Before doing that, however, I headed over to a Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. Here, I was running along the rooftops of Hogwarts, searching for a Triwizard Shield. Along the way, I was hindered by drawbridges, blasts of fire, and flaming salamanders. With a few charms and jinxes, though, I was able to make it through. The Aqua Eructo charm came in especially handy here, as it extinguished the salamanders -- while I kept this water spell flowing on the creature, one of my partners could run in and jinx the beast away. Aqua Eructo is also great for dousing the fire pits that spawn the salamanders.
The drawbridges were lowered thanks to the Carpe Retractum charm, although some of the heavier bridges required all three kids to work together before making any progress.
Once inside the Forbidden Forest, I came across a new plant creature that could be magically pulled back and fired like a slingshot. This comes in handy for clearing paths and dealing with enemies. I was soon in big trouble, though, thanks to Hagrid's escaped Hungarian Horntail dragon. As the dragon flew overhead breathing fire down on me, I was forced to do plenty of dodging as well as use Aqua Eructo to put out the fires started by the monster.
After that hectic level, it was nice to tackle a slower level like the Prefects' unnaturally large bathroom. In this expansive stage, Harry's trying to recover a lost dragon egg. There aren't a lot of enemies in the bathroom, but a lot of obstacles to get past. Most of the puzzles involve levitating exploding cauldrons into streampipes and turning giant faucets with Carpe Retractum.
The Musical Fruit
In addition to these new stages, I also got a look at how the power-up system works. As you play through the game, you'll collect tons of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. There are a few different colors of beans, each with different effects. Red beans restore health and blue beans fill your Magicus Extremus bar, which activates a sort of "super magic" mode for all three characters. The green beans, however, act as currency, allowing you to purchase trading cards in between stages.
There are 150 cards total, each with a scene from the movie on it. In addition to looking neat, the cards each grant your character a new ability. Some cards increase the power of your jinxes, some boost your stamina, and others give you a natural advantage against certain creatures. The trick is, only three cards can be equipped at any time, so in between levels, you must plan which cards you want to take in with you. At the end of each level, you're rated on your magic proficiency, and a high score will allow you to purchase even more cards.
From what we've gotten to play so far, Goblet of Fire looks like it's going to be the best Harry Potter game yet. The multiplayer option is especially fun, and it'll be a great game for you to play with a child or younger sibling. And, given the amount of collectible power-ups, even older gamers should have some fun with it.
