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Friday, November 21st 2008
Harry Potter Store - Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix
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List Price: $29.99
Our Price: $14.58
Your Save: $ 15.41 ( 51% )
Availability:
Manufacturer: Electronic Arts
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Amazon Maximum Age: 20
Amazon Minimum Age: 60
Batteries Included: 0
Binding: Video Game
Brand: Electronic Arts
EAN: 0014633155778
ESRB Age Rating: Everyone
Feature: Immerse Yourself in Magic—Interact with magical objects, ghosts and portraits in every room, corridor and courtyard—all faithfully recreated from the movies.
Is Autographed: 0
Is Memorabilia: 0
Label: Electronic Arts
Manufacturer: Electronic Arts
Model: 15577
Platform: Xbox 360
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Date: 2007-06-25
Studio: Electronic Arts
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Features
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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.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Disappointed!
Comment: I am a huge Harry Potter fan. Read all the books, seen all the movies, played all the games. That said.
This was by far the worst HP game ever. (all the other ones were good just not this one)
In a nutshell the graphics, music and voice acting are all beautifuly done. Amazing even. What sucks about this game is that you spend all of your time cleaning up the castle or else searching for useless stuff. There is no health meter so Harry never has to really fight or worry about being in any danger. There are no big bosses to battle or even little bosses. You spend the majority of your time rehanging portraits, straightening up lopsided suits of armor or fixing broked statues. Essentially, Harry is a janitor. Or if you prefer, custodial engineer. Either way it is a waste of time.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Fun, Challenging, Goal-Oriented & Character-Driven Immersion into the World of Harry Potter
Comment: Having played each of the various video games based upon the first four Harry Potter films & books, it has been interesting to observe how each new game has evolved beyond the differences in each of the stories that each game is based. For example, the third game ("Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban") was the first to permit a player to play as a character other than Harry: in addition to Harry, the player could also play as Ron or Hermione and switch between any of these three characters at will at any point during the game. The third game was also the first game in which successfully finding collector cards had an overall impact upon game play. The fourth game ("Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire") again allowed the player to play as Harry, Ron or Hermione, but unlike the previous game, the player had to remain as the chosen character for the duration of a particular level. Also, collector cards had a much greater impact upon the game as they defined what abilities or stamina the particular player would have based upon which three cards the player chose to use at a particular time. While the first three games had players wandering about Hogwarts (and sometimes other locations), the fourth game was more restrictive in that a player could not just wander anywhere.
What, then distinguishes the fifth game ("Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix") from its predecessors? First, it is the first Harry Potter game available for next-gen video consoles. Second, more than any previous game, the rendition of Hogwarts Castle is the most accurate to any of the films and permits a player to go anywhere within its walls. Third, no beans or collector cards: but not to worry: there are plenty of other types of achievements that impact game play. Fourth, programmers went out of there way to ensure that game achievements are very closely related to the film: so (for example) no battling of monsters that are unrelated to the film and/or book, and no unusual tasks for obtaining spells. In the fifth game, spells are learned as needed. Finally, the player cannot choose which character to play as. Though this sounds as though fifth game programmers went backwards, quite the contrary is true: for the first time, a player can play as characters that have never been permitted before: as Dumbledore, Sirius, or even as one of the Weasley twins; albeit, at precise moments during game play to match similar moments in the film and/or book.
As a very task-oriented game, a player will find himself (among other things) seeking out the Room of Requirement, finding secret passages, putting together & training "Dumbledore's Army", coping with Delores Umbridge, carrying out "OWL" tests for specific professors, battling students, playing a myriad of games (chess, gobstones and card games) against other students and cleaning up Hogwarts. Yes, in the fifth Harry Potter video game, you will find yourself making beds, sweeping, mopping, repairing broken objects and turning on lamps & heaters. Why, you may ask? Simple: to earn points & achievements. As you complete various tasks, you not only earn points and achievements, you increase Harry's magical powers. You also get to unlock hidden rewards that include interviews with actors who participated in the film & game, as well as other information about the fifth film. The rewards are made available to you in the "Room of Rewards" and you will be visited by Moaning Myrtle each time you earn another reward. You'll learn something about occlumency from Professor Snape and you might get to help create a bit of havoc around the castle to upset a certain woman in pink.
