User Reviews (1 - 11 of 44)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

For the second time

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 37 / 50
Date: June 25, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This review is for the PC demo-version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,
Pro:
Graphics is great,
Sound is good,
Cons:
Like Goblet of Fire the control-sytem is not designed for PC,
Here are list of problems:
1- keyboard and mouse not configurable,
2- Cannot use mouse to look around (ie control camera).
3- When turning mouse gestures off, there is no other functions will be assigned to it.
4- The camera does not follow behind the character (it is not the familiar third person camera).

Bottom line:
The control makes the game hard to play and take the fun out of it,
My suggestion is try the demo before you buy it.

I flush this stuff every day

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 18 / 26
Date: July 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I played the demo and it never gave enough time to see how the game was. Although the graphics were good, the controls were a nightmare. "Intuitive" wasn't even on my list of adjectives for the controls. It also seemed extremely boring.

Now that I have purchased the game (I'm a HP fan, it's a must) I am even more disappointed. I cannot even get the game to run on Vista 64 Ultimate. EA has not been helpful in the least.

My recommendation? Even if it runs on your system, avoid this game like the plague, it's Sominex on a disc (dull and snooz-worthy).

This game is the best so far!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 12
Date: July 06, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Ive had this game for about 6 hours now and I am loving it. Ive seen some people whining about not being able to configure the controls. Its to help maintain some kind of uniformity from one platform to the next. Ive found the controls are very well placed and respond well even with a dual analog game pad. The graphics are very well done and it has very helpful directions that seem to pop up at just the right time. Also the proper spells and motions for them I thought were very well chosen. I would say to anyone its definitely worth spending your hard earned money on. I am sure there are some who will disagree with me, but you can't expect this game to be the next HALO. Fantastic game most will enjoy it!!!!!

Failure again

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 12
Date: July 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Once again EA creates a visually beautiful game that is unplayable. You spend most of your time running around trying to make the characters use spells with controls that are horrible. The first three games didn't have great graphics but did have ease of control and movement and were fun to play. Since then, with the release of Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix,the games are very pretty but the ease of control and movement are terrible and the game play is frustrating. EA reached it's highest point in HP series of games with Prisoner of Azkaban, its all been downhill from there. Don't by this game it completely sucks.

The magic is back... and it's not a bad attempt, for the most part.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 14 / 15
Date: July 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I'm surprised to see the extreme harsh reviews. Hmm... I know many complained about the controls for Goblet of Fire. I really didn't mind them; I actually kinda liked how you didn't need a mouse, and felt they were relatively self-explanatory. But for this game, the other reviews aren't lying... the controls take quite some getting used to. Overall, I still felt the game was quite fun, and worth the time to play. Also note that the exploration of the castle and the grounds from games 1-3 is back in full force, and the GoF set up is no more. Here's the breakdown review:

Graphics: + + + + + 5 stars easily. Gorgeous game, great resolution compatibility, and the magic is really there. Best part of the game.

Cutscenes: + + + 3 stars. They get their own category, because they were pretty much cut out of the last game. Back are the color cut scenes with the characters actually acting out the story. I like them, but they lost a star because they often look very fake. For instance, one character will be talking, and his mouth won't start moving until the sentence is over. Little things like that take away from the cut scenes a lot.

Gameplay: + + + 3 stars. I'm not going to go into much detail on this since I haven't finished the game yet, but from what I've seen it seems relatively fun with enough side adventures that you enjoy them but don't get distracted. I'm a little sad that they took away the ability to play as Hermione and Ron as that was one of my favorite parts of the game in GoF. Also, you spend so much time just getting to classes and running around the staircases... it gets quite annoying.

Controls: + 1 star. They really are the downfall of the game. You don't even use the arrow keys to walk, so to move forward you hit "w". Instead of just running by holding down the forward key, you have to hit and hold shift... so just to move Harry around, you are holding "shift w", not to mention when you want to shoot a spell you have to hit an arrow key to aim, then grab the mouse to perform the spell. Pain in the rear.

Fun: + + + + 4 stars. It's an enjoyable game simply because it's so exciting to see the magic of the fifth book on your computer screen. It's fun to be able to play through it as though you are Harry. The game sticks relatively close to the book plot, and probably insanely close to the movie plot. Oh, and shooting the spells is rather fun because you actually have to move your mouse in a way that makes it so they you cast the spell.

I really think the super negative reviews were way too harsh. The game isn't the most exciting, once you figure out the flow is goes by relatively smoothly. I'd say it's not worth buying, but probably worth getting in the holds queue line at your local library to try it before you commit your $30 to it. (Plus it will keep you entertained until Deathly Hallows comes out July 21st.)

