LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 Review - Xbox 360

7

Gameplay: 7
Graphics: 7
Audio: 6
Multiplayer: 6
Innovation: 5

Introduction

As the Harry Potter series nears its end, with the two parts of the final book hitting the silver screen at the end of this year and midway through the next, things have got darker. Death happens, not infrequently. As a result, the video game tie-ins, which for years have been a sort of Zelda-esque adventure romp, are shifting gears toward, well, Gears of War. At a certain point, some families will be hesitant to let their young kids play the games, especially if they end up getting an M rating (and rightfully so).

There is an answer, though: LEGO Harry Potter. Traveller’s Tales has made a name for themselves making LEGO-themed adaptations of big name franchises like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Batman and now Years 1-4 of this huge book series. With a friendlier exterior and an emphasis on cooperative play, this is the game parents should be picking up. And, hell, it’s pretty enjoyable for older players too.

Gameplay

I object to the fact that ‘family-friendly’ has become a dirty phrase in the video game world, but I can understand why it happened. There is nothing wrong with a game being accessible to people of all ages, and nothing that inherently stops you from enjoying it as an older player either. The flood of mediocre party titles on the market is responsible for the sneer on a ‘hardcore’ gamer’s face, and perhaps justifiably, but a game like Super Mario Galaxy 2, that is for the family in the sense that everyone will enjoy it, can be a noble achievement.

And hence, LEGO. The conversion of well-known characters to plastic bits seems on first glance to be rather bizarre, but in practice it brings a warmth and humour to a videogame adaptation. Relieved from the pressure of being authentic to the cinema, the Harry Potter universe becomes a rather more whimsical and, dare I say, magical place than the dour world it has filmically become. While at first the wordless, comedic skits that progress the familiar story forward between levels struck me as odd, in time it made sense because of the fact that it is indeed familiar. You don’t need to hear soundalikes speak lines to each other – the people playing the game know the plot and can enjoy the simple mimed actions as a wink and a nudge to the story beats.

As far as I know, the gameplay remains similar to previous LEGO games, which I hadn’t played previously. You make your way through a 3D environment viewed from a mostly fixed camera perspective, lending at times a 2D feel to the game. With a growing arsenal of spells, you manipulate the environment around you to complete puzzles and defeat enemies while progressing through the story. The world is full of LEGO bits that liberally spray out from every chair, plant and light bulb when hit with a spell. From the hub world of the Leaky Cauldron, you can spend the millions of bits you collect on new spells, costumes ...