Entry 8: The Video Games – Games 4-7 and Lego

             The video game based on the fourth Harry Potter story was the first entry to take on the stereotypical approach to licensed gaming. Rather than using the more unique art style of the previous games, the game now modeled the characters after the actors of the movies. The cover art for the video game even featured an actual picture of Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter instead of an original art. The game itself was reflected by this as well. Gone were the day of freely exploring Hogwarts and immersing yourself in the world as you made your way through the story, but now the game followed a very linear path with no room to go off the beaten path. It became the kind of game that you didn’t really take at your own pace, and could more than likely beat in a matter of a day or two. This was in fact the most poorly received Harry Potter game to date.

            The fifth game was the first one to make its way to a new generation of consoles with the PS3 and Xbox 360 being added to the mix. This entry featured more realistic visuals with the characters actually distinctly resembling the actors from the movies. While the fourth game did try this approach, it wasn’t until the power of the new generation that these games could really make the characters look realistic. The fifth game did take steps towards correcting the problems of the fourth though, and the open world explorations made a return. This was retained in the 6^th game as well.

            The 7^th game was split into two parts just like the films. This was viewed as more of a cash grab, and it became apparent that the games were officially no longer following the spirit of just giving a game version of the source material, and were now full-on movie based games. This movie cut exploration altogether as well, and followed the trend of “Cover Shooters,” games where you just run around and shoot enemies rather than focus on puzzle solving. While this didn’t necessarily make them bad games, it was a far cry of an ending to the game series from the puzzle filled games fans came to know.

            The final two games thus far are a part of the Lego video game franchise. Lego Harry Potter years 1-4 and 5-7. These games are more geared towards children (but are also enjoyed by adults), and cover the entire Harry Potter story over the span of these two games in a unique Lego fashion, and are generally well received.