Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, PlayStation, Xbox, Wii, Rated Everyone 10+
I wouldn't be the first person to heap praise on the creative Harry Potter movies. The "Harry Potter" videogames, however, haven't been as welcoming or warm. They were either too narrowly focused, or didn't flesh out the halls of Hogwarts enough.
But the beautiful and fairly expansive "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" delivers a Hogwarts that players can call home.
Harry, Hermione and Ron interact with each other and other students a lot. And while playing as Harry for most of the game, you walk and run about Hogwarts, in search of adventures.
The play itself is entertaining and breezy, but it's probably more exciting for a kid or a newcomer to games than for an adult, since there's not as much action gaming here as with most movie-based games.
Altogether, it's not quite a great outing. But the colorful people, places and things are a sweet distraction in a familiar place.
