I grew up loving classic RTS (Real Time Strategy) games on my Amiga and PC such as Command and Conquer with the simple goal of building a base and army to go destroy an enemy’s base and army. There is just so much depth to RTS games that I would knowingly and lovingly lose hours into each one and for a time I really missed the genre having become a more console based player until HALO Wars series on Xbox really grabbed me again for great RTS games. So, I am always on the lookout for that fun RTS experience so when 8 bit Armies RTS appeared for Xbox One, it instantly grabbed me in many ways and most of them fun

8 Bit RTS takes a lot of the elements of traditional RTS gameplay styles and brings them together in one title with retro 8 bit visuals and gameplay that is deceptive in its simplicity. On the surface and first glance you would be forgiving for looking past it but this is a game certainly worth a look if you are a fan of RTS or even if you want to help educate someone into how RTS games work at the ground level.

The game features a 25 mission campaign where the player can pick to control either the Renegade or Guardian factions throughout. Each Mission can be played on one of three difficulties, by increasing the difficulty it just adds specific objectives to be completed for that mission such as not actually building any infantry or completing a certain task before completing the mission. Challenges increase in later missions giving players the opportunity to learn how gameplay works and to develop strategies to tackle those challenges.

Often RTS games struggle with consoles due to using a controller to navigate all the various menus and options but a few get the system right and 8 Bit RTS is definitely one of the best in how it strips down the complexity of an RTS into something that is so common sense and straight forward you wonder how other games have made such a faff over it. Buildings can be selected via the left bumper whilst infantry and vehicles are selected with the right bumper. The next simply pure genius system is how you can assign infantry and vehicles to either X, Y or B, so that you can build three different squads or battalions and by simply pressing one of those buttons, be able to command all of that battalion on the map. This system alone keeps everything clean and precise and such quick management allows for a fast command structure in the mission as well as the ability to spread your forces around the map and still able to manage replacements if necessary and for calling in reinforcements when needed. It is so clean and simple it just works on so many levels.

There is also a co-op mode but that essentially just has two people playing the same way of completing the objectives in a mission but the online Multiplayer does add some PvP to the game for players. Thanks to the simplicity of the systems such as making your base and improving it with new buildings which allows for improved resource collection and advanced infantry and vehicles creation, this game is very pick up and play especially between friends without being bogged down by over complicated systems which is both a blessing and sadly, a curse for the game in that being so stripped down does help with gameplay but hinders the game overall

Both factions in Renegades and Guardians have very similar campaigns and there is no real story movement to reward playing through the levels. Missions do not flow into each other but instead on completion simply takes players to the main campaign mission where the next mission is unlocked to be selected. Before starting the mission, you can select the difficulty which again simply adds specific objectives to be completed in order to earn the three rating stars of bronze, silver and gold for completing them, I often just played on the top difficulty in order to obtain all stars possible for that mission in one go which is great in the later missions but an absolute doddle in the early ones to do.

Whilst I appreciate the simplicity in the control system it also has the side effect of leaving a lot of the gameplay feeling rather shallow and empty as you being to rinse and repeat the same strategy through the campaign which will offer a limited experience for those used to RTS games but then I do not feel this was put together in order to try and beat HALO Wars at what it does as an example.

But there is still a lot her if you are new to the RTS genre or if like me, familiar with the very old school way of playing RTS titles with the retro visuals a great nod back to a simpler time of 8bit consoles and home computers. Loading times are fast meaning you can be back in the action in no time at all and the missions themselves are relatively short to play as well. I really got the classic Command and Conquer feel from playing this and just looking at the way you build vehicles and buildings to advance and unlock the next level vehicle or soldier type has the depth I would expect from any RTS title with the simplicity of the control system.

Long term though, whilst it does not offer the difficulty and experience of a hardened story driven RTS game, what it wants to achieve it does and does it really well. Fun playing against other players online, 8 Bit Armies offers something I had not expected in terms of being fun to play and nostalgic enough that it made me remember those early days of playing RTS games for the first time.

This is the perfect title to teach a younger audience about how RTS games work and if that can bring more fans to the genre and that is a win in my book.

Being honest I never really got into the wizarding world of Harry Potter either through the books or the big screen films. I have watched the films over the years so know the story of the boy who could not be killed, but that is about as far I looked into that world. But that is where my fondness for the TT Games LEGO Series comes into play and finally, after quite a long wait, the LEGO Harry Potter Collection has finally come to Xbox One and what better way of immersing myself into this world of magic then with the magic of LEGO.

When I say it has been a long wait I was not kidding. It has been over two years since the LEGO Harry Potter Collection was released originally as a PS4 exclusive, so for Xbox fans to finally get the chance to play this new remastered collection of LEGO games is long overdue and great timing with both Christmas coming up as well as the release of the sequel to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them now in cinemas. This collection brings together both LEGO Harry Potter games in Years 1-4 and 5-7 for the first time including all DLC character packs and levels for both games into one offering which is a staggering amount of Potter to have in a game.

