Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Can you master the magic?

NA release: 8th November 2005
EU release: 11th November 2005
JP release: 26th November 2005
Developer: EA UK
Publisher: EA
NGC Magazine Score: 65%
Mods Used: None

This one takes a massive departure from the previous Harry Potter games, ditching the explorable Hogwarts Castle and replacing it with monotonous linear levels that consist of just dull looking areas. It’s a co-op beat ’em up game, and a pretty terrible example of one.

While most games like this support four players, Goblet of Fire only supports three – they could have let a fourth use Neville even if it isn’t “correct” – fun is more important than sticking to the books. Not that this game does that, either, with all the enemies feeling like they came from the wrong game and not looking anything like they do in the films.

There’s also zero satisfaction from combat. Mashing A to send lights towards enemies feels extremely detached. Some enemies require you to press B to make them vulnerable, with your character performing whatever spell is needed. In an extremely lazy attempt at making the game last longer, you often encounter obstacles that require you (and other characters) to hold B to get past, some of them take 30 seconds or just fail for no reason, it’s insane.

You’ll also need to collect “Triwizard Badges”, essentially another way to pad the game in a tedious way, something really not fun, either with others or on your own. On top of this, any friends that join you will have to sit back and watch for some levels as only Harry can do them (just let everyone pay regardless of canon, such a stupid decision). This included the final third of the game, meaning everyone else can just watch and do nothing. So it makes sacrifices to be a bland co-op game, but then completely fails at being a co-op game. Abysmal.

Worst

Even worse, several ‘puzzles’ have to be done again and again – every level includes three or four Tri-Wizard shields that each instantly teleport the gang back to the menu screen, resetting all the gates and respawning all the monsters. Chuck in overblown loading pauses and levels, and a camera that just starts shaking uncontrollably in our boxed copy, and you’ve got a game that deserves a quick spell in Azkaban.
Joel Snape, NGC Magazine #115

Remake or remaster?

Not for this.

Official Ways to get the game

There’s no official way to get Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire