The "Retro Game Reviews" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
This thread has been linked to the game 'LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4'.
The world of Harry Potter joins Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Batman in getting a Lego style makeover but is the end result real magic or just a cheap illusion?
If you have spent time with any of the Lego games then will know exactly what to expect from the latest Lego offering, this is good clean fun for wannabe wizards of all ages. For the 1 or 2 out there who don’t know anything about the Lego games then picture your favourite film, change the characters to plastic Lego people and pretend the buildings, scenery items and vehicles are made up of Lego bricks. It might sound terrible when described like that but Traveller’s Tales treat their source material carefully, a great deal of thought and imagination goes into these games and they get better and better at this with each game.
The saying, if it’s not broken then don’t fix it, applies here, the game mechanics are the same tried and trusted formula used in the other games. You play through the levels with a variety of characters, each with their own abilities and you can readily switch between them while you jump and smash your way through the various stages. A 2nd player can join in for a bit of co-operative play and control one of the other characters. The AI does a good job for lonely people but it will at times frustrate with some of the team work puzzles where the AI makes your companion(s) behave like a disobedient dog who doesn’t listen when you shout “STAY”.
The game starts off with Harry, Ron and Hermione beginning Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Even if you don’t know the stories, you can tell this is no average school but it is still a school and our young wizards in the making must attend class in order to learn. Of course, magic spells are the subject on hand, not your traditional Maths and English. You start the game off with limited abilities and by the time all classes are completed our magical trio will be competent little plastic wizards with a variety of spells at their disposal.
Hogwarts is the centrepiece of the game, it acts a sandbox playground for you to explore, giving you plenty of opportunity to practice and perfect your magic spells whilst also enabling you to progress through the game itself. There is always a ghostly figure on hand to lead you to your next destination, whether that be the next class or the next level. Your ghostly guide leaves a trail of ghostly Lego studs for you to follow and you will be able to work your way through the spell classes and story levels in the natural progression. But you are also free to explore Hogwarts and the urge to do so is too strong to ignore especially with so much to see and do outwith the story levels.
Hogwarts is surprisingly large and you will find yourself completely lost in no time but those ghostly studs will lead you back on track whenever you are ready to proceed. Hogwarts is also very alive in all senses of the word, there are other pupils and teachers going about their business as well as magical happenings such as the people in paintings waving at you. You will find many places to use the magic you learn from putting books back on the shelf, dismantling and then reassembling suits of armour or casting practical joke spells onto other pupils. Some of it is just for fun, some of it serves a purpose. There is a great deal of fun to be had in this game and plenty of light hearted touches. But as with all games, not everything is available to do at the start, you will have to learn spells and complete certain aspects within the levels in order to access and explore every corner of Hogwarts and believe me, there are a lot of corners needing explored.
As suggested by the title, the game covers Harry’s 1st 4 years at Hogwarts and you will be playing through recognisable scenes from The Philosopher’s Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban and The Goblet of Fire. As with the other Lego games, if you know the stories then you will get much more out of the experience. Storylines are presented via short cut-scenes and usually with a little tasteful humour added. If my viewing of The Philosopher’s Stone is anything to go by, every character and setting is very recognisable. Whether the imagery better matches the books or films, if there is even a difference, I’m not qualified to say.
There is no dialogue between the characters which ensures those not familiar with the stories will be left scratching their head. The characters use noises instead of speech but if you do know the story then it is remarkable how well these sequences use the grunting, hand movement and facial expressions to tell the story. Adding words to the sequences would just spoil it somehow. As always, Traveller’s Tales has added their own touches to sequences, within the levels and within Hogwarts but these all fit in very well with the Harry Potter material, they are noticeable to those that know the material but they certainly don’t stick out like a sore thumb.
If you didn’t follow the story cut scene then don’t expect the in-game proceedings to clear things up. You are not given a goal, you simply fumble your way through the level casting spells on everything you come across to see what happens. Of course, it works much better than I describe and half the fun is in the experimentation, cast a spell on an innocuous looking object and suddenly 1/10 appears and you are suddenly side tracked looking for the other 9. Each level is filled with items for you to apply your magic to and when I say filled I really mean filled. Armed with the wand, your young wizard will be zapping left, right and centre. The magic to be used on items can vary and there is a little coloured sparkle round them to indicate which spell you need. All the spells learned will be available to you in each level, the more you learn the more you will be able to do within the level.
