It is also of note that Harry Potter LEGO games are very easy and offer very little challenge. None of those games are meant to be challenging but others have quite high number of enemies while mainly in the first half of HP series you only "compete" with environment and hardly meet any enemy at all.

As for DLC, before LEGO Marvel there are none AFAIK.
Also, the games before LEGO Batman 2 (DC Super Heroes) are not voiced at all and are only narrated by voiceless cut scenes. I wouldn't say it hurts them, though.
I personally like the games but a lot of enjoyement is from playing co-op and it wasn't as much fun when I played solo. But still good games.

probably the best in the series. seems to include the kingdoms expansion as well (allowing for a host of mods). However, those of you purchasing it may find a constant CTD when playing the kingdoms expansion - so it may be wise to deselect it in the dlc under properties on steam.

Edit: just bought it as a backup (have it on disc). its an all in one download, so I'd actually avoid it due to the never fixed CTD errors on the expansion - that once installed also affect the base game.

Edit2: IGNORE THE ABOVE! BUY IT NOW! IT IS JUST THE BASE GAME! BARGAIN! BARGAIN! BARGAIN!

I just wanted to give a shoutout to OlliOlli, which is a really fun and quite challenging arcade skateboarding game. If you grew up playing the Tony Hawk games, it'll evoke memories (at least it did for me), but also note the controls are completely different. They make great sense of course, but I'd played Tony Hawk for so long pressing a certain button to grind no longer applied.

I guess a gamepad is necessary, right?

Game Giveaway of the Day is giving away the Dreamscapes: The Sandman CE today! O_o This is a fantastic adventure-lite, one of my absolute favorites! You can get it here: http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/dreamscapes-the-sandman/

Not necessarily, actually. I played both ways without any problems, but since I played Tony Hawk games on my Playstation way back when, I was much more comfortable playing with a gamepad. The keyboard controls worked surprisingly well, I thought.
Thanks! Downloading now.

What do you enjoy about it? What can I look forward to?

I'll just post (most of) my review for the game (no spoilers) Excuse the missing emoticons, I don't feel like editing them out :p

There is a ton to do in this game: Besides playing the game and all that entails, you also need to find 120 beholders (if you don't know what one is, you willll~! ) and find pieces of a shattered item and put it back together. We have a diary which will gives us the back story. Each time we find "a" page, it will go into your diary. The thing is, the page we find is actually a group of about five pages (each time), which you will have to enter your diary to read. This is great for those who don't want to interrupt gameplay to read, and for those who don't care about the story. I personally LOVE a lot of story, and enjoyed reading every scrap of information I came across

There are a few localization problems, ie. "loose" instead of "lose" and oddly-worded phrases such as "Searching the sand with bare hands is useless," but it's not terribly distracting, because it only happens occasionally, and because the game is otherwise so brilliantly-made Keep an eye out for a joke early on in the game... just keep in mind that the developers are Russian, and you won't miss the funny

This is my favorite kind of game -- it plays like the very best IHOG, but with no hidden object scenes! We have achievements (always fun!), a deliciously creepy atmosphere, interesting story, and gorgeous graphics/cut scenes. The only thing I don't love about the graphics is the character design, but again, the game is so good that it's a negligible point

We have an adorable little critter that seems to be part frog... meaning that it eats the same way a frog would. I mention it simply for the sake of those who have problems with perceived animal cruelty. I honestly wasn't bothered by this because of the way it was handled, so hopefully it won't push others' buttons, either.

I managed to miss seven of the beholders during the main game -- some of them are very hard to spot! Luckily, there is a tab that appears at the left side of the screen if there are any beholders in that area to find. Clicking on the tab will show you how many you have left in that area (which may include zoom-in scenes.)

I mentioned that there are achievements, but they're nothing special -- just things that you would accomplish from playing the game. What's different is that when you go to the achievements screen, you get to place each trophy (adorable!) on the screen like a puzzle. I love it! I'm going to replay the game just so I can see the whole picture completed.

CE Content:


Achievements (there are 14 in the puzzle-trophy room that I mentioned above)
15 new locations
More beholders to find
12 wallpapers (there is an owl one that is just stunning!)
17 concept art pictures
9 music tracks
8 AMAZING screensavers I want three of them on rotation! lol~
Built-in Strategy Guide (which I never used)


The game ends in a way that feels very satisfying whilst setting us up for a sequel, which I will buy on sight! The Bonus Chapter gives us some amazing closure to issues we didn't even know we had, and the gameplay, whilst it seems very straightforward at first, is more in depth than it originally looks like it will be.

This is a superb game with excellent bonus content, and I highly recommend the CE on this one! Major thumbs up from me!

Great review, thanks for sharing! Really looking forward to this game now - hurry up and download!

Just a heads up: I was curious about this game and Game Giveaway of the Day and I've read that it is wrapped in protection called Themida, which includes SecureEngine, some anti-crack process which as I understand it, runs all the time. More here:
http://www.oreans.com/secureengine.php

I'm not implying this is horrible, but I expect others have the same curiosity about what the game (supposedly) installs. If anyone has better information, please shout.

edit:
According to Giveaway of the Day, Themida is only temporary, and exists and runs on your machine only while the game is being installed. After installation, Themida disappears entirely. Which makes me more comfortable. More here:
http://blog.giveawayoftheday.com/gotd-wrapper-is-updated/

just bought it as a backup (have it on disc). its an all in one download, so I'd actually avoid it due to the never fixed CTD errors on the expansion - that once installed also affect the base game.


If the copy you have has a cd key you can add it to steam, they added that option with the gamespy thing

No that never worked for me. Tried it several times and as theyve removed gamespy anyways...

Could be a regional thing though.

Edit: actually more likely it was already used - the disc editions I have are second hand

The catch with giveawayoftheday is that what you download MUST be installed today. If you get a new computer, you'd have to buy the game elsewhere to get the game again.

I got the CE directly from Playrix (Shaman Games made it for Playrix) because Big Fish only offers the standard edition (boo, hiss!) Besides, there's an ongoing $5.99 special for the CE at Playrix if you have the right link ;D

actually more likely it was already used - the disc editions I have are second hand

Dang that sucks, well i mean when they removed gamespy and changed over to steam multi-player they made all the keys redeemable on steam bleh i should have explained that better.

Could be a regional thing as well and some might just sadly not be redeemable.

Well, I'll dig out the box anyway and see if anyone on my friends list has it wishlisted and they can try it (as most are from other world regions, worth a shot).

Cheers tho!

This game is super fun. It's kind of ultra-lite, as adventures go, but it's full of things to poke and click, and it keeps the pace easy. Thanks for the recommendation!