LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1 - 4

I'm sure we all grew up with LEGO sets or something similar. Likewise, I'm sure we've all noticed the extreme price hike over the last few years. When I was growing up, you could take a hundred bucks and buy two big LEGO sets, and you'd still have enough for a bag of sweets and a soda. Nowadays...your wallet cries and reaches for the baseball bat to smack you whenever you so much as LOOK at a LEGO set - even a little one.

Don't despair though, the videogame world, apparently, has you covered. See, somebody thought it'd be a great idea to make a LEGO-themed videogames. I think that was a brilliant idea.

I've played a couple of LEGO games now, but one of the first ones I played was LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1 - 4. In fact, if I remember right, this was the second LEGO title after LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga. Anyways, I've just finished another playthrough recently, so let me share my thoughts.

Hogwarts Goes LEGO

Rumors about a LEGO Harry Potter game had been circulating since late 2008, but the game was officially announced in June 2009 with a release date aimed for the following year. Traveller's Tales, the developers of the game, decided to do something different with how the game worked.

Instead of the spells all being available from the start, you had to attend classes and learn each one. Switching between spells is also quite easy, a few button presses until you hit the spell you want and then you use whatever the special action key is on your PC (in my case, J).

The Plotline is Streamlined

The plotline of the game follows each of the plots from the first 4 books in the Harry Potter series. Each year is completed over the course of 6 chapters, which keeps things concise. If you've read the books, you'll know that they get progressively longer and darker.

Of course, being a LEGO game, it tones down many of the darker elements of the stories significantly. Additionally, the game adds strong elements of humor to make things more appropriate for younger players.

The Good Stuff

So, what's good about this one?

• The humor is great.
• As far as the story goes, the conciseness makes things great.
• The music is fun, and the way the devs implemented the main theme into the gameplay is great.
• The way you learn spells is fun and the level design(s) allow for ample opportunity to use every spell you learn. Additionally, the controls are intuitive and easy to use.

The Issues with the Game

Are there any issues with the game? Unfortunately, I have to say that yes, there are a few issues.

First off, as much as I like how the shorter length works, it does take away some of the impact of specific moments.

There's also a serious glitch with what I think is Year 3's final chapter where the game freezes. Standard solutions, like reinstalling the game and restarting your PC, don't work. There is a way to fix it, however, so here's how:

There's a specific configuration file that has settings, including dynamic lighting. You drop that value all the way to zero and then switch between characters when you get to where the glitch happens.

The only other problem I have, and this is really more of a nitpick, is with the flying mechanic. See, only Harry can actually fly a broom well. This might not sound problematic until you have to play as Ron or Hermione and fly a broom. Then you've got to move fast because they apparently can't fly well and will end up being thrown off the broom if you're not quick enough.

Final Thoughts

Apart from the major freezing glitch in Prisoner of Azkaban, there aren't really any major problems with this one. It's great fun for when you're burned out on serious stuff (seriously, play several Tomb Raider and Call of Duty games back to back, and you'll burn out real fast).

Of course, fans of actual LEGO sets will also get a kick out of being able to AFFORD a LEGO set again so...there's that. I won't say everyone will enjoy it, but it's good fun and more than worth a try.