Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for Xbox 360 Reviews by Gamers

This isn't a terrible game, really. But I would never say it was good, either. The design of the castle and the level of detail you sometimes find is impressive. So if you are a Potter fan, you might enjoy seeing the layout of the castle and grounds (based on the movies, not the books).

But the gameplay itself is pretty much monotonous filler. The map function can be finicky and they have a serious lack of 'spells'. It seems obvious the people making it had no real knowledge of the books, only the films, which was distracting for someone who knows the actual canon.

There are way too many cut scenes that attempt to rush the story forward, and the story itself only takes up a little over 50% of the game. The rest is extended gameplay that loosely ties into small elements of the movie. Like finding Luna's spread out possessions.

As for the characters, having Ron and Hermione constantly behind and bumping into you gets old very fast. Especially since they have very little function; most the time, they don't even provide helpful information. All they do is obstruct the camera view or block your way.

Another thing is the constant zoom in and out and the inability to properly change the camera angle most of the time. This gets annoying almost immediately. You can shift it a little sometimes, but it will revert back the moment you move. Sometimes you can't tell what you are doing because of this.

All in all, this was not a good game. It was just a way to cash in on the success of the films, with no regards to it as an homage to the original books. It wasn't even taking into account the fact that it was a game. It was just an interactive recap of the movie. Even the 'rewards' section is filled with unlocked DVD extra content like crew and actor interviews.

If you have a kid who really loves Potter, check this one out. But don't expect too much.

This is an overall okay game. I only found a few things a tad bit annoying.
Like the fact that the castle is huge! It took me almost five minutes just to get from point a to point b.
There was also the little issue with Ron and Hermione becoming road blocks. They would just stand there while you're trying to run pass and block the way.
Also how many people actually beat the fourth champion at gobstones. I tried about fifty times and finally gave up. Either that or throw the controller at the TV screen.
But all in all it kept to the story line and it took me more than a few days to get through.