It is quite hard to think that the original Harry Potter LEGO titles came out back in 2010 and 2011 and featured all eight Harry Potter Films, which was understandably too much for a single game to do justice to and so was split into two games. It also harks back to a very different style in LEGO games story telling though some of the gameplay is naturally very familiar. This was back when LEGOese was the language in the games, way before the games started actually voicing the characters or used actual dialogue from the films themselves so it is a bit strange but also a little heart warming to hear the mumbling of characters in cutscenes which do their best to take a ten minute film scene and turn it into a short cutscene for the game.

Starting with Potter Years 1-4 and the game beautifully takes fans back to when Harry, Hermione and Ron first came to Hogwarts and begin to learn magical spells and start on their epic journeys to being Wizards. Even back on the game’s original release, it was a big game changer for how LEGO games were with the first use of real hub world areas which allowed for free roaming activities outside of standard levels which here enabled players to freely explore Hogwarts. The moment players get to leave the Gryffindor house dormitory and step into Hogwarts you are hit by everything amazing about Hogwarts just by freely walking around from other pupils practising magic to the living paintings on the walls. With the iconic musical score fans will know and love from the films playing as well, players are instantaneously put into the world of Harry Potter so effortlessly right from the off.

It continues into the levels themselves as you follow the same path of each of the films so you have; Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The roster includes characters from all of these films which are unlocked by playing the game levels and solving puzzles in the hub world areas and much like LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, the levels reflect key moments in the films all given an extra level of loveliness thanks to how TT Games have animated the cutscenes to help position the gameplay in the levels. Even as someone who is aware of the films but not a heavy fan in the series, through this collection I am smiling at all the recreated moments and locations because TT Games are so brilliant at the smallest of details that fans will love and remember.

Gameplay is very traditional with the usual smashing of blocks to collect LEGO pegs but what is still genius and timeless is how magic spells are used by characters to solve puzzles and in a way is the very early form of how the super powers of characters in the DC and MARVEL LEGO titles would come to use later but here it has added strength in how you actually have to attend a class in order to learn that spell to be able to use it going forward which has such charm you cannot help but smile  every time you use a spell to solve a puzzle either in the levels themselves or in the hub areas, such as saving Students in Peril who have gotten themselves in trouble allowing for the player to use magic in order to save them.

Whilst you select which of the original games you can play at any time in this collection by going to the main game launcher, I do recommend playing the games in order even if you are familiar with the original LEGO Harry Potter games as the flow and tone of the games change just as they did in the films. For example, when you fire up Years 5-7 there is a distinct darker tone to the music and even the main menu which reflect the final three films in the Harry Potter film series of: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.

Gameplay becomes more action based just as the final three films feature but there is still the wonderful TT Games humour injected throughout the cut-scenes to offer some levity into the darkness of the films. I do think it is a shame however that the two games are still separated, for example again with LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga merged both its games into one for the Complete Saga which came before the Harry Potter games so it is a shame that the same was not done here.

The visuals and animations benefit from the remaster hugely by looking sharper than ever and having just played and reviewed LEGO DC Super Villains, it is great to go back and revisit the more classic style of LEGO gameplay with this collection. The split screen co-op works incredibly well as always and getting to pick who you want to be in the free play mode of the levels is always the highlight in playing LEGO games. The use of the same musical score and audio effects of the films gives extra immersion to the gameplay but feels strange not to hear the characters actually speak but that is only because of the evolution of LEGO games in the eight years since the Harry Potter Games release.

My only real issue with this collection comes in the bugs that are still annoyingly present even though they have been remastered and this collection is actually two years old now by the time it has reached Xbox One. The game did hard crash on me quite a few times which is really frustrating when I was half way through a level and at times, I had to even reload the game because the Hud actually vanished on me and characters became frozen and could not move. This is a shame considering the opportunity to tidy things up even further in the time this collection has been out there but then, no LEGO game has ever been completely free of bugs but it is shame none the less.

As always fans of Harry Potter will have a enhanced appreciation for LEGO The Harry Potter Collection, and all the small details and little in jokes will go down even greater for them but even as a casual fan in myself, I was able to get many of the jokes from the humour and recognised iconic moments from the films in the levels of both games that make up this collection. If you have player or even still own the original versions of the games then outside of having all the DLC included here, it is just the same as you have played just visually improved. But if you have never played these games and in the time since their original release there is a real chance of a new generation of LEGO games and Harry Potter fans who may not have, this is something really worthwhile having especially with the price point already at the £20 or less mark for the physical edition, making this a great stocking filler for Christmas coming up or just to immerse yourself in the original Harry Potter world.

LEGO Harry Potter: The Collection maintains all the charm of the original game and it was actually quite nice to revisit the more classic style of LEGO titles after playing the most recent title to see just how far the series has evolved over the years. But the same humour, passion for the source material and just sheer loveliness make this collection very playable and enjoyable.