My children would give just about anything to apparate inside The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Resort. The early reviews (and word from CMP Editor Liz who worked with Universal early on in the development) make it look so cool, it almost makes me want to brave the crowds.
But alas, we are mere muggles and need things like vacation time and money, not magic, to get us there.
Until we gather enough knuts for the trip, we have a new game that will make the waiting a little more fun.
The cool new LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 video game should keep the kids happy and give me a break when I just can't read another chapter aloud. And while I normally decry video games as the killer of reading time, playing LEGO Harry Potter actually makes my kids want to reread the first four Harry Potter books that are brought to life in the video game.
We already have a few LEGO games for the Wii, so playing the new Harry Potter version wasn't too difficult to figure out, but it does take a while for non-gamers to get comfortable. Ratings on the game are 10+, so I must sheepishly reveal that none of my three kids have hit that age yet, but I haven't found the content to be too violent or graphic for their ages at all. As with the other LEGO games for the Wii, characters do "fight," though their pieces tend to comically scatter to bits when struck. And if a character falls off a cliff or down a hole, they pull a Wyle E. Coyote and reappear without a scratch.
As with many of the newer games we've bought, there are some bugs in the code that we've heard about, but we have yet to stumble upon them. And for under $50 for the game, I'm happy to give my kids a chance to experience the world of Harry Potter without having to stand in a single line. -Christina
You'll find LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 for the Wii and Xbox at our affiliate Amazon. Keep your eyes on reviews for the Playstation 3; at this time it appears to be too buggy to recommend.
Until we gather enough knuts for the trip, we have a new game that will make the waiting a little more fun.
The cool new LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 video game should keep the kids happy and give me a break when I just can't read another chapter aloud. And while I normally decry video games as the killer of reading time, playing LEGO Harry Potter actually makes my kids want to reread the first four Harry Potter books that are brought to life in the video game.
We already have a few LEGO games for the Wii, so playing the new Harry Potter version wasn't too difficult to figure out, but it does take a while for non-gamers to get comfortable. Ratings on the game are 10+, so I must sheepishly reveal that none of my three kids have hit that age yet, but I haven't found the content to be too violent or graphic for their ages at all. As with the other LEGO games for the Wii, characters do "fight," though their pieces tend to comically scatter to bits when struck. And if a character falls off a cliff or down a hole, they pull a Wyle E. Coyote and reappear without a scratch.
As with many of the newer games we've bought, there are some bugs in the code that we've heard about, but we have yet to stumble upon them. And for under $50 for the game, I'm happy to give my kids a chance to experience the world of Harry Potter without having to stand in a single line. -Christina
You'll find LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 for the Wii and Xbox at our affiliate Amazon. Keep your eyes on reviews for the Playstation 3; at this time it appears to be too buggy to recommend.
