Review by: Danielle Riendeau

These Lego games just keep getting better. Now in its 4th (or 5th, if you count Lego Star Wars: The Original Trilogy as a separate entity) iteration, the series is all about blending fun action mechanics, simple puzzle solving, and the charm of a Lego-fied version of a beloved franchise into tasty adventures suitable for all ages. Harry’s version is the best so far, adding new magic abilities and some of the best storytelling in the series.

Like the rest of the games in the series, you spend most of your time running through cleverly-realized 3d stages, blasting enemies, solving environmental puzzles, and kicking the crap out of the scenery to stock up on studs (loose Lego bricks that act as currency). You’ll never be alone – each stage features between two to four playable characters, each of whom has unique abilities – Hagrid can pull heavy switches, Harry has an invisibility cloak, etc. It’s tailor-made for co-op play, and still plenty of fun for solo Potter fans.

In one of the coolest features (and a subtle nod to the whole Hogwarts classroom vibe), you’ll learn spells as you progress through the game, gaining new abilities in the same order that live action Harry does in the movies. You’ll start off with a levitation spell, but soon enough you’ll be zapping foes with “expelliarmus” and smacking dementors with “expecto patronum”. Each spell is used to great effect – and things are cleverly mixed so that you’ll be judiciously juggling all of your abilities and characters in order to successfully navigate Hogwarts and its surrounding locales.

It’s great fun to play through the story, which is neatly organized by year (if you couldn’t tell from the title, we’re working with Harry’s first four years here). All of the major plot points are realized through smartly constructed cutscenes, as well as through the ultra-detailed environments. It really does feel as if you’re playing through the movies, with iconic scenes like Harry’s first game on the Quidditch team, the battle with Tom Riddle and the Basilisk, the surprising revelation at the Shrieking Shack and the majesty of the Tri-Wizard tournament are presented in full Lego-ized glory.

Even after the meaty story campaign, there are millions of bricks worth of extras. Everything from the seemingly endless march of hidden objects within each story stage to the tantalizingly placed “secret areas” that require you to go back with a specific character in “free play” mode adds a hefty sum of replay value. Also worth checking out are the fun, puzzle-centric bonus stages and “builder mode”, where you can learn to create your own Potter play lands out of bricks. The interface is simple and intuitive, so budding designers can very quickly get a feel for building and playing with their creations.

As expected, the graphics and music are superb. Each tiny detail down to the animated paintings and castle lighting fixtures is rendered in delightfully chunky bricks, while the stirring film score swells and contracts with every scene. I was humming the songs for days.