Electronic Arts has taken a very different approach with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, his Xbox 360 debut, but the game’s all the better for it.

But first things first and you’ll notice right away that Harry’s world has never looked so good. Sure you’d expect knockout visuals on the 360, but there’s so much more than that here – super-realistic environments brimming with characters from the books/movies (many voiced by the actors themselves) and all open for you to explore as you please. Loading times are practically non-existent too, which adds much to the sense of freedom. Call it a sandbox game, if you will.

The action begins when Harry rescues Muggle bully-boy ‘Big D’ from a Dementor attack, an act for which he’s later vilified and nearly expelled from Hogwarts. From here he arrives at the HQ of the Order of the Phoenix – a secret society made up of those who fought Voldemort last time – where Sirius Black refreshes our lad’s memory with a few basic spells (Accio, Depulso, Wingardium Leviosa etc.) Thence to Hogwarts and a bit of inter-departmental politics…

You see Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, suspects that Professor Dumbledore has fabricated a story about Voldemort’s return (he hasn’t) in order to undermine his authority so he appoints a new teacher, Dolores Umbridge, to look after the Defence against the Dark Arts class and keep an eye on things. Alas the new Ministry-Approved syllabus leaves the students ill-prepared for Voldemort’s inevitable attack, so Harry, Ron and Hermione decide to form ‘Dumbledore’s Army’ and equip themselves with everything they’ll need for the dark times ahead.

Gathering the ‘D.A.’ recruits is your first major task. Harry’s ‘Marauder’s Map’ shows the locations of all key personnel, and selecting one produces a trail of footprints that leads directly to them – if only it were quite that simple. Aside from roaming Hogwarts’ bewildering network of floors, moving staircases and secret passages it seems that everyone on Harry’s list has a mini-quest that requires urgent attention – find a book, rescue an errant owl, locate talking gargoyles and so on. But helping your schoolmates is how advanced spells are learned, the engrossing storyline opens up and the hours slip happily by.

I could spend all day navigating Hogwarts’ labyrinthine corridors – in fact I just have! – but the reward has been more powerful magic, a deeper sense of foreboding and the desperate urge to explore further. Indeed the simple spellcasting system positively encourages investigation and yields many secrets in itself. But most impressive is the sense of interactivity and completeness. Hogwarts looks amazing and is almost flawless in the way it reveals itself, the orchestral score enhances the action and nearly every character speaks – if only to curse Harry for being a ‘Mudblood’.

Make no mistake this is not a game that’s merely inspired by events from the movie, this is an involving open-world adventure that you can really live in. Truly the best yet from the Boy Who Lived. Magic!