Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix

Graphics and Sound

“Next-generation graphics and configurable controls and settings allow you to play your way.”

The quote above is taken directly from the blurb on the back of the box. I have two problems with this quotation.

The game offers only three graphical options to fiddle with; speed, balance or quality and even on quality, we can see little improvement in graphics terms over a PS2 game. The graphics look like an old generation console game, nevermind next generation PC graphics.

Additionally with limited options to fiddle with the graphics, like anti-aliasing and texture detail, the graphics are really not something to boast about, though some of the panoramas offered at specific points do look quite good.


Here you can see the comparison between the three different graphical options and the differences between each setting are very noticeable, especially in model detail and textures.

The sound is an area of the game which is extremely good. Actors from the film have contributed their own voices and likenesses, as well as recording each section of dialogue three times to provide diversity in tone. This makes the copious amount of dialogue between Harry and his fellow peers is always different and adds to the variety of the interactive environment.

Conclusion

Film-to-game conversions are notoriously awful and unfortunately Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix fails to break the trend.
The few elements of innovation and enjoyment in the game are drastically overshadowed by the downfalls of the camera relative movement system and cut scenes. The enormous amount of time spent in inescapable dialogue, coupled with the very tedious and monotonous puzzles renders the enjoyment out of the gameplay at an all-time low.

The story line is clichéd and predictable with an obvious battle between good and evil playing out predictably. The graphics are rather horrible and the animations aren’t particularly great either, so the overall look is near that of a PlayStation 2 game. I guess that can be expected from a game like this, but it doesn't make it any more right than it was before.

On the other hand, the one upside and unfaultable element of the game is the sound and voice overs which stay true to the overall feel and are acted very well.

Overall, the game is obviously aimed towards avid Harry Potter fans who wish to experience the movie firsthand. It is difficult to recommend this to an older audience or as a game to try out idly and frankly, if I did, I don’t think I could live with myself.

Harry Potter: magic not included.