The character you control is not alone in any of the levels, there is always at least 1 companion to help out. Characters come with unique abilities meaning you will need to switch between them in order to solve puzzles or do certain tasks. For instance, Ron and Hermione are able to use their pets, a rat and a cat respectively, to solve puzzles, Harry may have more magic abilities but he doesn’t have a pet. Harry also has control over a broom whereas with the other 2 you are in for a bumpy ride.
Each level has a number of criteria to be met, getting to the end of the level is just scratching the surface. Each level has 4 extra challenges to complete; a student in peril who needs rescued, 3 character tokens to be found, 4 Hogwarts house crests to be found and a certain number of Lego studs to collect from destroying items within the level. You will need to complete all of these challenges in order to truly complete each level and you will need to revisit levels (via Free Play mode) in order to fully complete them. With so much to interact with you can easily forget about the purpose of the level. And Hogwarts itself is not just there for show, within the school you have several students in peril to rescue, a multitude of character tokens are to be found and red and gold bricks need to be discovered.
The Lego studs you collect throughout the game serve as currency. From the Leaky Cauldron pub, you are able to go shopping in Diagon Alley. Here you will be able to purchase the character icons you find within the story levels, purchase new spells and purchase/activate the red bricks found in Hogwarts. The red bricks unlock numerous abilities which will become of great use to you, particularly the multipliers which can be applied to the studs you collect. Via The Leaky Cauldron you will be able to replay any of the levels in order to pick up the parts you missed first time round. With more abilities and characters available each time you revisit, the sense of repetition is avoided as you are able to do more each time you visit.
The spells you learn and the character tokens you collect from within Hogwarts and the story levels will help you in your quest. For example, there are cauldrons scattered about to be used to make a special cocktail with a sting in the tail. Above the cauldron are 3 icons indicating the ingredients needed, find the ingredients and drink the mix to become strong or change into another character. The strength will enable you to pull levers you were too weak to do, the character change will enable you to access different areas restricted to pupils belonging to a certain Hogwarts House or give you access to another spell. In order to change into a character you have to have discovered and purchased their icon.
The game offers a lot of enjoyment and plenty to discover and do but it isn’t without frustration. I’ve mentioned the AI earlier but the platforming at times also isn’t perfect, with a fixed camera angle it is all too easy to miss a jump. It would also be nice just to get a little pointer as to what you are supposed to be doing but the frustrations are far outweighed by the positives and the frustrations happen infrequently enough not to dent the enjoyment.
This is easily the best Lego game yet, there is a terrific amount to be done, there isn’t an area to be found in the whole game where you can’t work your magic to some effect. With the amount to in Hogwarts itself they could easily have released that part as a standalone game. If you choose to go for 100% completion then you will be kept amused for a considerable amount of time. The way the game manages to avoid repetition despite replaying levels is excellent and the use of trophies is sensible, there are a few ‘fun’ trophies but on the whole they are primarily progress based which I like to see.
I should take some points off for spending just over 40 hours to reach 99.9% complete and be stopped in my tracks by a glitch meaning I can’t, as yet, get that last character token. I’ve forgiven the game now but I’ve not forgotten.
8
If you have spent time with any of the Lego games then will know exactly what to expect from the latest Lego offering, this is good clean fun for wannabe wizards of all ages. For the 1 or 2 out there who don’t know anything about the Lego games then picture your favourite film, change the characters to plastic Lego people and pretend the buildings, scenery items and vehicles are made up of Lego bricks. It might sound terrible when described like that but Traveller’s Tales treat their source material carefully, a great deal of thought and imagination goes into these games and they get better and better at this with each game.
The saying, if it’s not broken then don’t fix it, applies here, the game mechanics are the same tried and trusted formula used in the other games. You play through the levels with a variety of characters, each with their own abilities and you can readily switch between them while you jump and smash your way through the various stages. A 2nd player can join in for a bit of co-operative play and control one of the other characters. The AI does a good job for lonely people but it will at times frustrate with some of the team work puzzles where the AI makes your companion(s) behave like a disobedient dog who doesn’t listen when you shout “STAY”.
The game starts off with Harry, Ron and Hermione beginning Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Even if you don’t know the stories, you can tell this is no average school but it is still a school and our young wizards in the making must attend class in order to learn. Of course, magic spells are the subject on hand, not your traditional Maths and English. You start the game off with limited abilities and by the time all classes are completed our magical trio will be competent little plastic wizards with a variety of spells at their disposal.
