Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, EA is attempting to move
away from the increasingly narrative and linear gameplay formulas
of previous Harry Potter games. You'll spend a lot of your time
exploring in and around the huge Hogwarts campus as you attempt to
locate and recruit the members of Dumbledore's Army, and you'll
find plenty of other things to do along the way.&nbsp;<br />
<p>The gesture system in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
lets you cast spells by drawing one of eight different shapes that
will do different things depending on whether or not you're in
combat at the time. The Nintendo Wii lets you "draw" these shapes
in the air simply by moving the Wii Remote if it was a wand.
Experimenting with magic will be encouraged since it's a great way
to earn discovery points and become more powerful as you progress.
Some of these "discovery" opportunities will obvious, while others
will likely be found only through experimenting with spells in
different areas and on different objects.</p>
<p>Other things to do as you explore Hogwarts will include
completing side quests for other students and for a number of the
talking portraits that adorn the walls of the school. Completing
tasks for the portraits will often unlock shortcuts that help you
get around Hogwarts more easily, which any of you who have seen the
school in the movies will know should be really helpful.<br /></p>
<p>Regardless of which of the three difficulty levels you're
playing on, you should be able to turn to Ron or Hermione for clues
and advice anytime you're unsure what to do next. That Harry Potter
and the Order of the Phoenix even features three difficulty
settings is significant, because previous games have appealed
almost exclusively to younger fans. The difficulty levels might
also go some way to adding replay value to the game, because
playing on harder difficulty settings will give you access to more
powerful spells.</p>
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