Things aren’t looking very good for poor Harry Potter. After having taken part in a tournament that he had no business participating in during the events that make up the Goblet of Fire, he carries around the knowledge that his parents’ killer, Lord Voldemort, has returned and has even killed Harry's classmate during a confrontation where the Dark Lord returns. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry and his friends return to prepare for a coming war on all major consoles including the PSP.

We’ve seen Harry in some, well, 'hairy' situations before but this time around the threat has finally revealed itself and the worst of it is that not everyone believes Harry that Voldemort is back. The game opens with Harry hanging with his mean-spirited Muggle (non-magical) cousin when Dementors (those pesky specters from The Prisoner of Azkaban) attack Harry right out in the open. Seeing no other choice but to defend himself, Harry fights off the Dementors and once again finds himself the talk of Hogwarts. As events unfold, Harry and his closest friends gather to prepare to face off against the Dark Lord. If you thought Goblet of Fire was dark, Order of the Phoenix crosses over to the darkest corner in a chapter fans of the series will not forget.

Unfortunately, the game skips various aspects of the story to concentrate on key elements found in the novel as well as the upcoming movie. I say unfortunately because instead of setting up the story, Harry spends a good deal of the time performing chores like cleaning up the Weasley household and even his own dorm at Hog warts … it’s not exactly the way to go when you find out that the enemy is building up an army. Still, while these chores make up a good deal of the game, a bigger portion is spent advancing the story and preparing your friend for the inevitable war. Harry’s idea is to get his friends to train to counter the dark arts and thanks to the guidance of his godfather Sirius Black, Dumbledore and even Ron’s twin brothers.

The game’s second weakness comes in the form of the controls that don’t feel as good on the PSP than on the PS2 version of the game. For one thing, casting spells feel awkward and a tad unresponsive at times. This is actually bad since the game will put you in a number of duels. Harry uses a small list of spells that range from Reparo (which repairs broken items), Incendio (set things ablaze) and Wingardium Leviosa to levitate objects and people. There are also a number of spells you’ll use throughout the game to solve puzzles you’ll encounter. It’s unfortunate that pulling them off requires patience … a lot of it. Then there’s the camera, something that isn’t such a huge problem in the PS2 version but here it gets in the way of the action and obscures areas. Try navigating through the Grand Staircase and you’ll see what I mean.

With these weak spots, what will stand out is the fact that Order of the Phoenix opens up a huge portion of Hogwarts for you to explore. While we’ve seen various areas in past games, this is the first time you’ll be able to see other areas in the Gryffindor area as well as outdoors where you’ll encounter Hagrid’s hut. Yes, there’s a lot more to explore in this game to the point that you’ll be happy when you get the Marauder’s Map to get to key areas a lot faster. You’ll also interact with a great number of characters such as Ginny, Ron’s sister and the girl Harry has a major crush on in the last chapter. You’ll also get to assume the role of series favorites and even Dumbledore. At least the game does the key moments that make Order of the Phoenix so interesting and the game is quite lengthy for a port of the console game. There’s also a multiplayer mode that allows you to challenge a friend to a duel in various different areas.

The game’s graphics are actually pretty good and come close to rivaling those of the PS2 version. Impressively, the character models resemble the film’s actors and not just in the cutscenes either. The game also does backgrounds wonderfully as well and when it comes to the visual effects this is one dazzling game that shows off the PSP’s graphical capabilities. It’s just too bad the camera often has you looking right through the character you’re talking to if you’re facing a character the wrong way.

As for the game’s sound, the game’s music is beautifully cinematic and, no doubt about it, belongs on the big screen. Aside from the beautiful soundtrack, the game includes great voice acting that brings the characters to life. There are some detailed sound effects here as well so you’ll definitely be impressed by the sounds that will be coming out of your PSP.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for the PSP lacks the spark of magic that would have made this one of Harry’s finest adventures to date. Unfortunately, the game just doesn’t translate as well on Sony’s portable gaming machine thanks to some bad controls, an awful camera and a weak representation of such a dramatic story. If you’re a hardcore Harry Potter fan, this game mixes fan service with its various flaws that make this a game you should skip instead.

Gameplay: 6.6
The bad camera in the PSP version of the game makes Harry feel clumsy and spell casting is not as easy to pull off here as it was in the PS2 version of the game. Still, fans will get a kick out of exploring every nook and cranny of Hogwarts and the mini-games are Ok.

Graphics: 8.0
The game looks decent enough and handles the character models perfectly to the point that they definitely resemble the film’s actors. As for the backgrounds and visual effects, the game does them beautifully. It’s just too bad the camera obscures the view often throughout the game.

Sound: 8.0
The voice acting cast is perfect and everyone sounds just the way they should. There are plenty of great sound effects but the best part about the sound has got to be the marvelous score.

Difficulty: Medium
Why does it take a number of tries to cast Wingardium Leviosa now? The gameplay flaws are what make duels too challenging than they really should be and this is bad since you’ll go up against Voldemort.

Concept: 7.0
The story is one of the darkest chapters in the Harry Potter series and - in its own way - the game tries to bring the novel and movie’s best moments to life. There are various recognizable characters to interact with and this is the first game to recreate a great deal of Hogwarts to explore. You can also challenge a friend to a duel.

Multiplayer: 6.0
Using the PSP Ad Hoc connectivity, you can challenge a friend as Ron, Harry or Hermoine to a duel in a number of different maps. There’s not much to it really and I don’t see the much younger gamers playing the multiplayer match over and over again.

Overall: 6.8
The PSP version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix just doesn’t quite cast a favorable spell to make this a passing grade at Hogworts. In other words, the game might look and feel right but thanks to some glitches and gameplay features that just don’t work, this is not Harry’s finest moment. If you’re a huge Harry Potter fan, though, you can do a lot worse than this.