Lego Harry Potter Years 1 - 4
SCORE: 59
The Lego franchise has been a big one for families for many, many years now. Harry Potter is a controversial franchise that families love or refuse to have any association with. Why not? Well Harry Potter revolves completely and totally around magic. I know a lot of people who want nothing to do with magic in any way, shape or form. I respect them and their beliefs. So mixing Legos with Harry Potter presents a conundrum for me as a reviewer. There are aspects of Lego Harry Potter Years 1 - 4 that I like, and parts I do not like. It is true to the Harry Potter franchise, which is part of the problem. If you have played Lego home console games before you know what to expect. Tons of levels in each of the movies. In fact Lego Harry Potter Years 1 - 4 is split between numerous small levels. Which does present a problem that I will address later.
The graphics in Lego Harry Potter Years 1 - 4 include numerous locales from the movies. Much of Lego Harry Potter Years 1 - 4 is on the darker side. Lego characters fall apart, as does much of the furniture. Okay there is more than just furniture. Stuff like flowers, boxes, and pots are destructible.
I was not fond of the music or all the magical humor. Most of the humor is magic related or on the disgusting side. The grunts and little sound effects used in the humor department did not do anything for me. In fact they made me want to get through the little cut scene faster. There is a ghost who helps guide the player and that felt downright strange.
Like most Lego games Lego Harry Potter Years 1 - 4 includes numerous characters to unlock, and content to purchase. Breaking stuff produces studs, which is the currency in Lego Harry Potter Years 1 - 4. Since the levels are so long I had little interest in replaying them. Replaying them in free mode does unlock additional content, or find new stuff.
The game play includes one of my biggest complaints thus far. If you want to explore a level thoroughly you can be playing it for an hour. If you want to rush through, then it could be thirty minutes. I know this is a home console game, but still being able to save and come right back to that point would have been appreciated. I hate having to replay an entire area because I had to go somewhere and could not devote my life to a level in a video game.
I purchased
Lego Harry Potter Years 1 - 4 on the Wii for this review. I knew it was
a controversial franchise, but felt it was important to get a review
completed. I find it difficult to discern the good magic from the bad
magic because Lego Harry Potter Years 1 - 4 has the player doing things
that seem bad to me. How you feel about dabbling in magic will effect
how you feel about this game. I feel that Lego Harry Potter Years 1 - 4
is a slight failure.
-
Luke
Graphics: 58%
Sound: 56%
Replay/Extras: 72%
Gameplay: 60%
Family Friendly Factor: 49%
System: Wii/PC/PS3/Xbox 360
Publisher: Warner Bros Interactive
Rating: 'E10+' - Everyone 10+
{Cartoon Violence, Crude Humor}
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