Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Demo

As far as wizards are concerned, Harry Potter is definitely of the most recognizable out there, thanks to the hugely successful book and movie series. With every new release, his popularity increases, while the adventures he has to go through become more and more dangerous each time, since he must confront more powerful foes than before.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix takes after the events from the movie and the book in order present you with yet another chance to play as the famous Hogwarts attendee. Unlike in the previous title, however, you can now freely explore the environment and not have to follow a linear path throughout the levels. Thus, you can roam the entire school for as long as you would like, as well as discover its secrets along the way.

Naturally, the story is still there and you can easily follow the events as they unfolded in the movie, by participating in a variety of missions. Whether you have to discover hidden area, duel with other wizards or just try to figure out certain puzzles, the game provides you with enough variety to keep you occupied for a few hours, especially since you can always take a break from the main plot and look for special quests around the map.

As usual, Harry and the other characters you get to play as have a wand that can be used to cast certain spells. However, you don't just get to click around and automatically cast them; alternatively, you have to wave the mouse around in a certain way, which makes for much more interesting mechanics and a better feeling, since it is definitely more fun to have a greater impact on the actual casting process.

Unfortunately, the sloppy controls and the hard to maneuver camera might make the game a bit frustrating in some cases, especially when it comes to tight spaces and the exploration itself. Because the mouse is not used to rotate the camera freely, but rather to change your character's orientation and cast spells at the same time, things can get pretty hectic, especially in battles.

In the end, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix had some pretty good at ideas at its core, but the implementation is rather poor and there's nothing special about it in the end. The die-hard fans of the franchise should be able to enjoy the game, however, since the open-world mechanics do offer you plenty of time to get acquainted with the flawed gameplay components and learn to overcome them.