With the new Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix film hitting the silver screen, the release of the game was as inevitable as Harry being persecuted at Hogwarts! This latest outing follows on from a sizeable back catalogue of movie tie-ins, which have received mixed reviews. Despite this, I can safely say that I was pleasantly surprised this time round, as I delved into the crazy world of wands, wizards and talking portraits.

As Harry Potter begins his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry, he's facing more persecution than ever. Since he related to his Headmaster and mentor, Professor Dumbledore, the events that occurred earlier in the year, when he witnessed Lord Voldemort - He Who Must Not Be Named - return to power, killing fellow student Cedric Diggory in the process, things have gone from bad to worse. The insecure Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, refuses to believe that You Know Who could have returned and he's been leaning on the Daily Prophet newspaper to print endless articles about how Harry is an unstable, attention-seeking liar. And now he's forced Dumbledore to appoint the vicious Dolores Umbridge as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. As well as torturing Harry with horrible punishments in detention, she soon declares herself the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts and brings forth endless decrees that slowly rob Harry of everything he loves about being at school. Harry's only joy now comes from the secret classes he runs, to train a handful of his peers in practical Defence Against the Dark Arts, while Voldemort's plans continue to unfold unchallenged, despite the best efforts of the recently re-established Order of the Phoenix, the covert group of wizards and witches who fought Voldemort during his previous reign of terror.

Upon loading up the game, you're greeted by an eye catching 'newspaper' style menu, leading into the option of one of three difficulty settings. The game starts quite abruptly, with very little in the way of introduction to the story, which seemed a little odd considering its roots in popular literature. We take control of Mr. Potter himself from the onset (the game does allow you to play other characters, but I won't spoil the surprise of who) and begin to learn the ways of the wizard. The controls are simple, as you might expect from a game of this genre; you move with the left analogue stick and engage your wand with the right. The game uses a gesture-based system to control spells, whereby the correct sequence of movements in a given direction results in a particular spell being cast. As the game progresses, Harry is taught more and more spells - both offensive and defensive in nature. A quick spin of the analogue stick in a clockwork direction for example, sees your character exclaim "Reparo" (you guessed it, a repairing spell!) My only gripe here is the 'picky' nature of this gesture system, which occasionally doesn't recognize the analogue stick movements as you might expect - I found vertical movements to be particularly troublesome. Other than that, casting spells feels natural and fun, and there's a suitably wide range of spells and animations to keep things interesting, but not overcomplicated.

Prior to actually playing the game, I imagined combat to be a mixture of footwork, combinations of defensive and offensive spells and perhaps some semi-careful timing. Unfortunately, combat as a whole can only be described as uninspired. Through the various duels and set piece boss fights, you'll find yourself simply repeating the same spell over and over, leaving you quite bored, and your thumb quite tired. It appears that EA made little effort to put the 'action' into this action/adventure game.

One thing that did hit me is how well EA have recreated the Hogwarts School, which is naturally the centre of the game's action and narrative alike. They have lovingly recreated the vast, sometimes mazelike structure with lavish amounts of detail throughout, and stayed true to J.K. Rowling's vision. Be it the jeering portraits on the Great Staircase or the grassy courtyards lined with arches and gargoyle statues, the level of detail is enough to keep even the most hardcore of fans happy. Character and spell casting animations are solid throughout, so whatever you're doing, the game stays looking great. Despite all this, the game's performance still remains a one of it's strong points. This is mainly due to the strength of the engine's streaming of the various locales, dropping loading times entirely and producing a smooth, seamless and absorbing adventure. This, along with the fact that EA adopted the idea of an open-ended adventure, plays a major role in the game's success. The biggest visual downfall is the use of the standard game models in cut scenes, which despite looking more-than-suitable as you run around doing tasks and duelling rival students, do look a little bit shabby under closer inspection (especially due to the game's heavy reliance on these cut scenes to deliver the storyline.)

The number of tasks in the game is substantial and, although some are a little tedious, the majority are both engaging and fun. You'll soon find yourself pouring potions into the school's intercom speakers, donning the notorious Invisibility Cloak to sneak around undetected and chasing a mischievous owl to the top of the Owlery. The biggest complaint of all though is perhaps the sheer amount of running from A to B you have to do in this game, and usually down the same old routes. The first major task you encounter is to inform no less than twenty-eight different students of a meeting. Each one, of course, has a task for you to complete, and they can be as far away as the other side of the school. There is a (much-needed) footstep system that has been put in place to alleviate any navigational problems you might have had, whereby you follow a stream of black footsteps 'painted' onto the floor as you run. They can be a little hard to see at times on some of the darker floor surfaces, but it is at the very least a step in the right direction! [That's a pun worthy of me! Ed]. I would also like to note that for non-fans, the story is quite hard to follow, and a prior knowledge of the characters and locations will go a long way in helping you through this outing.

Sound wise, there is very little to complain about. The game's soundtrack is second to none, and stands proud alongside its big screen brethren. There is a lot of speech in the game, which thankfully is also done particularly well, owing much to the actors from the films lending their talents. One confusing audio issue is that the music seems to wash out the characters' voices at times; the inclusion of a simple set of volume sliders in the game's menu could easily have alleviated this problem entirely.

Activity points are found all over the place, and stack up to ultimately reward the player with unlockable content. This is a necessary addition, with no other game modes to bolster the game's lifespan. A substantial array of mini-games such as wizard chess and the old school yard favourite - marbles - also help distract from the main storyline, should you feel the need. These features are however little more than a mediocre distraction from the game's main adventure, and will struggle to keep players interest for long.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix certainly has an air of effort and quality - particularly in the sound direction and graphical prowess - rarely witnessed in movie tie-ins of this ilk, and for that I believe EA deserve a pat on the back. They have delivered what is most definitely a game for the fans, and that can't really be stressed enough. You're given the opportunity to run, explore and interact with your favourite fictional environment [What do you mean fictional? It's real, you daft Muggle! Ed.] and a large number of well known characters, friends and foes alike. A few minor issues aside, and if you don't mind all the backtracking, there's a lot of fun to be had this time around with Harry and co.

Reviewed by Martin Oddy for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).