It may have seemed like a good idea to bring the next-gen console Order of
the Phoenix experience to the PSP, but the final result pretty much fizzled like
one of Ron’s classroom spell attempts.
The Order of the Phoenix is designed to immerse you in Harry’s world by
recreating the entire Hogwarts School and leaving you free to explore it and
take on story missions only when you’d like to. Unfortunately unlike the next-gen
versions of the game, the halls of Hogwarts are pretty much devoid of life.
Without the students walking the halls and milling about and the sounds of their
conversations, Hogwarts comes across as desolate and somewhat creepy.
Furthermore there’s not as much to do when roaming around the PSP version of
Hogwarts, with most of the game secrets and mini games present in the console
versions removed. Most of your free-roaming time is spent on a Potter PR tour as
you must find copies of The Daily Prophet to prevent students from reading your
bad press and protect students from Slytherin bullies to restore your good name
with the other three houses.
Now I know that comparing a portable game to a console game is not
necessarily a fair comparison. The game can certainly be forgiven for not
providing as immersive a Potter experience as the console versions while still
giving gamers on the go the chance to explore Hogwarts. What is not as
forgivable are the game’s frustrating controls and camera. Controlling Harry can
be a chore at times and become downright maddening when trying to target objects
with your wand. I wasted more time than I care to think about running in circles
with my wand just trying to target stationary objects. The left trigger is
supposed to let you cycle through available targets but I could not get it to
work correctly in most cases. Making matters worse, when you do have your target
selected the spell buttons don’t always work. The one button spells seem to be
OK for the most part, but the ones that require a two button sequence to cast
are completely inconsistent and it can take a lot of button presses before the
game realizes that you’re trying to cast a spell. The controls are in need of a
complete overhaul, but that doesn’t do you much good if you’ve already purchased
the game.
While it is certainly a treat for Potter fans to walk the halls of Hogwarts
while reliving the adventure of The Order of the Phoenix, the game’s control
issues sap a lot of the fun out of the experience. If you have the option of
buying the home console version of the game, then I recommend that you do that
instead. This Potter is best left at home.
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated:
50%. There's no magic in this Harry Potter game.
