Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire review

Tying in with the movie release (the best in the series) this game has come out just in time for the Christmas rush. The corporate powerhouse that is EA has, as usual, acquired the license from Warner Bros to immerse the gamer in the world of wands and wizards. There must have been an enchanted monkey on EA’s back in the form of the hordes of Harry Potter readers, and it shows as the old game system has been dumped and been replaced by a clone of the more successful Lord of the Rings series. While that doesn’t sound like anything special, it is in fact a smart move.

The Triwizard Tournament, a daring competition in which one competitor from each of the 3 wizard/witch schools participates in. As per usual in the Harry Potter books, not all goes to plan. Instead of just three wizards being picked, there is a fourth. And it’s our boy, Harry. From here it is up to the player to carry on and remain true to the story, not of the original novel but that of the films. Although there are elements within the game that fans of the book are sure to recognise.

The Boy Who Lived

Fans of The Lords of the Rings games are sure to feel at home here. The game moves in the same pattern. The player must choose a level and complete some tasks in order to progress to the next area. The level design is nice and scenery from the film is well replicated. Harry and his two friends, who are modelled on their film counter-parts, must use teamwork to move forwards.

They must combine their enchantments and if two or more characters cast a spell at the same time some fantastic things can happen. One new feature of this game is its co-op mode. Players now can invite two friends over and together defeat the Dark Lord. This co-op mode works incredibly and can lead to some heated arguments (Yes, I‘m aware how that sounds).

Players can join the game at anytime by simply pressing start and they also have the option to drop out at anytime as well. This feature should come in handy when your relatives want you to interact with the family just throw them a controller and watch them make fools of themselves.

Now for the obligatory RPG element, a feature which despite nowadays seems to be everywhere is a welcome edition to the series. As the player progresses through the game they are awarded with the chance to buy cards for each of the characters. These cards can improve each characters powers. At the beginning of each mission you can arm your character with 3 cards. There is also an auto-sort feature for when you’re too lazy. You must buy these cards with beans you collect from defeated creatures. Though not all beans count towards your wizarding funds. Red ones fill your health and the blue ones, well the blue ones lead to something rather special.

Magicus Extremos

Among the normal enchantments, jinxes and accios there is a new sort of magic. This is Magicus Extremos. Blue beans which can be collected through the levels fill your magic meter and when it’s time all players must press circle at the same time and Magicus Extremos is activated. This supercharges all your characters spells and will make you uber-powerful. While this can come in incredibly handy in tricky situations it can lead to some graphical slowdown.

All the other spells at Harry and his chums disposal are context sensitive. Each jinx and enchantment has its own use and will be used at the appropriate time. Although I found this new spell system quite exasperating as sometimes the wrong spell is used or else some other enchantment would be more beneficial. Also the many different jinxes available seem to be, for the most part, completely random. This can be quite frustrating especially during Moody’s Challenges.

Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

Along with the new cinematic graphical style comes a whole load of troubles with the camera. You have hardly no control over the camera. A somewhat bothersome problem when it comes to manipulating objects with your wand. I often found myself nearly killing my team-mates while levitating an explosive cauldron of Bubotuber Pus, something I’m sure Mrs. Rowling would not be too happy about. The camera can be annoying as you and your friends run along the levels, it seemingly zooms out at its own will and with not warning.

Coupled with the camera problems, the game also doesn’t let you know what it wants from you. I often found myself fighting an onslaught of never ending creatures, when all I had to do was run up a bit to collect a Triwizard Shield. In previous iterations this was not the case and I was surprised to see it was so in this one. I was even more surprised to find that my comrades stood their with me while I fought off the hordes of re-spawning monsters, perhaps they could be coded to tell me to push on as they seem always to have something to say at other points throughout the game.

Wands at Dawn

Despite the strong co-op elements in the game there are certain parts which Harry must do alone. Luckily these are some of the most exciting things in the game and the film. Harry must endure his three Triwizard Tasks on his own, oh, and there’s also the cataclysmic battle with his nemesis the evil Lord Voldemort (And that was such a great part of the movie too - Ed.)

All these tasks are immensely enjoyable and the ability to replay them is a good thing. I can guarantee you will be flying over Hogwarts evading the snapping Hungarian Horntail or swimming underwater in search of your best friend Ron, all the time getting rid of the pesky Merpeople. It is worth all the repetitive gameplay, and questing for Triwizard Shields in order to unlock these levels.

There’s Magic in the Air

The Harry Potter series has always been suited to games due to its strong action elements and EA has certainly used this within the game. Coupled with the game's strong visuals this game will be the most successful of the series. Unfortunately though there are some letdowns. The cut-scenes do not feature any clips from the film, instead they seem cheap and tacky. For non-fans the storyline is not reinforced enough so you could find yourself lost in this magical world. But this game has improved on the previous games based on the Harry Potter franchise.