Harry Potter: Order of the Pheonix!

[Dvx Uk]

40% review on PS3 but 70% review on 360.

I think i'll be getting the 360 version then :p

Anyone else got it or getting it?

:D

[LiamKenna]

40%...PWNED! Nah I have it, it was ok. If you going in wanting combat stay away, but if yu want to explore Hogwarts and what not you will like.

[carocat]

Got the 360 version and I think it's decent, even good.

Nice mixtures between main and sidemissions. Hogwarts is free roamable and like the last films including moving staircase and an outside area.

There are several spells at the disposal, all of the ones from the film so far.

But then I'm a sucker for Harry Potter.

[Achilles06]

PS3 (http://www.consolemonster.com/review.php?id=0000000712): 40%
Wii (http://www.consolemonster.com/review.php?id=0000000579): 72%
360 (http://www.consolemonster.com/review.php?id=0000000134): 70%

Just for people interested. But yea PS3 got owned there.

[Dcontrol]

Can't believe you people paid for a Potter game! You all got owned! :D

[carocat]

Those reviews tell me nothing about the game and they are extremely biased.

They might get a small pass for the uneven, incoherent storyline, but there is no excuse on how poorly the game plays. That’s not to say the game is broken on any level or does not play as it was intended to—it’s just that what you’re doing gives you no feeling of danger or purpose. (How can you when you’re going around Hogwarts helping people put boxes in a boat?) The first half of the game is completely centered on finding 28 different people to come to the “Dumbledore’s Army” meeting. Of these 28, about 20 of them have some completely bone-headed quest for you to do—help them do their homework; catch an owl; find talking gargoyles around the castle, etc. In fact, even after you find every one of the 28 individuals you need, in the second half of the game you’ll be doing even more fetching for these same people.
EA did a great job of making you feel like you are Harry Potter, living at Hogwarts and experiencing all of the events of his daily life. You can explore the grounds, indulge in mini-games like exploding snap or Gobstone, take magic classes or just carry out side quests for you teachers and fellow students. A big chunk of the game is exploring the hallways of Hogwarts, either finding objects or people to progress the story or just having a look around and casting spells to repair things inside the school. Repairing things or completing tasks will reward you with points that can be used to unlock secrets such as more powerful spells, interviews with the cast of the film and behind the scenes footage, which does a good job in making sure that Harry Potter fans will explore as much as possible, in order to unlock all of the goodies that the game offers, and with over 3000 points to find, you will be looking for a while.
So the same part of the game, yet very negative and then positive in another one? Kind of makes me wonder how the score is accumulated on both.

But maybe this would've been review enough.... Linky (http://uk.gamespot.com/users/capin131/)

[mitchw01]

I like this game. But i am a hp fan. getting the book at 12:01 tonight!!! woohoo
Its not a combat game but more of an adventure one. :) 70% is fair methinks

[Steve]

There was different reviewers guys...nothing they can do about it.

Proof the system is ----ed up, ain't it Mant?

[ArtG]

Because we are fragmented around the world, we have three different reviewers on the three different systems. Because we are all different (obviously) in what we look for in "good games", the score could dramatically shift from one person to the next. If anyone is wondering--Even though I have no full confirmation, I have no reason to believe I would give the X360 or Nintendo Wii version less or more than a 40%. That's what I felt about the game, and I'm sure Andy and Liam would have given similar scores to all three platforms had they been on the review for all three platforms.

But they weren't. I apologize that we didn't put a disclaimer at the bottom of each review pointing this fact out. We'll do so from now on.

[LiamKenna]

Those reviews tell me nothing about the game and they are extremely biased.



So the same part of the game, yet very negative and then positive in another one? Kind of makes me wonder how the score is accumulated on both.

But maybe this would've been review enough.... Linky (http://uk.gamespot.com/users/capin131/)

Biased? How? I was pointing out oneof the main good points of the game and saying that Potter fans would get a kick out of exploring the enviromen.

[Mant]

The system isn't ----ed up...

We are not all in one location like most reviewers are on sites like Gamespot, IGN, 1UP etc. We are individuals from all areas of the globe, posting on a single site. Not everyone has all three consoles and seeing that we do this in our spare time it would be a lot of pressure for a single reviewer to cover all three platform's for one specific title such as Harry Potter.

