Tuesday 3 January 2012

Wii game review - Lego Harry Potter : Years 5-7


Getting a new Wii game is always guaranteed to put a huge smile on Sophie's face so she was over the moon when we received the Lego Harry Potter : Years 5-7 game to review just before Christmas.

She likes the Harry Potter films but sometimes finds them a bit scary so she absolutely loves the kid-friendly Lego version ! The game itself is also very kid-friendly, with on-screen prompts helping you out if you get stuck - and sometimes before you even get stuck, which is a bit of a shame for older kids but means younger players won't get frustrated going round in circles without a clue where they should be going or what they should be trying to do, as frequently happens in more complex games.




The game has been criticised by some as being too similar to the previous game, Lego Harry Potter : Years 1-4, and indeed any of the other Lego games, but as this is my first time playing one, I can't comment on that aspect. I can just say that we had great fun !

The game features the four final Harry Potter films (which corresponds to the final three books), split into six sections allowing you to recreate key scenes from the films/books. In between the different challenges, you are free to run around exploring the Lego-fied version of Hogwarts, solving simple puzzles, finding objects, using magic spells and breaking apart anything made of Lego.



A nice family-friendly aspect is the two-player co-op mode, where siblings (or their parents!) can work together through the game. If you stay close together on the screen, you share the same screen but if you wander too far apart, the screen splits into two so there is no squabbling about "I want to go this way, not that way" ! If one player wants to stop playing, that's not a problem either, you can just drop out and go back to one player mode. This is very handy if a friend comes round because they can just drop into and out of the game without disrupting play.

It's also good to know that you shouldn't race through the main game as fast as possible because you'll miss huge chunks of Hogwarts which are great fun to explore and are packed with puzzles and objects, even if they won't make you advance through the central mission. It's great to be able to take your time exploring everything, and even for those just watching, not playing, the great music, sound effects and comedy moments make it fun even as a spectator.



You also collect Lego studs as you work through the game, which enable you to buy extra characters, cheats, secret locators and much more.

10-year-old Sophie gave it a huge thumbs up but 6-year-old Juliette also loved joining in and was pleased to see she could manage to play. Grown-ups had fun with it too, even if it's not very taxing.

star rating : 4.5/5

RRP : £24.99

Other reviews you may be interested in :

8 comments:

  1. My 7 year old nephew LOVES this game. Keeps him amused for hours and also able to rope me in to play too!

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  2. Roo just cannot get the hang of the Wii I'm hoping the xbox version will be easier for her to control

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  3. We bought this game for my eldest for Christmas but on the DS and he loves it

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  4. My children love this Lego Harry Potter game and I'm wondering if they will be able to make a Harry Potter area/ride at Legoland some time or at the new Legoland hotel?

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  5. Great review! I love all of the Lego games... Oh, I mean my child does ;)

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  6. Aww this looks so cute! Will have to keep it in mind for my nephews, they are a bit young for HP right now but they love Lego and the Wii so might be good for next birthday!

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  7. we don't have any of the Harry Potter Wii games. We have all the Star Wars and Batman ones - this looks like the next step for us.
    @mumoffunkids

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  8. Got this on the XBox and it's a brilliant game, quite a lot of gameplay in it if you want to get 100% and unlock all the achievements.

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