Hogwarts is the centrepiece of the game, it acts a sandbox playground for you to explore, giving you plenty of opportunity to practice and perfect your magic spells whilst also enabling you to progress through the game itself. There is always a ghostly figure on hand to lead you to your next destination, whether that be the next class or the next level. Your ghostly guide leaves a trail of ghostly Lego studs for you to follow and you will be able to work your way through the spell classes and story levels in the natural progression. But you are also free to explore Hogwarts and the urge to do so is too strong to ignore especially with so much to see and do outwith the story levels.
Hogwarts is surprisingly large and you will find yourself completely lost in no time but those ghostly studs will lead you back on track whenever you are ready to proceed. Hogwarts is also very alive in all senses of the word, there are other pupils and teachers going about their business as well as magical happenings such as the people in paintings waving at you. You will find many places to use the magic you learn from putting books back on the shelf, dismantling and then reassembling suits of armour or casting practical joke spells onto other pupils. Some of it is just for fun, some of it serves a purpose. There is a great deal of fun to be had in this game and plenty of light hearted touches. But as with all games, not everything is available to do at the start, you will have to learn spells and complete certain aspects within the levels in order to access and explore every corner of Hogwarts and believe me, there are a lot of corners needing explored.
As suggested by the title, the game covers Harry’s 1st 4 years at Hogwarts and you will be playing through recognisable scenes from The Philosopher’s Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban and The Goblet of Fire. As with the other Lego games, if you know the stories then you will get much more out of the experience. Storylines are presented via short cut-scenes and usually with a little tasteful humour added. If my viewing of The Philosopher’s Stone is anything to go by, every character and setting is very recognisable. Whether the imagery better matches the books or films, if there is even a difference, I’m not qualified to say.
There is no dialogue between the characters which ensures those not familiar with the stories will be left scratching their head. The characters use noises instead of speech but if you do know the story then it is remarkable how well these sequences use the grunting, hand movement and facial expressions to tell the story. Adding words to the sequences would just spoil it somehow. As always, Traveller’s Tales has added their own touches to sequences, within the levels and within Hogwarts but these all fit in very well with the Harry Potter material, they are noticeable to those that know the material but they certainly don’t stick out like a sore thumb.
If you didn’t follow the story cut scene then don’t expect the in-game proceedings to clear things up. You are not given a goal, you simply fumble your way through the level casting spells on everything you come across to see what happens. Of course, it works much better than I describe and half the fun is in the experimentation, cast a spell on an innocuous looking object and suddenly 1/10 appears and you are suddenly side tracked looking for the other 9. Each level is filled with items for you to apply your magic to and when I say filled I really mean filled. Armed with the wand, your young wizard will be zapping left, right and centre. The magic to be used on items can vary and there is a little coloured sparkle round them to indicate which spell you need. All the spells learned will be available to you in each level, the more you learn the more you will be able to do within the level.
The character you control is not alone in any of the levels, there is always at least 1 companion to help out. Characters come with unique abilities meaning you will need to switch between them in order to solve puzzles or do certain tasks. For instance, Ron and Hermione are able to use their pets, a rat and a cat respectively, to solve puzzles, Harry may have more magic abilities but he doesn’t have a pet. Harry also has control over a broom whereas with the other 2 you are in for a bumpy ride.
Each level has a number of criteria to be met, getting to the end of the level is just scratching the surface. Each level has 4 extra challenges to complete; a student in peril who needs rescued, 3 character tokens to be found, 4 Hogwarts house crests to be found and a certain number of Lego studs to collect from destroying items within the level. You will need to complete all of these challenges in order to truly complete each level and you will need to revisit levels (via Free Play mode) in order to fully complete them. With so much to interact with you can easily forget about the purpose of the level. And Hogwarts itself is not just there for show, within the school you have several students in peril to rescue, a multitude of character tokens are to be found and red and gold bricks need to be discovered.
The Lego studs you collect throughout the game serve as currency. From the Leaky Cauldron pub, you are able to go shopping in Diagon Alley. Here you will be able to purchase the character icons you find within the story levels, purchase new spells and purchase/activate the red bricks found in Hogwarts. The red bricks unlock numerous abilities which will become of great use to you, particularly the multipliers which can be applied to the studs you collect. Via The Leaky Cauldron you will be able to replay any of the levels in order to pick up the parts you missed first time round. With more abilities and characters available each time you revisit, the sense of repetition is avoided as you are able to do more each time you visit.
