Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

"The magic just isn't there"

The fourth installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, has finally made its way to the big screen, as well as right into your home, on seven platforms. Unfortunately, the GBA version at least, leaves a lot to be desired.

Gameplay: 5/10

The game consists of choosing a level, as well as one of the three main characters, and trying to reach the end, while pressing buttons, solving puzzles, and defeating monsters the whole way. Each character has varying stats, with their own strengths and weaknesses. Unfortunately, there are only three stats: attack, speed, and defense.

Gameplay is very repetitive, consisting of the same few monsters and tasks, either changing items around you in some way, whether that is freezing, repairing, burning, moving, etc., or pressing buttons. The RPG elements of the previous game have been removed, with all battle becoming realtime. Often, all monsters in an area must be defeated to progress, which is quite easy as there is a single, simple way to defeat each monster. Having all three characters on screen at once is very beneficial, as they attack monsters along with you, with better accuracy than I personally possess. In general, levels are extremely small and monotonous.

The game is lamentably short, but does have several collectables. Tri-Wizard shields to unlock bonuses, and beans to purchase cards. There is also a dancing mini-game, and you can go back and replay any level you would like.

Story: 2/10

The game generally follows the movie more than the book, using a number of direct quotes from the film. Unfortunately, the game assumes prior knowledge and understanding of the plot (or disinterest), and does very little to explain the story.

Graphics: 4/10

While the graphics are a definite improvement over the previous game, they could absolutely have been better, especially for such a short game. The character models closely follow the movie this time around, which is a marked difference from the previous games.

Sound: 7/10

While the music is nothing extraordinary, I certainly enjoyed it and it was definitely one of the redeeming features of the game. It really has a majestic feel to it. The sound effects sound nice and are used appropriately, but the voice clips are of very low-quality and don't sound anything like the characters.

Value: 3/10

For the price, this game just lacks the fun, length, or replay value. While there are collectables, there is very little incentive or motivation to collect them.

Overall: 4/10

I was expecting another Prisoner of Azkaban, and was sorely disappointed. This game discarded the excellent RPG system of the previous game, and replaced it with a set of monotonous, menial tasks.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 11/28/05