Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (NDS)

The game of the film of the book of the boy wizard's fifth adventure has been released on every format known to mankind this summer, with the Wii version arguably the best given the clever integration of the Wii remote into gameplay. Gamestyle had above average expectations for the DS version of the title as the DS also features a novelty control method, which we hoped EA would make the most of. However, our expectations were misplaced.

Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix (or HOP as we’ll call it) is a title that ignores the last ten years of video game evolution to deliver an experience that feels like a sub-par Resident Evil clone that would have been more at home in the last millennium. Obviously, the DS lacks the processing grunt of home consoles so the likelihood of having a fully realised 3D Hogwarts to explore was always going to be slim. Instead, we are presented with Harry and his friends, rendered in 3D, running around on 2D backgrounds. Whilst this might not sound like a bad idea, after all people are still paying money to buy a remake of the original Resident Evil on the DS, the shoddy way this game has been executed make it one.

Not only is Hogwarts filled with irritating camera angles and obstructive scenery it’s also painted in some of the drabbest colours Gamestyle has ever seen in a game; nearly everything is a dull shade of brown or grey. On a system usually noted for bright and exuberant games, HOP stands out as being the least visually interesting title Gamestyle has ever played on the DS. The developers might have gotten away with dull colours if Hogwarts felt like a thriving and bustling school for wizards, but it never manages to. Other pupils are few and far between and Hogwarts feels more like an empty mausoleum. And it’s a difficult to navigate mausoleum at that. As mentioned the fixed camera angles aren’t helpful and exits from rooms are often difficult to see or completely obscured. Often there are too many camera angles covering small areas such as landings and junctions in corridors and you can’t move more than a few steps without the camera angle flitting to another view. Whilst this is an attempt to give HOP a cinematic feel, all it does is slow down gameplay as you have to constantly adjust your direction of travel to match the current view. Your AI controlled travelling companions (usually Ron and Hermione) don’t help either. They’ll often stand in your way and refuse to move, forcing you to go round them.

Although Hogwarts is a pretty big place, you’re never given the tools to explore it in your own time, as you might be were this a Nintendo title. There’s no map and instead a small hand in the bottom left of the screen continually points towards your next destination making HOP an incredibly linear experience. You might be thinking that this is where the DS’s unique control system kicks in - using the stylus to move Harry around Hogwarts, simply tapping where you’d like him to go. You’d be wrong. Instead, EA believe that the d-pad is a fitting substitute for the analogue stick. They’re wrong. It’s fiddly and the limited control offered by the d-pad really hurts HoP. As gameplay boils down to the same formula of run somewhere, talk to someone, perform an errand, repeated ad nauseam you might have thought that EA would at least make it easy to run around Hogwarts.

Instead, the stylus is used as a wand and is used to cast all manner of spells, create magic potions (which also involves blowing onto the microphone - why does anyone ever think this is a good idea or fun?) and playing games like Gobstones. These magic moments are essentially stylus based mini-games, and constitute the errands that Harry is compelled to complete to progress through the game. Whilst never more complicated than joining dots, colouring in or drawing a pattern, these mini-games are initially quite diverting and break the monotony of running around Hogwarts. Unfortunately, this doesn’t last as you’re asked to do the same things so many times that the shine soon wears off. Even fighting the Slytherins is no fun. Occasionally you’ll have to turn the DS on its side like a book and duel with them. However, the same fight between the same characters with the same spells being cast is constantly repeated and duels are virtually impossible to lose.

Of course, one of the reasons that the Harry Potter books and films have been so successful is that they tell what many people consider to be a cracking good yarn. However, if you come to this game cold, having never read The Order of the Phoenix, you’re unlikely to have the slightest inkling about what’s going on. Even if you have read the book and seen the film, the story is told in such a broken and disjointed fashion, you might still be left confused. Told in whimsical fashion, over a couple of short cut scenes, the only thing you’ll really come away with is that Harry is keen to recruit his fellow students for Dumbledore’s Army and for a game ultimately based on a book, that’s a major failing.

Gamestyle is sure that die-hard, DS owning Potter fans will buy this game, and maybe even enjoy it a tiny bit, regardless of what we say here. For the rest of us though, this is one to steer clear of. Repetitive, tedious wandering and only marginally entertaining mini-games do not a proper game make.

Rating: 3 / 10

Words by Andy Lucas