The spells you learn and the character tokens you collect from within Hogwarts and the story levels will help you in your quest. For example, there are cauldrons scattered about to be used to make a special cocktail with a sting in the tail. Above the cauldron are 3 icons indicating the ingredients needed, find the ingredients and drink the mix to become strong or change into another character. The strength will enable you to pull levers you were too weak to do, the character change will enable you to access different areas restricted to pupils belonging to a certain Hogwarts House or give you access to another spell. In order to change into a character you have to have discovered and purchased their icon.
The game offers a lot of enjoyment and plenty to discover and do but it isn’t without frustration. I’ve mentioned the AI earlier but the platforming at times also isn’t perfect, with a fixed camera angle it is all too easy to miss a jump. It would also be nice just to get a little pointer as to what you are supposed to be doing but the frustrations are far outweighed by the positives and the frustrations happen infrequently enough not to dent the enjoyment.
This is easily the best Lego game yet, there is a terrific amount to be done, there isn’t an area to be found in the whole game where you can’t work your magic to some effect. With the amount to in Hogwarts itself they could easily have released that part as a standalone game. If you choose to go for 100% completion then you will be kept amused for a considerable amount of time. The way the game manages to avoid repetition despite replaying levels is excellent and the use of trophies is sensible, there are a few ‘fun’ trophies but on the whole they are primarily progress based which I like to see.
I should take some points off for spending just over 40 hours to reach 99.9% complete and be stopped in my tracks by a glitch meaning I can’t, as yet, get that last character token. I’ve forgiven the game now but I’ve not forgotten.
8
Lego Batman for the win from me as well.
Great review, from what I've played that seems to sum things up.
Prefer to play my Lego games on the Wii though. I know there's no Co-op but it always has Wii Remote extras; Lightsabers in Star Wars, Bat-erangs in Batman and the wands in Harry Potter.
Great review, from what I've played that seems to sum things up.
Prefer to play my Lego games on the Wii though. I know there's no Co-op but it always has Wii Remote extras; Lightsabers in Star Wars, Bat-erangs in Batman and the wands in Harry Potter.
Thanks Lee. To be fair, I've only experienced the Batman game on the PSP and it was all so small and all so dark that I could barely see what was going on. In the lighting conditions at work (where I do all my PSP time), it was pretty much unplayable. I do need to get round to playing it on the 360 or PS3.
That's a really good read, Dave. For me, it pretty much nails the experience. For what it's worth, the game plays to the movies rather than the books. Although I do have to argue with you about one thing, and that is the identity of the best Lego game. My vote is with Batman!
The world of Harry Potter joins Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Batman in getting a Lego style makeover but is the end result real magic or just a cheap illusion?
If you have spent time with any of the Lego games then will know exactly what to expect from the latest Lego offering, this is good clean fun for wannabe wizards of all ages. For the 1 or 2 out there who don’t know anything about the Lego games then picture your favourite film, change the characters to plastic Lego people and pretend the buildings, scenery items and vehicles are made up of Lego bricks. It might sound terrible when described like that but Traveller’s Tales treat their source material carefully, a great deal of thought and imagination goes into these games and they get better and better at this with each game.
The saying, if it’s not broken then don’t fix it, applies here, the game mechanics are the same tried and trusted formula used in the other games. You play through the levels with a variety of characters, each with their own abilities and you can readily switch between them while you jump and smash your way through the various stages. A 2nd player can join in for a bit of co-operative play and control one of the other characters. The AI does a good job for lonely people but it will at times frustrate with some of the team work puzzles where the AI makes your companion(s) behave like a disobedient dog who doesn’t listen when you shout “STAY”.
The game starts off with Harry, Ron and Hermione beginning Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Even if you don’t know the stories, you can tell this is no average school but it is still a school and our young wizards in the making must attend class in order to learn. Of course, magic spells are the subject on hand, not your traditional Maths and English. You start the game off with limited abilities and by the time all classes are completed our magical trio will be competent little plastic wizards with a variety of spells at their disposal.
