Review: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Game (PSP)

Now typically you'd expect most movie tie-in games to just flat out suck, and actually be laughably bad. With that in mind I set off on a quest to watch Goblet of Fire and pick up the game for PSP on opening day, both tasks I ended up succeeding at, unlike some of my coworkers. I kept my expectations for the game pretty low and I am pleased to report as a result the game "exceeds expectations" by quite a bit.

First and foremost: this is nothing that resembles anything but a pure action game. If you're looking for much of a plot, well, the best I can say is you probably should go read Goblet of Fire itself, or pick up a well crafted summary of the book (I recommend this one) to fill in those missing blanks. The missing blanks aren't even essential to the premise of the game: Cast spells, collect beans, run through the tasks of the Triwizard Tournament, and tango with Voldemort. Come to think of it minus the bean part, that almost sums up Goblet of Fire. The areas in the game follow the movie, and by and large you have to go at them in order (the three tasks, etc.) to progress and unlock new levels.

It's certainly pretty though. The 'cut scenes' are sufficiently animated and the art quality is outstanding. This movie-game is designed to tied very closely to the movie, so much so you find matching visuals down to the details on Hermione's sweater (game, movie). Considering the collectible cards in game are actual pictures from the movie, you'd think they would have gone further with the cut scenes, or perhaps added some missing plot back from the movie for that ultra-geekery holistic Potter-filled experience (house elves!) that you can only get by experiencing the book/movie/game, but no. Instead, EA went the other way and cut down the plot even further, which didn't seem to hurt the game all that much. They left out the Yule Ball, and I am actually glad for this - no dancing mini-games for me! What an underutilized opportunity to expand the fanbase, though - although I daresay if you're not a fan, it's a toss up if the back of the box will be enticing enough to draw random people like you in. Like Goblet of Fire's[/a] movie, it presumes if you're here, you know why you're here, and if you're new to Potter, all it can politely do is shrug and recommend 'catching up' some other time. Truthfully, I wasn't looking for plot when I picked up the game anyway - I had just come fresh from the movie itself, so this disappointment in untapped potential is a lot milder than most people's.

This brings me to the mini-games. I've never been a raging fan of mini-games, and by and large the ones included in Goblet of Fire are no exception. Matching games are extremely easy, or perhaps I've played way too many of them before. A few dances of the fingers later and Exploding Snap is a snap. However, if you like mini-games, you're welcome to enjoy them to your heart's content.

Another strange quirk is the non-adjustable camera. There's cinematic-feel, and then there's just annoying. Sometimes you are zoomed out or in at the wrong times - your enemy may appear off camera. Also, this makes it hard to line up spells on occasion, as the game tends to pick the target - and not always the right ones with a pack of critters. The game is very fussy about being the 'right way' to cast something - almost too much so. In the early stages of the game, I found myself wishing I could command the other two members of the trio to 'stop playing with that gate and get over here to help me' - combined casts are more impressive and usually more effective, flying blind is not so impressive.

The controls are very intuitive and just in case you are like me and give the manual the barest of scans before diving in to anything - if that, the first and second areas (Quidditch World Cup, Defense Against the Dark Arts) will keep you from button mashing your way through. If you're not like me you may as well dive in without reading the manual anyway, I promise it isn't that difficult. Get ready to smack down the jinx button though (X), as lurking beans hide in containers, and you'll want to get them the best you can (they fly all over and you will miss some). Fortunately, in places like the Hogwarts exterior, the Pez dispensers of Bertie Bott beans are all over the place, so don't stress on a stray bean - or five. You'll catch up, the containers respawn after a short bit of time.

You can also play in the early parts of the game as any of the three characters, although naturally as the focus of the Triwizard Tournament is on Harry, so you'll need to build him up a bit along the way so you can do the tasks with the dragon and lake. While purists may complain that the entire trio shouldn't be in the Forbidden Forest, for example, this is an acceptable stretch for this die hard fan simply because it allows me to play someone other than Harry the entire time. I did not try out the multiplayer options.

Other pluses: graphics and sound are outstanding, and the opening logo with the silver WB and smoke definitely had me craving for a UMD movie version of Goblet of Fire[/I] (though I'd be happy with any of them once they come out, I tend to forget my PSP can quite admirably play movies - with headphones). Also, if you ignore the fact that there is a complex and twisted plot behind all of the action waiting for you in the books (and even if you don't), the game is a nice series of tasks on its own, if occasionally repetitive. The game is also decently challenging and entertaining enough to recommend purchasing at some point, sooner rather than later of course for Harry Potter fans. So there it is in a nutshell, [i]Goblet of Fire turned out to be a good movie with a pretty decent tie-in game. I'm surprised.

EA sent the kind people over at HPANA some behind the scenes movies today, which include interviews with Daniel Radcliffe, Robert Pattinson, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Stanislav Ianevski, Clémence Poésy, Harvey Elliott (Executive Producer EA), Matt Birch (Lead Designer EA), Raj Tande (Technical Director EA), Guy Miller (Creative Director EA), David Heyman, Alex Laurant (Art Director EA), and Justin Manning (Producer EA).

There are videos about Mastering the Magic, Characters, Playing with Friends, the Game, and The Tournament.

Obligatory Links you may find useful:
HP Warcry and their newest contest (because it has got a great prize).
HP Warcry's Goblet of Fire First Impressions Soundtrack Review
HP Warcry's Goblet of Fire Non-Spoiler Review
HP Warcry's Goblet of Fire "Oh Yeah, Spoilers" Review
Mirror links for Mastering the Magic, Characters, Playing With Friends, the Game, and The Tournament