Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 Review (PS3)

Could this be the best Lego game since Lego Star Wars II?

First there was Lego Star Wars around 2005 and 2006, and then there was Indiana Jones and Batman along the way. Now there’s Harry Potter based, on the world’s bestselling Novel series by J.K Rowling.

If you’ve read the books or seen the movies, Lego Harry Potter will instantly be familiar to you following the first 4 stories:

Philosophers Stone
Chamber of Secrets
Prisoner of Azkaban
Goblet of Fire

As a Harry Potter fan I would highly recommend checking this out

If you’ve only seen the movies or are new to the series, Lego Harry Potter is closer to the books than to the movies. This may confuse a few people as there are a few plot moments and characters that are only in the books. But that should not put you off!

Gameplay: If you’ve played any of the other games in the Lego series before, you’ll have no problem with the controls. If not then they are simple to pick up for anyone. You play the game mostly as Harry Potter, but you always have other characters with you that you can switch too. Some puzzles require powers that only Harry’s companions possess. Some need more than one character to complete them. Following on from the great AI showcased in Lego Batman, your companions will actually help you, rather than you being forced to constantly switch back and forth – a real pain in the neck at times! So if you need to have one character standing on a platform whilst another lifts it, the computer will take care of the lifting. Very handy and keeps the flow of the gameplay running nicely.

Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4Each story is split into 6 chapters or levels. As well as completing the main story of each level, there are tones of collectables and side missions, from collecting parts of the house crest shields – to rescuing students in peril. Hogwarts its self also plays a major role in the game, acting not only as the central hub for accessing new levels, but also as a nice open world to explore and play in.

During your time at Hogwarts you’ll be able to learn spells like Wingardium Leviosa and Immoblus. Wingardium Leviosa will be the main spell that you’ll be using, not least of all because it lets you build things! Some spells you’ll probably recognize from the series. They all have their uses such as Lumos and Reducto. Not only will you be learning spells and purchasing spells down at Diagon Ally, you’ll also need to make potions like Polyjuice Potion and Ageing Potion.

Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4If you’re playing a level on story or free play you’ll need certain characters in order to solve certain puzzles, like using a character to dig objects from the ground or using a strong character to pull a chain stuck to a wall in order to get to the next part of the level. There are also certain things that can only be opened by dark wizards. Be sure to look everywhere so you can unlock as many characters as possible.

Graphics and Sound: No matter how many times you’ve seen the movies you’ll noticed that game will have a lot of funny references and one or two easter eggs. Not everything is built from Lego. Landscapes and environments are well detailed; from Moving Stairs in Hogwarts, to Diagon Ally and even the Forbidden forest. That’s not to say that there are no Lego elements to the backgrounds. There are all sorts of flowers, plants, paintings and other objects for you to destroy to increase you coin collection! Sometimes it s more fun just to go on a destructive rampage than to play the actual level!

Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4Most parts of Lego Harry Potter, the characters and cut scenes are funny and charming to see, even if you’ve played through Lego games before you’ll really enjoy the Harry Potter series. However there is one or two problems but they can easily be ignored. You’ll see a lot of random bugs and glitches which appear now and then but in the grand scheme of things they are not a big problem. The only real irritation is the new targeting system. It can be very tricky to aim at what you want, especially if there is a character standing in front of it. The number of times you unleash a spell on one of your friends instead of your intended target is quite surprising!

Another amazing job they’ve done with the game is the fabulous soundtrack. They have borrowed heavily from the movie soundtracks, so any fans of the fi will feel right at home straight away.
As with all Lego games, there isn’t any voicing from the characters – so don’t expect to hear the dulcet tones of Emma Watson or Daniel Radcliffe, you’ll have the same sound effects and gibberish voicing that was used in the last games.

Overall: If you’re new to the series and you haven’t read the books then some of the plot lines can get a little confused, especially as all you have for plot cues are the actions of the characters. If you are a hardcore fan of the books, like me, this is a good thing!

The main story will probably take you abut 6 hours to complete, but that is not the end of the game. For the completists out there the Free Play mode will give you many hours of replay value as you try to collect 100% of everything. Get it all and you can unlock a bonus level and play as Lord Voldemort!

As a Harry Potter fan I would highly recommend checking this out, even if you found the last Potter games really short you’ll find the Lego version funny and charming with plenty of replay value. This will keep you busy for long time. But once there’s a Lego Harry Potter 5-7 Years which could possibly be released by the end of next year, I do wonder what Lego title will they do next. The Lord of the Ring? Twilight series maybe? Nobody knows we’ll just have to wait and see.

The Good: Funny and Charming, Plenty of replay value, Tons of stuff to unlock, Outstading soundtrack from the movie franchise, Memorable moments throughout the game
The Bad: Some fans might get confussed with the plot if they havn’t read the books, Random bugs appear now and then, Annoying targeting.


Enjoying a drink Ooo they look like they mean business The environments change with the seasons It is a living world filled with characters One of the great bonus levels 


Gold Y AwardGold Y Award
4.5 4.5 / 5

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