Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the fourth installment of the Harry Potter series and is the turning point in the overall story. So does the Goblet of Fire game hold up to this responsibility?

As far as the looks of Harry Potter are concerned, the characters, Hogwarts and all of the other locations from the book and movie definitely do the series justice. Characters like Harry, Ron and Hermione are amazingly close representations of the actors from the movie. Between their civilian, muggle outfits while at the World Quidditch Tournament to the gang's Hogwarts attire and Harry's Triwizard robes -- each character's clothing and style are dead on.

Like the graphics, The Goblet of Fire's sound takes on a darker feel. The game's background music is low and deep, adding a lot of mood to the game. Overall, the game's music and sound effects help to sell the game and draw you into the action.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire follows Harry and his friends as they attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the fourth year. This year, Hogwarts is going to be host to a unique championship that hasn't been held in over a hundred years.

In this Triwizard Tournament, three champions are chosen, one from Hogwarts and one from each of the two visiting schools. But something has gone wrong. Someone has bewitched the Goblet of Fire and not only has it chosen the three competitors, but it has also elected Harry as a fourth champion. Now Harry will have to face a dragon, navigate the depths of the Black Lake and work his way to the center of a dark and dangerous hedge maze, all the while trying to figure out who put his name in the Goblet.

When not in a Tournament task, Harry will typically be joined by his two friends, Ron and Hermione. The three of them will have to work together to take down enemies and progress through the story.

Along the way, you will collect Chocolate Frogs and Bertie's Every Flavor Beans. In general, these feel like tacked-on collectibles and didn't seem to enhance the gameplay experience.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire could be tougher, but since most of the spells you perform are context sensitive, it generally amounts to casting a spell at the right time. So instead of having to load up a certain spell or charm and use them at the right time in an adventure or problem-solving like way, the game takes on a more twitch-based aspect.

This one gameplay mechanic changes the game's difficulty so much that it becomes a lot easier than it should be. Besides the rare occasion when you need to push or pull blocks around, all you have to worry about is when to hit the context-sensitive button.

Since Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire relies heavily on context-sensitive moves, you pretty much just need to know the Square and X buttons. These buttons use a charm or jinx respectively and which charm or jinx you execute is based primarily on what you are looking at or what the other two characters are doing.

For instance, if you are trying to move a block, then the game uses a spell that can push or pull large objects. But if you aren't standing in the right place or facing exactly the right way, you could end up performing some other charm. Since the spell that is cast is purely based on context, any real illusion that there might be some challenging puzzles to solve goes out the window.

As for the jinxes, you pretty much end up seeing the same thing. You have no control over which attacks you perform. You just use one of the different jinxes in your characters' arsenals and which one you use typically fits no rhyme or reason (at least as far as I can tell).

If you like action games that require very little thought, then yes Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a game that you will probably like. If you were a fan of the previous titles and are expecting more of the same -- sorry to disappoint you.