia cannot be compared to Harry Potter. The Narnia series was written with direct application and representation of Christ and the salvation He brings to believers through His resurrection! The fantasy C.S. Lewis imagined was a “what if” for the sole purpose of drawing man to Christ. Narnia takes man out of his natural environment and allows him to see the fruit of Christ’s nature separate from our world that is so full of secular thought and tradition. That said, none of the Harry Potters or Zeldas or any of the other fantasy games (so far) that involve magic and false gods offer a picture of God Almighty and His Truth. They are counterfeit to truth. Those who choose Christ must also choose to walk in His LIGHT. That means putting away false gods and any other material things or actions whose purpose is NOT set in the light of Messiah. We are to flee from evil, not entertain it. I know it is difficult to carry that cross, but there is a world watching and waiting to see what we will do. If you believe Christ is Messiah, choose to follow Him with all of your heart and lean not to your own understanding. Don’t be fooled for the sake of entertainment. When our eyes drift from Jesus to worldly distractions, the devil slips in unnoticed. The devil finagles his way into our lives; he comes for one purpose: to kill, steal, and destroy. Is it worth it to compromise; or shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his soul?
AMEN !!
I absolutely respect your position, thank you for your feedback and admire your fervor. But this is one of the reasons that I run this blog, to offer insight into one of this cultures more popular distractions to young people … and offer one Christian father’s perspective who has hands-on experience with the material.
My oldest son and I have visited the Hogwarts series together. With me staying a book ahead, a movie ahead and a game ahead of him. It has offered us some great conversation opportunities between God’s wonder and the ficticious magic that written about – not only in the Harry Potter series, but in Greek Mythology and even the “Force” in Star Wars.
But for my own purposes, I would rather expose him to these things while I can shepherd and council him on how to discern what is exciting and popular in this world — and teach him to compartmentalize those things from the reality of his priorities and his relationship with the one true God. Otherwise, I risk him being sheltered and overly-exposed & under-prepared when other shinier and inviting opportunities are given to him later (when I am not nearby to counsel and teach).
While we may have some differences of opinion, I hope that you will keep reading and find other game recommendations useful to you and your young gamers.
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