The LEGO series has continually been a great success since its debut in 2005 with the release of LEGO Star Wars, but the series has slowly begun to overstay its welcome with the mediocre release of LEGO Indiana Jones 2. The latest entry, LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, proves that the LEGO series isn’t finished providing a great experience for the whole family. LEGO HP follows the first four books/movies in the Harry Potter series, so if you’re a fan of HP you’ll get all the references and humor throughout the game. As with the previous LEGO games, the story has no dialogue, just LEGO characters reenacting scenes, so the story makes the most sense if you’ve seen the movies, but if you haven’t, you and your family will still inevitably have a blast with the reinvigorated gameplay. Just when it seemed like the LEGO series’ gameplay was going to fizzle due to lack of creativity, Traveller’s Tales took LEGO HP and gave it a robust spell system that makes the game feel fresh. Players start off in year one with the Wingardium Leviosa spell which is used to lift and reassemble items. As you progress in the game, more spells are found that can then be useful in further exploration and retracting steps to access hidden areas or items. There are boatloads of secrets in the game, giving players plenty of reasons to revisit previous levels.
The actual combat and gameplay remains largely similar to previous entries, which is the greatest weakness of LEGO HP, but this is easily overlooked as the world built within is full of wonder, as well as the fun to be had with exploration and spell use. The LEGO series has always been best when played with another, and co-op in LEGO HP is no slouch. The game has been built around a co-op experience, which is evident with the presence of at least two characters in every level, even in single-player. Thankfully, LEGO HP carries on the new split-screen co-op that was implemented in LEGO Indy 2. In almost all the LEGO games, players were forced to stay on the same screen with their partner, limiting breaking off from one another for a bit. Now, the game will automatically split the screen when players go out of a certain range of the other. This gives much more freedom that has been extremely limited in the past. While the gameplay and exploration is a great piece of LEGO HP, it wouldn’t be anywhere near what it is without the universe it is set within. Traveller’s has masterfully recreated the Harry Potter universe. From Hogwarts to the Leaky Cauldron, it’s all here and it all looks great.
You’ve even got the awesomely composed sounds of the Harry Potter soundtrack. There are tons of unlockable characters, somewhere around 150. There is plenty to destroy as you run through each environment, with plenty of movie references and jokes abound. LEGO HP is bursting at the seams with fan-service, and that’s what makes the game so different from the previous LEGO games, Star Wars aside. The one piece that has been continually missing from the LEGO series is online co-op. The lack of it makes sense as it’s aimed toward being a family experience, but it would certainly be a nice option to have for older fans of the LEGO series (such as myself). That being said, the series has done perfectly fine without it so the lack of online play isn’t that big of a deal. What does come across as odd is the fact that the game has a robust level creator, but no method of sharing these levels. This is definitely where some component of Xbox Live could have come into play, but it feels like the ball was dropped with this feature. It’s fun to mess around with, but it’s disappointing to know that no one will see your creations other than those who sit on your couch and vice versa. LEGO Harry Potter is a return to form for the experienced developer.
While the previous entries in the series were mostly well received, it seemed as though they were slowly losing their appeal to a consistent gameplay model. Collect studs, add in some frustrating platforming, with a dash of bland combat and voila, you’ve got the makings of a LEGO game. While LEGO HP maintains some of these unfortunate elements, the world they are placed within allows players to mostly forget that they exist. While the lack of any form of an Xbox Live component is disheartening, it doesn’t come as a surprise as this has been the case with most of the LEGO series. If you’ve thought about giving the LEGO series a shot, this should be your entry point, especially if you’re a Potter fan. While LEGO Harry Potter doesn’t pull any punches with the cut and paste LEGO formula, the world surrounding it has been wonderfully imagined culminating into a fantastic experience for anyone who can hold a controller.
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