Games Reviews Lego Harry Potter, Singularity, Project Runway, Tiger Woods 11

Murphy Simmonds casts his eyes over the latest gaming releases

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Games Reviews: Lego Harry Potter, Singularity, Project Runway, Tiger Woods 11

Lego Star Wars was great. Lego Indiana Jones stretched the formula. By Lego Batman, we were wondering if the series was a well constructed one-trick pony. How wrong we were. Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (4 stars, PC/PS3/PSP/Wii/X360, £17-45, Warner Bros) eases off on the constraints of combat and explores the joys of solving puzzles and messing about. There is love packed into this disc, the lightness, humour and fun of developer Traveller’s Tales take on Lego finding a perfect host in Harry’s magnetic, pored-over adventures. Best kids game of the year so far.
You can talk yourself out of liking Singularity (4 stars, PC/PS3/X360, £25-50, Activision) because though this alternate reality, timeshifting, 50s Russian-themed romp finds inspiration in Half-Life 2 and, particularly, Bioshock, it cannot escape its shooting-by-numbers construction. From those games it borrows and repackages its novelties (powers and weapons that play with time and gravity) leaving insufficient innovation to hide its conventional heart: run, gun, die, repeat. So, yes, it could have been more, but that’s only disappointing if you want it to be. Embrace the Ronseal gameplay, enjoy the tone – its tongue firmly in deadpan cheek – and you’ll find plenty to enjoy.
Dancing on Ice, the game, worked – although just barely – because its subject matter translated into something gameish. Project Runway the game (2 stars, Wii, £13-25, Atari) doesn’t because its subject matter doesn’t. Nintendo, perhaps, could take the concept of fashion design, boil it down, zhush it up and emerge with something inventive and joyful. For anyone else it’s a tall order, so it’s little surprise that the recently-established Tornado Studios reverted to a minigame collection. How very Wii. The real shame is that they’re not much fun, save a spot of Balance Board catwalking. Slim pickings, even for the target audience of fans aged six to 12.
We hate golf. Oddly, though, we love golf games. So for us,Tiger Woods 11 (4 stars, PC/Wii/X360, £30-50, EA) is not just as fun as being Tiger Woods, but more fun; except for the bit when he slept with all those women. This annual EA Sports juggernaut is, inevitably, better than the last one. Key new gameplay nuggets include True-Aim, which makes things enjoyably trickier, and Focus, which limits your special arcadey powers. More challenge, then, for series veterans, and a more balanced experience overall. The Wii version, as ever, has the best controls.

Posted on Wednesday 21st July 2010
Murphy Simmonds

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