I could regale you with a hundred childhood stories that would give you an insight into my relationship with Lego. The time I spent 2 hours making a contraption out of Lego Technic that ultimately did nothing but twitch a bit when you turned a lever but was nevertheless a source of amazement for my next-door neighbour. Another time when I got one of the smaller pieces wedged in my nose and nearly had to be taken to hospital. Most memorable, of course, was the time when I discovered my hamster's death was not quite the 'accidental drowning in his water bowl' I was initially led to believe but was in fact blunt force trauma caused by a family member dropping the elaborately constructed Lego mansion I had made onto his head. My point is that Lego had a vital place in my early years, as I suspect it had for many of us. It is this childhood reminiscence that is tickled mercilessly by the Lego games.
It was once said of Lego Star Wars, the game that started it all, that it takes you down two memory lanes at once: the one for our fond memories of Lego and the one for our equally fond memories of Star Wars. But as the series develops it becomes apparent that there is much more at work here. It's evident to me that as we've seen the release of Lego Star Wars (and sequel/prequel/rebundles), Lego Indiana Jones, Lego Batman and now Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4, these games combine two far more powerful forces. The first being our love of Lego, the second being our inner geek. After all, what appeal would there be in smashing our way through the forests of Endor or wastelands of Hoth if not to have a go at riding a speeder bike or taking out AT-STs? Why would we spend hours combing Hogwarts, if not to seek out the character token for Sirius Black or Dumbledore? It's this faithfulness to the source material and attention to detail that keeps adults hooked for hours while kids happily mash through levels for cartoon thrills. Lego Harry Potter is no exception to this clever precedent and a surprising level of detail has been taken not just from the films but also from the books, evident in the presence of many playable characters that never made it to celluloid.
The game provides the backdrop of Harry's first four years at Hogwarts for this title (Philosopher's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban & Goblet of Fire) serving as a predictable prelude for a future tie-in romp for the final 3 years. Although the story mode serves these faithfully, even when you've played these end-to-end you'll still find you've barely completed half of what's on offer here. It's not just about playing through the films, it's about discovery and the maze that is Hogwart's is the perfect playground for such an endeavour.
The driving force behind Lego Harry Potter is the the constant feeling of reward that feels almost as if it's been lifted straight out of an MMO. Traveller's Tales have done well to balance it perfectly with short term goals like collecting studs and unlocking spells pitched against longer-term objectives like the 100% game completion that is an ever-present reminder between levels and areas of how much there is still left to discover.
As with previous incarnations, LHP adapts the tested formula from previous games to fit the new context perfectly. Almost all of your interaction with the game world is now via one spell or another. The manual building of objects and manipulating most environmental elements is now done with Wingardium Leviosa (fellow Pottergeeks will have experienced the same ire when this is used at the beginning of the game to open a door. No Alohamora?) with other spells learnt along the way to uniquely dispatch with pixies, dementors, etc. LHP also introduces potion-making as a way to overcome puzzles. Orientated around finding key ingredients around a level, these are then used to create a potion necessary to advance, whether it be strength potion, invisibilty potion or the infamous Polyjuice.
One very unique feature this time around is the Lego Builder Mode. After completion of the initial tutorials at Gringotts, players can mess around in their own sandbox levels to create their own Lego arenas. It's a nice feature and it's good to see the boundaries of the series being pushed but it's ultimately unnecessary fluff. If the option had been included to share creations across Xbox Live (or PSN) it may have provided some extra longevity past completion but without it this is all too easy to leave buried in the vaults.
The game has still obviously suffered from the same slight buggy nature of previous titles but this is far diminished in this most recent outing. Tearing is still occasionally apparent in some areas but players will be hard-pressed to find themselves with unlockable achievements or glitched collectibles that stop the fun dead in it's tracks.
In summary, Lego Harry Potter is exactly what any fan of previous Lego adventures would expect it to be. Harmless fun, fierce attention to both the books and films and the kind of innovation we've come to expect.
Score: 9/10
