There’s just something about Lego that appeals to our inner child. Objects, worlds, and even people made out of tiny little plastic bricks. The Lego themed videogame is now a standard. It was something that didn’t exist five years ago, until Traveller’s Tales secured the rights to Lego Star Wars.
Since then we’ve had Indiana Jones, Batman, and even Rock Band turn to Lego. Sure we’ve had Lego games before, but nothing like this. The Lego games are family friendly – popular with adults and kids alike. So it wasn’t much of a stretch to tie in Harry Potter, and bring some of those Lego wizards to life. I’m still waiting on Lego Lord of the Rings by the way.
Lego Harry Potter is an amalgamation of the first four films. It says it there right on the box; Years 1-4. That leaves the remaining four films up for grabs in an inevitable sequel.
The Lego games were interesting to me to begin with, but I must admit that eventually boredom set in. It was repetitive and there just wasn’t much to do. Lego Harry Potter does good in fixing these faults.
Before our Harry gets his wand, he simply stands and waves like a goof. The first magic spell he gets acquainted with is Wingardium Leviosa, the most useful spell in any Lego wizard’s spell book. It can be used for lifting objects into the air, or animating them in some other bizarre way. Spells can be accessed via a Ratchet & Clank radial dial or a simple cycle button on the controller. As Harry and friends attend class throughout their adventures, new spells are learnt.
Now let me talk a little more about the spells here. It is an important part of Lego Harry Potter after all. Using a reticle, like in Lego Batman, you can target specific objects or people to fire at. This is where the PlayStation Move controller would really shine (no word yet if Lego Harry Potter will support Move in the future). Plus each spell lights the tip of your wand a certain colour, so there’s even a use for that squishy coloured ball after all.
The Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley is the main hub of the game, where you can spend your precious Lego bricks on unlocks, or simply enter levels. Hogwarts (did I forget to say this was a Harry Potter game?) is central to the story and you’ll be running through familiar corridors many times over. In order that you know your next objective, a ghostly arrow hovers over the next exit you need to take. There’s also a ghost you can follow but he’s mighty slow, even for a dead guy.
One time I encountered a game breaking bug (there really aren’t that many) and I paused the game looking for a restart room option with none to be found. I was nearly going to go mental over Traveller’s Tales inability to make their games accessible, when I realised that the option ‘Return to Hogwarts’ would help set me back and not exit the game. There’s a lot going on in Lego Harry Potter and it’s easier to get confused than you might think!
Okay, so something that’s bothered me in all the Lego games is saving. For a kid friendly game you’d expect it to save at the last checkpoint. But you need to complete the whole chunk of the thing. Stuck or need to go out? Tough. Finish that level or wade your way through it again, even if takes an hour to do so. And you can’t skip the cinematics either.
But they are a delightful watch the first time through. It’s surprising how much story can be told through simple grunts, whimpers and other wordless expressions. But that’s from having seen the films. To the less informed it might make no sense at all!
Another nice addition to the Lego series is having full control over levitating objects, a sort of 3D Tetris. It’s still stuck to a 2D plane so its not that difficult, but it can get a bit fiddly. Some puzzles require you to match up blocks in the right order, while others give you a bit more freedom in building architecture, including bridges and stairs.
The interaction you have with the environment is very high compared to past Lego games. Messing around with Lego objects is like a chain of events, leading you to the next part of the level or further distracting you from your real objective. For Lego there’s some nice animation going on there as well. Flying on a broomstick is rather limited, there’s no flying levels like in Batman. A bit of a shame really, I wanted to partake in an epic match of Quidditch or ride a wild Hippogriff (yes, more Potterisms).
Again I put my kid brother Jackson to the test (aged six), and he actually managed to finish the game before I did – the little mongrel! He was alright on his own for the most part, but needed assistance with reading on-screen clues and a few puzzles which were a bit tricky.
There is still two-player for those that were wondering. The game is built around it, otherwise you have an AI partner in tow. But those PS3 controllers are expensive you know! Back to getting stuck; there were also a few times where I myself ran into trouble. I hope for the next game a proper hint system is integrated, sensing when you need help and highlighting the next object needed to pass – ahem, for the kids of course. Us hard-boiled gamers don’t need hints.
Closing Comments
Lego Harry Potter is what you’d expect it to be, another Lego game but featuring Harry Potter. There were a few nice additions I didn’t expect, like having multiple spells and freeform Lego manipulation, which made it a lot more interesting.
My game time clocked in at around twelve hours. A decent amount of time I reckon. Plus I could always go back and rescue all those collectables I abandoned in the wild. For all kids and grown ups, Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 is the definitive Lego game thus far and it appears there’s still a future for more Lego games just like it.