Hogwarts is the centrepiece of the game, it acts a sandbox playground for you to explore, giving you plenty of opportunity to practice and perfect your magic spells whilst also enabling you to progress through the game itself. There is always a ghostly figure on hand to lead you to your next destination, whether that be the next class or the next level. Your ghostly guide leaves a trail of ghostly Lego studs for you to follow and you will be able to work your way through the spell classes and story levels in the natural progression. But you are also free to explore Hogwarts and the urge to do so is too strong to ignore especially with so much to see and do outwith the story levels.
Hogwarts is surprisingly large and you will find yourself completely lost in no time but those ghostly studs will lead you back on track whenever you are ready to proceed. Hogwarts is also very alive in all senses of the word, there are other pupils and teachers going about their business as well as magical happenings such as the people in paintings waving at you. You will find many places to use the magic you learn from putting books back on the shelf, dismantling and then reassembling suits of armour or casting practical joke spells onto other pupils. Some of it is just for fun, some of it serves a purpose. There is a great deal of fun to be had in this game and plenty of light hearted touches. But as with all games, not everything is available to do at the start, you will have to learn spells and complete certain aspects within the levels in order to access and explore every corner of Hogwarts and believe me, there are a lot of corners needing explored.
As suggested by the title, the game covers Harry’s 1st 4 years at Hogwarts and you will be playing through recognisable scenes from The Philosopher’s Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban and The Goblet of Fire. As with the other Lego games, if you know the stories then you will get much more out of the experience. Storylines are presented via short cut-scenes and usually with a little tasteful humour added. If my viewing of The Philosopher’s Stone is anything to go by, every character and setting is very recognisable. Whether the imagery better matches the books or films, if there is even a difference, I’m not qualified to say.
There is no dialogue between the characters which ensures those not familiar with the stories will be left scratching their head. The characters use noises instead of speech but if you do know the story then it is remarkable how well these sequences use the grunting, hand movement and facial expressions to tell the story. Adding words to the sequences would just spoil it somehow. As always, Traveller’s Tales has added their own touches to sequences, within the levels and within Hogwarts but these all fit in very well with the Harry Potter material, they are noticeable to those that know the material but they certainly don’t stick out like a sore thumb.
If you didn’t follow the story cut scene then don’t expect the in-game proceedings to clear things up. You are not given a goal, you simply fumble your way through the level casting spells on everything you come across to see what happens. Of course, it works much better than I describe and half the fun is in the experimentation, cast a spell on an innocuous looking object and suddenly 1/10 appears and you are suddenly side tracked looking for the other 9. Each level is filled with items for you to apply your magic to and when I say filled I really mean filled. Armed with the wand, your young wizard will be zapping left, right and centre. The magic to be used on items can vary and there is a little coloured sparkle round them to indicate which spell you need. All the spells learned will be available to you in each level, the more you learn the more you will be able to do within the level.
The character you control is not alone in any of the levels, there is always at least 1 companion to help out. Characters come with unique abilities meaning you will need to switch between them in order to solve puzzles or do certain tasks. For instance, Ron and Hermione are able to use their pets, a rat and a cat respectively, to solve puzzles, Harry may have more magic abilities but he doesn’t have a pet. Harry also has control over a broom whereas with the other 2 you are in for a bumpy ride.
Each level has a number of criteria to be met, getting to the end of the level is just scratching the surface. Each level has 4 extra challenges to complete; a student in peril who needs rescued, 3 character tokens to be found, 4 Hogwarts house crests to be found and a certain number of Lego studs to collect from destroying items within the level. You will need to complete all of these challenges in order to truly complete each level and you will need to revisit levels (via Free Play mode) in order to fully complete them. With so much to interact with you can easily forget about the purpose of the level. And Hogwarts itself is not just there for show, within the school you have several students in peril to rescue, a multitude of character tokens are to be found and red and gold bricks need to be discovered.
The Lego studs you collect throughout the game serve as currency. From the Leaky Cauldron pub, you are able to go shopping in Diagon Alley. Here you will be able to purchase the character icons you find within the story levels, purchase new spells and purchase/activate the red bricks found in Hogwarts. The red bricks unlock numerous abilities which will become of great use to you, particularly the multipliers which can be applied to the studs you collect. Via The Leaky Cauldron you will be able to replay any of the levels in order to pick up the parts you missed first time round. With more abilities and characters available each time you revisit, the sense of repetition is avoided as you are able to do more each time you visit.