SUPERB

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 16
Date: July 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

NOW THIS IS MORE LIKE THE HARRY POTTER GAMES OF OLD. THE GOBLET OF FIRE WAS SUCH A LET DOWN BUT NOW WARNER BROTHERS HAVE OUT DONE THEMSELVES WITH THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX. JUST WISH THEY COULD GO BACK AND REDO THE GOBLET OF FIRE WITH THE SAME FORMAT.
THIS NEW ORDER OF THE PHOENIX IS THE BEST EVER. THERE ARE MORE HOURS OF FUN HER THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE. ONCE YOU GO THROUGH THE WHOLE GAME ONE TIME YOU ARE READY TO START A NEW GAME ALL OVER.

SUBERB, EXCELLENT ON ALL COUNTS.

Once again...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 8
Date: July 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

EA didn't exactly learn their lesson from the GoF. The control sucks...while an improvment to GoF, it's not worth buying.

Where Is That Harry Potter Magic?

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 21 / 25
Date: July 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Like most players of the PC versions of this series, I absolutely LOVED the first 3 games. But when all the reports of how horrible the controls and game play was for GOF I was sufficiently scared away from buying it. For months that is. I did eventually break down and bought the game cheap after it had been out for a while. Expecting the absolute worst, I was definitely surprised at how much I actually liked it. It was different from all the previous games and did require the use of a controller which I had to buy to play it properly. But I did find I was happy with the game. It's because of that I did not wait for the reviews of OOTP but went ahead and preordered it. I just started playing it today, and I'm already thinking about puting it up for sale.
The controls on OOTP are absolutely TERRIBLE! Even with a controller. It's incredibly difficult to aim, cast a spell (especially Wingardium Leviosa) and even just to walk is a royal pain! You can't even look up or down, at least I haven't found a way to.
I tried using the keyboard after I found the controller so problematic, but that was even worse. So I went back to the controller.

Aside from the controlls, the game play is at times choppy even on a really fast comp. The characters are not impressive, the attempt to digitize the original actors, doesn't always work, like Hermione looks pretty bad. And watching the missmatched mouth movements on ALL the characters can make you cringe! >_<

But I suppose I could overlook all of that if the game were engaging. Granted I've only just started the game, and just got to the part where they have their first DADA Class, but so far I really haven't done anything. Swept a few patches of leaves and repaired a couple of things.....played a game of chess, and a card matching game aka "Exploding Snap" but that's all. Maybe the game play picks up as you move along, but at this point in the other games, loads of stuff would have happened by now. Moaning Myrtle keeps appearing talking about all the cool things in a hidden room, but so far I haven't gotten the sense of any place to really explore. There are some doors still locked, but the game play is such I don't even have the anticipation to know what's behind them as I would in any of the other HP games.

I'll play some more on it, since I went and spent the money, but I definitely don't see myself finishing this game as of right now.

Maybe this game is more fun on a console, but looks like the HP series is dead on the PC. :(

A Disaster

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: July 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I have been a fan of the Harry Potter game series since the beginning. While I quite enjoyed the first three games, the last two have been a let down. Firstly the biggest complaint I see is that the controls are awkward. I agree with this but when you are involved in the game it is easily looked over. The thing that really bothers me is the fact that if you are a person who has not read the book or seen the movie you will have no idea at all what is going on. Most times when an event happens it is assumed you already know the story. Nothing at all is explained and most things are left open-ended. There was no effort put into making the game understandable to those who have not read the book. Also in this version there are no classes to go to or mini-courses to complete, you just have a few O.W.L. challanges. If you are a fan, by all means buy this game, but if you have not followed the series, don't waste your money.

Oh, for the old controls!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: July 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I loved the first three, of course. I was disappointed and angry enough to write my first review for the fourth and here we are at the fifth. I guess I just don't understand gaming. I thought it was the fun of the adventure, not the expertise of the controls. I can't play it. If I could just get Harry to run in a straight line, I would be very very happy. I won't buy more of these games. I didn't grow up with gaming so my hand/eye coordination is not expert. I'm not even sure if it were, if I could play the game. I'm very disappointed. I even waited to read a couple reviews before I bought it. I confirmed it was an adventure game, not an action game, so I made the plunge. Com'n now. Who can use the controls? Oh, well. The graphics are well done. I agree the sound doesn't coincide with mouth movements which can be very irritating but,hey, I'm so irritated at my inability to move the characters, how can I be mad at EA for a synchronization problem? If you're good with controllers, you'll probably like this game. I'm not, sooooooo...

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 Next 

Actions