With superb graphics, fun & engaging tasks, a ton of interaction with lots of characters around Hogwarts (including the paintings), and more, the "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" video game is sure to please any Harry Potter/video game enthusiast. My overall rating for the game is 5 out of 5 stars and I highly recommend it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Best one but...
Comment: It's by far the best one yet but, I HATE THE CAMERA!! When you walk into a room sometimes the camera doesn't follow you right away so, you have to stop and wait for the camera to catch up with you.
I don't like going through some of the same rooms over and over again.
So, it's good but, try and rent it first. And on a good note...there are a lot of extras to collect and find. And I mean a lot!!!!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: A game based on a movie that's GOOD!
Comment: Color me impressed.
There's not many games based off of movie adaptations out there that are worthwhile. For every Chronicles of Riddick, or Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (HP:OOTP) there's a 100's of Transformers or Surfs Ups. This is the rare gem that actually delivers.
First up, the games major selling point: Hogwarts. If you've ever dreamed of walking around the grand staircase, talking to paintings or heading to Hagrid's Hut, or thumping down to Potions class...this game will not disappoint. The castle is lovingly recreated, with direct access to just about all the areas you'd expect (with the only exception I can think of being Dumbledore's office...cut scene only on that one...at least 70% through the game, anyway). There's tons to explore, nooks and crannies to find, and interesting scenery all around.
Second, there's tons to do...not just in the main quest, but in interacting (mostly casting spells at) with the environment. The institution of "discovery points" (points recieved for finding new things, ways to interact with your environment, etc) being the way to level up really keeps in the spirit of the franchise. There's just a huge abundance of "neat" stuff to do in every area, from changing the house flags in the great hall to hunting down hidden plaques and statues, to finding painting passwords (which lead to shortcuts) to playing HP "lore" minigames like Wizards chess, gobstones and Snaps!.
Next up, the story is compelling (which is no surprise considering the source material). This is actually my ONE beef with the game,though I completely understand WHY they do it: The cut scenes give you snippets of the plot, but leave whole swaths of the story untold. If you're an HP fan, you won't really care because you've read the books (and seen the movies), so the "glossing over" is forgivable because you know the story already. If you're not as much of an HP fan, or your exposure to the material is limited (like, you've been living in a cave for the past 8 years or so), you might be a bit "muddled" until you see the next movie or pick up the books. It's not too bad, though...certainly not bad enough to lower my rating below a 4.
In addition, the graphics and sound are just stupendous. The music in the game is licensed HP stuff (including Hedwig's theme) from the movies, and sounds great. Voice acting is left to a LOT of the cast (though, noteably, Daniel does not do Harry and Emma does not do Hermione) from the movies, so sounds authentic. The quality of the sampling on the sound effects and voices is top notch, and the Dolby Digital does a great job of positioning the background noise where it should be in the 5.1 mix. The visuals are similarly well done, with so much detail added into the backgrounds, you'd swear you were at Hogwarts. The character models are well done, the skins look appropriately like the characters they're supposed to.
Control is tight, though there are some slight camera issues that will crop up (mostly when in tight quarters with "scenery" around you). Spellcasting is done with the Right Stick (with specific movements assigned to each spell....like a clockwise circle for "Reparo", the repair spell). Movement is done with the left stick. The buttons control running (A button) and "exploring" (X button to interact).
Ron and Hermione can be a bit tough to deal with when running around, especially in tight corners, because you have to maneuver AROUND them to get by them (rather than just shove them out of the way), but that's more of a nitpick than anything else.
I'd recommend this game to pretty much anyone, but ESPECIALLY HP fans. It's a good game in it's own right, but the ability it affords you to explore Hogwarts is going to be a Potter fan's dream...and about as close as you'll come to getting into the world of HP until Universal opens The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Florida around 2010.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Almost Perfect
Comment: Just got done with the game and if you like the books or movies you will love the game. Story and envirnoment are amazing, kinda of what you think it would be like to walk the grounds of Hogwarts. Minor problems with the camera sometimes but this is a must buy for any potter fan. No dueling online, too bad...
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Editorial Reviews:
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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 against Voldemort and his Death Eaters that lies ahead.
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