Harry Potter at your fingertips!

Have you read the Harry Potter books or seen the movies? If you're a Harry Potter fan like I am, you've always imagined what it would be like to be a wizard. If magic were real, life would be a lot more fun. Well, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for the Wii gives you a chance to try it out!

Gameplay
As you may have guessed, you play this game as the main character, Harry Potter. This game occurs at a hard time in Harry's life, in which it seems that everyone is against him. His classmates and much of the wizarding community deny that he ever had contact with Lord Voldemort. If you read the book you'll understand that this denial is due to propaganda against Harry, set forth by the ministry of magic. With even his classmates against him, Harry needs to more than ever keep his friends close.

The game is "fully explorable", meaning you can go anywhere on the map whenever you want. Just like in games such as Grand Theft Auto, you can travel to different places, finding secrets and unlocking mysteries.

As you play through the game there are various main missions that you must play to advance. These are similar to many events which happen in the movie and so you really feel like you are part of the action. In addition to these main missions, there are a slew of shorter side quests. Some follow a similar structure to the book/movies and some are entirely invented for the game. Either way, they are fun to complete.

So you basically walk around the famous castle, interacting with many people and objects from the book/movie and many more that were invented for the game. You control Harry with the control stick on the nunchuck, making him walk or run as you please. The real novelty of the game, especially on the Wii, is in performing magic. Harry uses his famous wand (made of Holly with Phoenix feather Core) to conduct his spells. And as the gamer, you assume this role by using your Wiimote as your wand. I will further explain the controls later.

As you explore the castle and advance through the game you slowly learn more and more spells. Correctly executing a spell will reveal secrets and let you change the course of the game! The real trick is being resourceful and creative with your spells on objects you think you might be able to interact with. For instance, if you correctly use the spell wingardium leviosa (the levitation spell), you may be able to move objects out of your way blocking a path or complete a hidden puzzle in the castle. Knowing which spells to use and when can be tricky, and makes the game interesting.

As you wander through Hogwarts you will recognize important characters from the Harry Potter series who all have different missions they want you to help them with. This may be collecting items from around the castle, helping solve a puzzle, or finding someone else in the castle and gathering them. One thing you will quickly notice is the sheer magnitude of the castle in the game. The creators did a very good job of rendering a similar castle to that of the movie. But because the castle is so large it is very easy to get lost inside, and finding a specific room would be nearly impossible. Luckily, the creators have thought of that, so if you select a place or person on your trusty Hogwarts map, you will be lead to it. This is a variation of the Marauders Map from the series in which Harry could tell where any person was by watching their name tag and footsteps. Similarly, when you select a person or place you are looking for, footsteps will appear in front of your character in the game leading you to the best route to get there. This route often changes since the staircases continually shift and twist (don't worry, you can't fall off them).

Unlockable and Bonus Material
As I've explained, your goal is to wander through the castle and interact with people and objects to discover mysteries and complete missions. As you interact with objects, you will use magical spells to earn Discovery points. Earning Discovery points is important for many reasons. Firstly, you can boost the power of your list of spells. You can also earn player bonuses, such as behind-the-scenes videos and trophies, which can be viewed in the Room of Rewards. This is a special room created just for the game that is accessible only to Harry. Items in the room such as trophies can also be unlocked by playing some games with your fellow classmates. They include Exploding Snap, Wizard chess and Gobstones. You actually play against characters in the game, and in chess for instance, if you beat one player, you can play harder players! The room of rewards shows actual interviews with the actors from the movie as well as scenes from the movie. Very cool.

Wii Remote Interaction
The idea for the Wii remote control is very unique, and makes playing on the Wii the best system for the game. You control Harry by using the C-stick on the nunchuck. You can have him walk or run to whichever location you desire. The real fun (as you might have guessed) is in performing spells. You can actually conduct spells just like a real wizard by using the Wiimote as your wand. That's whats so interesting, the designers programmed the game to respond to specific motions that you make with your "wand". For instance, if you want to cast wingardium leviosa, you place both hands in front of you. Then in one sweeping motion move your Wiimote and Nunchuck upwards, and the object you are aiming at will levitate off of the ground (this is a very useful spell to move things around, in the game). So the spells you cast are determined precisely by how you move your hands, (and it can't hurt to say the spell out loud!)

Non-combat spells
Reparo, a repairing spell.
Wingardium Leviosa, used to lift objects.
Depulso, used to push away objects.
Accio, used to summon objects.
Reducto, used to destroy objects.
Incendio, used to burn objects.

Combat/duelling spells
Expelliarmus, used to disarm an opponent.
Stupefy a slow, powerful stunning spell.
Protego used to deflect spells coming.
Rictusempra a weaker stunning spell
Petrificus Totalus temporarily paralyses the opponent.


The Downside
So why, if it sounds so great, did I rate this game only 3 stars? There are some things that this game is lacking which bring it down, overall.

First of all, when playing as Harry Potter, you don't get to fly! The famous Harry Potter, known for his Quidditch and Flying skills, doesn't ever get to fly around. This would have been such a fun addition to the game, but it was not included. So for most of the playable portion of the game, Harry stays on his feet.

Another issue I had with the game is the spell casting. It was a great attempt to use the Wiimote as a wand to have players actually cast their own spells, but in practice, its much harder. The difference between some of the spells is so minor that you often end up casting the wrong spell. And casting the wrong spell takes up valuable time. This is a biggest problem when you're trying to duel, because one false spell could have you lose your battle.

Another drawback of this game is the graphics. The graphics are really sub-par for a Wii game. Characters look like they're from a PS-1 game at best and the castle is cool from the sheer size of it, but has been rendered with repeating patterns and low detail levels.

Repetition is actually one of the biggest downsides of this game. When you first start playing, its really cool to explore the castle. So when you are sent on silly missions, like to locate a certain character and tell her when the DA meeting is, its no problem. You look up the person or place on the map and follow your footsteps to find them. But by the middle and end of the game this starts to get really annoying. You build up sort of a grocery list of people you have to find or little tasks you must complete, and they always seem to have you running from one end of Hogwarts to the other. Back and forth, over and over. I think the game would have been much better if there were less tasks involving searching for a character to tell them something, and instead, there were more puzzles, duels, and problem solving.

Summary
In summary, this is a fun game to play, especially if you're a fan of the series. If you're going to get it on any system, Wii is the way to go, since you get to use your Wiimote to cast spells. I liked how so many of the characters were voiced by actual actors from the movie, which makes the game familiar and realistic. Repetition was one of the biggest faults in this game; running from one end of Hogwarts to the other just to tell someone something. It may not be the best game you've ever played, but if you love Harry Potter, you'll enjoy Harry Potter at your fingertips, on the Wii.