It is classic Lego game fun and while I would not rate is as highly as the previous games – Star Wars, Batman and Indiana Jones it is still definitely a worthy addition to your collection if you are also a Lego fan.

The previous games got bigger and bigger in gameplay space especially the last Indiana Jones episodes so it was a disappointment to find that Harry Potter version feels a heck of a lot smaller.  I think this is due to being mostly in the confines of Hogwarts Castle so I did feel at times a little claustrophobic and restricted and it also felt quite linear.  I suppose this is not really something I can criticise too much because of course they are trying to vaguely follow a story which was mostly set around Hogwarts and if they strayed too much away from that, die hard Harry Potter fans would find holes in the story.  As usual with Lego games there are tons of collectibles – red bricks, gold bricks, postal boxes and some which are unique to Harry Potter like shield crests – each level has 4 quarters of a shield to collect. There are also bonus levels to play for extra gold bricks.

There is really not much I can say about this game further. It is Lego, in the same vein as the other games with a different skin and a smaller playing area. If you are a Harry Potter fan you can add it to your collection, if you are like me and do not like Harry Potter but are a Lego game fan, it is still a worthy game to play because you will soon forget you are playing the series.

One final note for the developer, I think the title is wrong. I know the game is aimed at all ages, but the title Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 really makes it sound like the actual game is aimed at pre-school when it is not.

GOOD/10

What next for Lego games?  Spiderman, Superman, or maybe a collection of super heroes would be good?

Based around seven real world locations, including New Mexico, Italy and Wyoming, PURE will have you tricking your way to off-road racing gold.  

PURE is not just an off road racer.  You must beat the game using tricks, stunts and aerial jumps.  It is a bit like snowboarding but in a big quad bike and without the snow.  

Naturally there will be online multiplayer and 16 of you can cram a room, get drunk and fall 100 feet down a hill on a 4-wheeled motorbike.  Just be sure to have the vomit bowl ready in case the jump is so high you get an attack of the vertigo devil.  All in the name of gaming of course and not real life.  

Furthermore in PURE you can build your ride from scratch and there are approximately 60,000 variations of quad bike to build so you can mod and tune to your hearts content.  Check out the videos below for how to mod your quad.

PURE recently won the Best Racing Game award in the Critics Game Awards of E3 2008, so you know it does have something special up it’s sleeve. 

PURE will be available in Europe on 26th September on Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC

I will be reviewing PURE hopefully some time before it’s release so keep your eyes peeled for a run down of this great looking game.

Check out these crazy videos

Check out my more in depth Review

There are 10 bowling alleys to unlock, except these are no normal bowling alleys.  Instead of an alley in the traditional sense, you have a wide map area with lots of sets of pins and collectables.  Think maps about the size of Marble Blast Ultra but with bowling pin sets scattered across the course.  The purpose of course is to knock down the set of pins in that frame only (the one which is highlighted by a red arrow) but there is nothing to stop you from going for other sets of pins on the same course to boost your score of the current pin set.  Say for example for some reason you miss your target pin set.  You can guide your ball while it still has pace to another pin set and try and take down those instead.  If you take any out of that set, when it comes to bowling that set in your next go, the pins you took down will already be down.

Rockets can boost your balls to go a lot faster.  But be careful when using them because pressing X to left boost will shift the ball slightly left and you can actually miss your target, the same for pressing B to boost right.  It is difficult to explain but you can clearly see how it works in the trial version of the game.

Alongside the courses and collectables on the map you have challenges and tournaments.  Challenges are against one computer opponent and Tournaments are against 4 or 5.  The good thing is that you do not have to go through every computer controlled opponents before you get another go.  You only see your goes and the opponents are tallied up in the background.

This is of course also online and local multiplayer if you wish to play your friends.

Throughout the course of the game you will earn cash and this will allow you to buy better bowling balls with more accuracy and better firepower.

It is a good game and quite addictive and certainly worthy of 800 points in my opinion.

There will of course be the annual tweak of the controls, adding extra control methods for new players and die hard fans alike. With new modes and new courses added to the mix, will the new 09 beat the impressive 08 version?

There will be a downloadable demo of the new game available on Playstationnetwork and Xbox Live on 14th August so stay tuned.

Check out this amazing screenshot below

That is when the beauty ends. I am finding the puzzles really frustrating. Naturally they are easy early on, but as the game progresses it seems to go way uphill in the difficulty stakes and way too fast. I have got to a point now where I cannot be bothered to continue it because I simply do not have the logical part of my brain active at the moment.

Maybe I should just listen to the music