The spells you learn and the character tokens you collect from within Hogwarts and the story levels will help you in your quest. For example, there are cauldrons scattered about to be used to make a special cocktail with a sting in the tail. Above the cauldron are 3 icons indicating the ingredients needed, find the ingredients and drink the mix to become strong or change into another character. The strength will enable you to pull levers you were too weak to do, the character change will enable you to access different areas restricted to pupils belonging to a certain Hogwarts House or give you access to another spell. In order to change into a character you have to have discovered and purchased their icon.
The game offers a lot of enjoyment and plenty to discover and do but it isn’t without frustration. I’ve mentioned the AI earlier but the platforming at times also isn’t perfect, with a fixed camera angle it is all too easy to miss a jump. It would also be nice just to get a little pointer as to what you are supposed to be doing but the frustrations are far outweighed by the positives and the frustrations happen infrequently enough not to dent the enjoyment.
This is easily the best Lego game yet, there is a terrific amount to be done, there isn’t an area to be found in the whole game where you can’t work your magic to some effect. With the amount to in Hogwarts itself they could easily have released that part as a standalone game. If you choose to go for 100% completion then you will be kept amused for a considerable amount of time. The way the game manages to avoid repetition despite replaying levels is excellent and the use of trophies is sensible, there are a few ‘fun’ trophies but on the whole they are primarily progress based which I like to see.
I should take some points off for spending just over 40 hours to reach 99.9% complete and be stopped in my tracks by a glitch meaning I can’t, as yet, get that last character token. I’ve forgiven the game now but I’ve not forgotten.
8
If you have spent time with any of the Lego games then will know exactly what to expect from the latest Lego offering, this is good clean fun for wannabe wizards of all ages. For the 1 or 2 out there who don’t know anything about the Lego games then picture your favourite film, change the characters to plastic Lego people and pretend the buildings, scenery items and vehicles are made up of Lego bricks. It might sound terrible when described like that but Traveller’s Tales treat their source material carefully, a great deal of thought and imagination goes into these games and they get better and better at this with each game.
The saying, if it’s not broken then don’t fix it, applies here, the game mechanics are the same tried and trusted formula used in the other games. You play through the levels with a variety of characters, each with their own abilities and you can readily switch between them while you jump and smash your way through the various stages. A 2nd player can join in for a bit of co-operative play and control one of the other characters. The AI does a good job for lonely people but it will at times frustrate with some of the team work puzzles where the AI makes your companion(s) behave like a disobedient dog who doesn’t listen when you shout “STAY”.
The game starts off with Harry, Ron and Hermione beginning Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Even if you don’t know the stories, you can tell this is no average school but it is still a school and our young wizards in the making must attend class in order to learn. Of course, magic spells are the subject on hand, not your traditional Maths and English. You start the game off with limited abilities and by the time all classes are completed our magical trio will be competent little plastic wizards with a variety of spells at their disposal.
Hogwarts is the centrepiece of the game, it acts a sandbox playground for you to explore, giving you plenty of opportunity to practice and perfect your magic spells whilst also enabling you to progress through the game itself. There is always a ghostly figure on hand to lead you to your next destination, whether that be the next class or the next level. Your ghostly guide leaves a trail of ghostly Lego studs for you to follow and you will be able to work your way through the spell classes and story levels in the natural progression. But you are also free to explore Hogwarts and the urge to do so is too strong to ignore especially with so much to see and do outwith the story levels.
Hogwarts is surprisingly large and you will find yourself completely lost in no time but those ghostly studs will lead you back on track whenever you are ready to proceed. Hogwarts is also very alive in all senses of the word, there are other pupils and teachers going about their business as well as magical happenings such as the people in paintings waving at you. You will find many places to use the magic you learn from putting books back on the shelf, dismantling and then reassembling suits of armour or casting practical joke spells onto other pupils. Some of it is just for fun, some of it serves a purpose. There is a great deal of fun to be had in this game and plenty of light hearted touches. But as with all games, not everything is available to do at the start, you will have to learn spells and complete certain aspects within the levels in order to access and explore every corner of Hogwarts and believe me, there are a lot of corners needing explored.
As suggested by the title, the game covers Harry’s 1st 4 years at Hogwarts and you will be playing through recognisable scenes from The Philosopher’s Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban and The Goblet of Fire. As with the other Lego games, if you know the stories then you will get much more out of the experience. Storylines are presented via short cut-scenes and usually with a little tasteful humour added. If my viewing of The Philosopher’s Stone is anything to go by, every character and setting is very recognisable. Whether the imagery better matches the books or films, if there is even a difference, I’m not qualified to say.