Like Art says we should look into noting this in our reviews somewhere and each review should be looked at individually and not compared against each other (scores wise), unless they are of course reviewed by the same person. It's clear that Art didn't enjoy the Potter experience as much as Liam (360) and Andy (Wii) did.

[carocat]

Liam, I wasn't criticising you or any other writer.

From what I gather reviewswise is that the PS3 version is very much like the 360 version I played and you reviewed. Yes, it has it's flaws, but to have such complete different reviews about the essetially similar game is rather off putting. Yes, everyone should have their own opinion and reviews are all about being biased, but there should be some way of synching it up or something similar.

I wouldn't go as far as saying the system doesn't work, but something should change, no?

[ArtG]

Liam, I wasn't criticising you or any other writer.

From what I gather reviewswise is that the PS3 version is very much like the 360 version I played and you reviewed. Yes, it has it's flaws, but to have such complete different reviews about the essetially similar game is rather off putting. Yes, everyone should have their own opinion and reviews are all about being biased, but there should be some way of synching it up or something similar.

I wouldn't go as far as saying the system doesn't work, but something should change, no?

I disagree. The very core of the game is going around and doing small quests, (not so much battling) correct? Would you agree that the game lacks action and combat?

If so, and the crux of the gameplay surrounds this, it really comes down to personal preference. Liam and Andy found this to be at least compelling to some degree and they rated it accordingly, while I thought the entire game felt like a 5-6 hour chore. When the gameplay is fully comprised of content that is mind-numbingly boring to me, I'm not going to rate it well.

They are other points of contention (sound, visuals, value, etc.) that all come to play here and different opinions on what sounds and looks good, as well as what constitutes a good value can also vary widely. It's going to be rare that people differ in opinion THIS vastly, but it happens and it's NOT bias--no one comes into a game wishing it to fail.

[carocat]

I disagree. The very core of the game is going around and doing small quests, (not so much battling) correct? Would you agree that the game lacks action and combat?

If so, and the crux of the gameplay surrounds this, it really comes down to personal preference. Liam and Andy found this to be at least compelling to some degree and they rated it accordingly, while I thought the entire game felt like a 5-6 hour chore. When the gameplay is fully comprised of content that is mind-numbingly boring to me, I'm not going to rate it well.
Surely you realise that's a contradiction, no? Just because a game does no battling/combat doesn't mean it should receive a worse rating?

It's a bit like arguing Halo 3 [as is known of the beta, obviously I don't know the final version!] should be marked down for only allowing the player to have 2 rather than 4 sticky nades as it was in Halo 2 whilst ignoring the fact that there are other nades added.

[ArtG]

Surely you realise that's a contradiction, no? Just because a game does no battling/combat doesn't mean it should receive a worse rating?

It's a bit like arguing Halo 3 [as is known of the beta, obviously I don't know the final version!] should be marked down for only allowing the player to have 2 rather than 4 sticky nades as it was in Halo 2 whilst ignoring the fact that there are other nades added.

It's perfectly fine that it doesn't have much combat, so long as you're doing something that feels meaningful to the player. (I.E. Has either some sort of challenge or a sense of purpose) Sadly, they didn't. As I pointed out in the review, you're not doing ANYTHING that seems worthwhile. I don't think that, in a gameplay design sense, solving minor problems for people is something you want to revolve an entire game around. Maybe you do, and that's fine, that's your preference. I have my own.

As for Halo 3--I have no idea what your point is. You're saying that deciding against a major design choice (of having combat or not) and tweaking the amount of grenades someone starts out with is the same thing? :unsure:

It seems to me that you're arguing about the game's score more than anything.

[carocat]

Nothing that seems worthwhile to you. The game does have combat, admittedly not as much as previous Harry Potter games, but it is there. Same as Halo 3 has 2 sticky nades at a time. It's there, but not as much as Halo 2....

[ArtG]

Nothing that seems worthwhile to you. The game does have combat, admittedly not as much as previous Harry Potter games, but it is there. Same as Halo 3 has 2 sticky nades at a time. It's there, but not as much as Halo 2....

You're still arguing an entire gameplay decision over a tweak that hardly changes the gameplay. There's no connection.

Anyways, I appreciate that we've kept it civil, but I'm done arguing the score with you. Thanks for your feedback.

[carocat]

I didn't know we were arguing, I thought this was a debate, but never mind.

But thank you and yet again I know why I don't bother reading the main page for anything.