Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire review

Harry's older and more powerful, but his gameplay is just becoming stale.

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Great character models

  • +

    Tri-wizard tournament events are fun

  • +

    Appealing visual presentation

Cons

  • -

    Lacks the book's personality

  • -

    Boring

  • -

    push-button spell casting

  • -

    Over-emphasis on shrill dialogue

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For the fourth foray into the Hogwarts school of magic, Electronic Arts has apparently decided enough is enough. No more interesting adventure. Away with compelling spell casting. All that's left is action, loads of dialogue from the film and a healthy dose of disinterest.

It's no shock to find that Goblet is faithfully bound to the book and film, so the story opens at the Quidditch World Cup campsite, moves to Hogwarts, then replicates the events of the Tri-Wizard tournament. Along the way players control Harry, Ron or Hermione. All three are typically onscreen at once, but there's no hot-swapping between characters. The non-player characters are usually controlled competently by the computer, which will enthusiastically attack and can be directed to give spell casting assistance. During the tournament the AI support drops away, as Harry must face that event alone.

More info

GenreAction
DescriptionIf EA could loosen up and trust Rowling's audience to respond to a challenge there might be a wonderful adventure game for Harry Potter to star in, but this definitely isn't it.
Platform"Xbox","GBA","GameCube","DS","PC","PS2","PSP"
US censor rating"Everyone 10+","Everyone 10+","Everyone 10+","Everyone 10+","Everyone 10+","Everyone 10+","Everyone 10+"
UK censor rating"","","","","","",""
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
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