Harry on the PS3
EA's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix videogames may be the best Harry Potter game yet, but they are from perfect affairs, and adult Potter fans may find themselves disappointed by the simplicity and lack of challenge these games offer. You can read more about the Xbox 360 version of the game here, but the only real stark contrast in terms of gameplay is with the Nintendo Wii version.
Harry Potter OOTP loosely follows the plot of the movie, as licensed game properties like to do, letting players explore the vastness of Hogwarts at their own pace. EA at least deserves credit for a pretty spot on recreation of the venerable wizard academy where the player will spend most of his or her time exploring its grounds, towers, nooks, crannies, and classrooms popularized by the never ending volumes of books and films.
The goal of the game is to raise an army, just like in the film, to battle the evil dark lord Voldemort. To form Dumbledore's Army, Harry, Ron and Hermione must rally the student body behind this plan, but doing so will require a lot of wand and leg work. While many of the students will join you with very little persuasion, many more will require you to engage in some sort of inane quest to fetch this or that. In fact, you spend more time doing these errands then you ever will actually fighting. You are basically raising an army for the sake of doing it, because there are very few battles to deal with the game, and most of them are pretty straightforward and simple affairs.
Harry on the Wii
Depending on which version of the game you want, you'll get a vastly different experience. The Nintendo Wii version heavily uses the Wii-mote and nunchuk to cast spells and manipulate objects, while the PS3 version uses a combination of button presses and the analog sticks to accomplish spells.
The game thrusts you right into the task by teaching how to cast a series of mundane spells. By the time you are done learning them you'll feel less like a wizard and more like one of Hogwart's housekeeping staff. The tutorial teaches such basic manipulation spells such as levitation (wingardium leviosa),
object pull (accio), object push (depulso), and the ever popular reparo (a repair spell). You'll use these spells to pack suitcases, repair dishes and tidy things up in the tutorial. Later on you'll learn some combat spells that you'll use in the few battles the game throws at you, but most of the spells use the same control scheme, so they are pretty easy to learn.
On the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game, you cast these spells using button pushes in conjunction with moving the right analog stick in a specific pattern. It's a pretty simple process that most will be able to figure out quickly. The PS3 version also offers SIXAXIS support, but like many other games that support it, it doesn't add all that much to the overall experience.
Harry on the PS3
The way the Wii version handles spell casting is a bit more complicated and a bit more entertaining. As an example, wingardium leviosa is performed by raising the Wii Remote and the Nunchuk to lift an object up, then moving both together to maneuver the controlled object to where you want it. All of the spells are handled this way, taking advantage of the motion sensor to provide the ability to use your virtual wand to manipulate objects in a more authentic way than a traditional controller.
I don't have any doubts that young Harry Potter fans will be enamored with the Wii version of the game, simply because it is close as you can probably get to doing the real thing.
