Review: Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4

Posted on 11. Jul, 2010 by Chris Evans in Console, PS3, Reviews, Wii, Xbox 360

After two Lego Star Wars games, two Lego Indiana Jones games and Lego Batman, it’s fair to expect the formula to be going a little stale by now.  It’s a formula that is mostly unchanged for Lego Harry Potter – use different characters abilities to advance through levels, find a multitude of collectables, then return to old levels with new characters to find even more hidden items. Rather than being more of the same though, Lego Harry Potter expands on its predecessors to create a game that is better in every way.

Something the Lego games do better than anything else is bridging the gap between fun, easy gameplay for children and challenging, compelling elements for adults.  Completing the Story mode is a fairly simple affair, with no lives to lose and no game over screen to fear, dying only meaning you lose a few ‘studs’ you have collected before you respawn where you left off.  Getting 100% in the game, however, is a different matter entirely.  Every level has three characters to unlock, four pieces of the Hogwarts crest, a student in peril to save, and thousands of studs to find to fill the ‘True Wizard’ bar.  Add to this many more items hidden around the castle hub-world and the extra spells and items to purchase in Diagon Alley and there is a colossal list of things to do.  The whole game can be played co-operatively, with the automatic split-screen from Lego Indiana Jones returning.  When you are close together you play on the same screen, but wander apart and the screen seamlessly splits in whatever direction is necessary.  For the most part it works well, but sometimes it can be a little too eager to split at the smallest movement apart.

It may be aimed towards children, but Lego Harry Potter has something for everyone.  It’s simple without being dull or repetitive, but for those who want a challenge there is plenty to be found.  Even without voice acting the story is told as well here as anywhere else through the wonderfully charming cut scenes, full of the same humour that has made every Lego game so enjoyable.  A few occasional graphical glitches aside, Lego Harry Potter is a superb take on the franchise that easily betters the games based on the films.  If you have children then this is the perfect game to play with them, and if you don’t, you’ll love it anyway.