Wizards in training will love Electronic Arts' 3-D adventure, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Instead of creating a standard video game with levels, developer EA UK used blueprints from all of the movies to recreate Hogwarts, capturing every minute detail and allowing gamers to explore at their leisure. In addition, it licensed the music as well as hired most of the cast to voice their characters, delivering an authentic and enjoyable experience.

Order of the Phoenix closely follows the movie, chronicling Harry's fifth year at the wizard academy. Fresh off his butt kicking at the hands of Lord Voldemort, Potter gets in trouble for using magic in the presence of a muggle. Even worse, almost everyone at Hogwarts refuses to believe his story about Voldemort, and the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge appoints a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Dolores Umbridge, that leaves her students woefully unprepared to face the enemy. Harry and his two best friends, Ron and Hermione, go above the instructors and form Dumbledore's Army, a collection of students committed to protecting Hogwarts at all costs.

Much of the game revolves around recruiting these 28 students as well as completing other tasks, outlined in Harry's Marauder's Map, accessed by pressing Select. EA saves gamers some time (and lots of frustration) by allowing them to activate quests and following magic footsteps, which always point in the desired direction.

This proves especially important, since players can ignore the map and instead focus on the game's excellent visuals. EA did a remarkable job modeling Hogwarts, capturing such famous locales as the Great Hall, Hagrid's Hut, Defense Against the Dark Arts, the Boy's Dormitory and the most impressive of all, the Grand Staircase; complete with moving stairs, ghosts and talking paintings, which players may interact with. Some of the characters look weird, but for the most part, the developers captured their likenesses, especially Ron, Hermione, Harry, and the majority of the support characters. The game chugs in spots, mostly when Harry (or one of the other playable characters-secret) runs through sunlight, but for the most part, Order of the Phoenix runs smoothly. For whatever reason, however, the run button fails to work while passing through specific corridors, an obvious glitch.

Gamers will also enjoy the audio, which features a harmonious blend of popular tracks from the film, including the famous Harry Potter theme. With that being said, parts of Hogwarts lack music, forcing gamers to explore without the company of John Williams' (Jaws, Star Wars, Saving Private Ryan) epic score.

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