Overview
The game is an adaptation of the film and not the novel, meaning that you will find all the film's main lines while losing all the subtleties of the book. The scarred wizard feels more than ever the desire to fight the terrible Lord Voldemort, but the Ministry of Magic does not hear it that way. Ever darker, more tormented, and more rebellious, the young wizard decides to build his own "army." Surrounded by his two best friends, Ron and Hermione, he sets off on an even more eventful adventure. Here are the main lines that are covered here. Our three heroes must do everything to avoid the repression of Umbridge, a cantankerous woman who does not laugh with discipline.
There is no need to follow a pre-established order with missions that follow one another without knowing why; here, the player is free to come and go in Hogwarts. Even if this was a good idea, we quickly see its limits and come across an undeniable observation. This system pushes us to make numerous round trips that force us to waste time wandering in the school's corridors and other rooms. Even if the universe's undisputed fans take a malicious pleasure to look for all the secret passages while discovering this magical place, the others will quickly get bored. Fortunately for the latter, they don't need to wander around the map for hours to find their objectives.
Even if the game is not divided into successive levels, you still have to accomplish specific tasks to progress in the adventure. It is then that an element put at our disposal is very useful. Of course, the Marauder's map allows you to find a mission with a few button presses. Finding objects, doing homework, recruiting people for Dumbledore's army, and many other quests will punctuate the game for a few good hours. Those who can't find boredom will be happy to know that the game is long enough to keep us alert for more than ten hours. Add to that a few mini-games requiring a few good minutes, and we get a game with a very decent lifespan. However, these mini-games such as chess, chatterbox, or explosive battle are fun for two minutes, after which they quickly become tiresome.
Gameplay
If players quickly throw in the towel, it may be that the developers have misjudged the game's approach by making it too mainstream. Indeed, it is far too easy, and it favors exploration over action. Despite this, the gameplay turns out to be quite good. Even if the camera tends to be misplaced, the player will still face other wizards and use his powers to complete his quests. We can repel, repair, break, ignite, attract or levitate objects during the exploration phases, while during the combat phases, we can paralyze an opponent, repel him, disarm him, etc. Spells are performed with the right joystick, and it is pretty pleasant to accomplish them. Nevertheless, some will find this system sometimes imprecise since it only takes a few seconds of inattention to do anything but what you wanted.
Graphics & Sound
As mentioned above, Hogwarts has been entirely modeled for the occasion. Even if many will criticize the numerous textures that do not honor the powerful Xbox 360, we must still salute the effort made by the developers who offer us a vast playground. Even if it's not an outstanding achievement, we can go from room to room without any loading time, an absolute joy that reinforces the feeling of freedom. Moreover, the characters are quickly recognizable, and the universe is well detailed. It's a pity that they didn't take more time to make everything visually more pleasant.
Even if the opinions are more or less divided on the game's visual quality, everyone will agree on the soundtrack. The latter lulls our ears by offering us music from the movie and voices coming directly from the official voice actors - excellent news for all the fans. The latter is also somewhat spoiled since the developers have incorporated many bonuses, including many interviews. All this is unlocked by collecting orbs that you get by repairing broken objects or performing certain good deeds. A good idea that once again will only have a tangible impact on the genre fan. The others will not see anything transcendent or, at least, nothing that can interest them to support all the exploration phases that drag on until the end.
Conclusion
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is far from being a bad adaptation and has many qualities. Hogwarts is modeled in great detail. The characters are quickly recognizable. We can chain the objectives in the order we want without even having to wait between each change of location. This gives a natural feeling of freedom. Add to that an excellent soundtrack and many bonuses, and we get a title that will delight all fans of the little wizard. However, the game quickly shows its limits, at least for those who are not hardcore fans. Many may well give up the adventure along the way or die of boredom. This adaptation of the fifth installment is a good game that should be reserved for younger players or fans of the Harry Potter series.