There is no dialogue between the characters which ensures those not familiar with the stories will be left scratching their head. The characters use noises instead of speech but if you do know the story then it is remarkable how well these sequences use the grunting, hand movement and facial expressions to tell the story. Adding words to the sequences would just spoil it somehow. As always, Traveller’s Tales has added their own touches to sequences, within the levels and within Hogwarts but these all fit in very well with the Harry Potter material, they are noticeable to those that know the material but they certainly don’t stick out like a sore thumb.
If you didn’t follow the story cut scene then don’t expect the in-game proceedings to clear things up. You are not given a goal, you simply fumble your way through the level casting spells on everything you come across to see what happens. Of course, it works much better than I describe and half the fun is in the experimentation, cast a spell on an innocuous looking object and suddenly 1/10 appears and you are suddenly side tracked looking for the other 9. Each level is filled with items for you to apply your magic to and when I say filled I really mean filled. Armed with the wand, your young wizard will be zapping left, right and centre. The magic to be used on items can vary and there is a little coloured sparkle round them to indicate which spell you need. All the spells learned will be available to you in each level, the more you learn the more you will be able to do within the level.
The character you control is not alone in any of the levels, there is always at least 1 companion to help out. Characters come with unique abilities meaning you will need to switch between them in order to solve puzzles or do certain tasks. For instance, Ron and Hermione are able to use their pets, a rat and a cat respectively, to solve puzzles, Harry may have more magic abilities but he doesn’t have a pet. Harry also has control over a broom whereas with the other 2 you are in for a bumpy ride.
Each level has a number of criteria to be met, getting to the end of the level is just scratching the surface. Each level has 4 extra challenges to complete; a student in peril who needs rescued, 3 character tokens to be found, 4 Hogwarts house crests to be found and a certain number of Lego studs to collect from destroying items within the level. You will need to complete all of these challenges in order to truly complete each level and you will need to revisit levels (via Free Play mode) in order to fully complete them. With so much to interact with you can easily forget about the purpose of the level. And Hogwarts itself is not just there for show, within the school you have several students in peril to rescue, a multitude of character tokens are to be found and red and gold bricks need to be discovered.
The Lego studs you collect throughout the game serve as currency. From the Leaky Cauldron pub, you are able to go shopping in Diagon Alley. Here you will be able to purchase the character icons you find within the story levels, purchase new spells and purchase/activate the red bricks found in Hogwarts. The red bricks unlock numerous abilities which will become of great use to you, particularly the multipliers which can be applied to the studs you collect. Via The Leaky Cauldron you will be able to replay any of the levels in order to pick up the parts you missed first time round. With more abilities and characters available each time you revisit, the sense of repetition is avoided as you are able to do more each time you visit.
The spells you learn and the character tokens you collect from within Hogwarts and the story levels will help you in your quest. For example, there are cauldrons scattered about to be used to make a special cocktail with a sting in the tail. Above the cauldron are 3 icons indicating the ingredients needed, find the ingredients and drink the mix to become strong or change into another character. The strength will enable you to pull levers you were too weak to do, the character change will enable you to access different areas restricted to pupils belonging to a certain Hogwarts House or give you access to another spell. In order to change into a character you have to have discovered and purchased their icon.
The game offers a lot of enjoyment and plenty to discover and do but it isn’t without frustration. I’ve mentioned the AI earlier but the platforming at times also isn’t perfect, with a fixed camera angle it is all too easy to miss a jump. It would also be nice just to get a little pointer as to what you are supposed to be doing but the frustrations are far outweighed by the positives and the frustrations happen infrequently enough not to dent the enjoyment.
This is easily the best Lego game yet, there is a terrific amount to be done, there isn’t an area to be found in the whole game where you can’t work your magic to some effect. With the amount to in Hogwarts itself they could easily have released that part as a standalone game. If you choose to go for 100% completion then you will be kept amused for a considerable amount of time. The way the game manages to avoid repetition despite replaying levels is excellent and the use of trophies is sensible, there are a few ‘fun’ trophies but on the whole they are primarily progress based which I like to see.
I should take some points off for spending just over 40 hours to reach 99.9% complete and be stopped in my tracks by a glitch meaning I can’t, as yet, get that last character token. I’ve forgiven the game now but I’ve not forgotten.
8