Daniel Radcliffe’s acting has always been a bit plastic so thankfully Traveller’s Tales have decided to give Harry Potter the Lego treatment and what we get is probably one of the best games in the series.
They’ve definitely learned a thing or two what with all the Star Wars games, Indiana Jones and Batman under their utility belt. Now it’s time to go into Hogwarts and use all the spells from the movie to move Lego blocks about as you build, destroy and hop about the levels.
The first thing you’ll notice is how great everything looks. Lego’s not the most detailed thing in the world but everything has a great sheen to it to make it all stand out and come alive. And of course the game sends up moments from the first four movies with the humour we’ve all come to expect.
This time the game’s hub begins at the Leaky Cauldron and then you can fool about in Diagon Alley or go to Hogwarts to start a new chapter and mission. Once again collecting studs becomes an obsession as you use your spells to make new platforms and move objects around, each time of course spilling more studs onto the ground which you can collect to exchange for new characters, costumes and cheat codes.
The AI is thankfully better than it’s ever been so if you’re playing alone it’s not such a chore to wait for the AI to figure out what you’re trying to do and eventually decide to help you. And of course a friend can drop in our out at any time and, thanks to the split-screen mode, you can now walk in separate directions and then meet up again seamlessly.
Combat’s still not fantastic and the boss battles do all feel a bit samey. Likewise you may get frustrated occasionally trying to make some of the jumps – a common problem anyway in 3D platform games.
If you’re a Harry Potter fan this is probably the most fun you’ll have playing a game that lets you run about Hogwarts so it gets an excellent 8 out of 10.
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Related: Lego Indiana Jones review, Lego Star Wars The Complete Saga review, Lego Harry Potter Years 1 to 4 review on Youtube
