Buzz! Quiz TV

After a staggering 10 titles, all launched within three years of one another, Buzz! has finally landed on the PS3 console. For the few of you out there who don’t know, Buzz! is essentially a trivia game that contains a wealth of questions across a variety of genres and plays out just like a TV game show. Complete with actual buzzer controllers, players must answer as many questions correctly as possible with the final reward being crowned the ultimate Quiz Master.

Buzz! Quiz TV, the latest title in the franchise, is no different. In fact this is almost a disappointment considering the leap in the technology at hand, but Relentless Software have taken the “if it ain’t broke, why fix it?” approach. Fans of Buzz! are likely to be grateful for this and the game will be instantly familiar to previous players, but the PS3 version still has some differences.

Graphically, the game has been given a well deserved face-lift. The pre-game menu system is incredibly slick, using television channels to represent the genre of questions that leads into the television game-show concept beautifully. Once you have selected your particular quiz (the categories are the same as previous Buzz! games, consisting of Lifestyle, Sports, General Knowledge, Movies & TV and Music) you then select your virtual character. Previous owners of Buzz! will recognize the familiar eccentric personalities for you to chose from, including the air-headed cheerleader, the drugged-up rock star, the 80’s revival chick and even an incredibly irritating mime character. All of them have been updated for the next-gen engine and move with incredibly smooth animations with more expressive facial features than previous titles. The only issue is the animations seem far too repetitive, often with your character doing the same dance move or pose time after time again.

Although the heart of the game is a question and answer format, Buzz! Quiz TV contains variations on the basic quiz gameplay. For example, “Pass the Bomb” is usually a compulsory mode of gameplay where there is a lit explosive that rotates between all the players. Answer your question correctly and the bomb is passed along to the next person. Answer incorrectly and you’re stuck holding it until you get one right. Obviously you don’t want to be holding the bomb when it finally explodes, but this can often be just a matter of timing as even if you answer everything right in good time you can still end up with soot on your face.

Other game modes that change the pace of the game include Fastest Finger, where the first person to answer correctly gets the points. Pie Fight is where the fastest correct answerer gets to throw a cream pie at the opponent of their choice. After being hit by two cream pies, that player is eliminated from the round. This particular game does have the potential for nasty ganging-up on a particular player so be warned for probable family disputes. Moving on, Point Stealer can drastically alter the rank of the competitors with the person with the correct answer able to deduct points from another and add them to their own point tally. This round essentially closes the gap between the point leaders and makes the game more interesting even for the losing players.

All of these modes have been recycled from the previous Buzz! titles, but Quiz TV does introduce a new mode called High Stakes. This welcome addition allows you to bet an amount of points based on your confidence regarding the subject matter. Before the question is asked, the topic is revealed allowing you to select anywhere between 50 to 500 points to gamble with. If you get the question correct, then that amount is awarded to you. However, if you get the answer wrong then that same amount is deducted from your total. It’s an excellent way to teach little Jimmy the life lessons of gambling addiction.

Every game is finished off with the Final Countdown round. This has also undergone some changes since we last saw Buzz! Now all the contestants are placed on podiums that rise above the ground at a height that is dictated by your current score. Even though the point leaders may be considerably higher than the others, all of this can count for naught if they fail to get the last few questions correct. As the final round takes place, all the podiums start to descend slowly. Answering questions correctly holds you level, whilst being the first one to answer correctly actually pushes you slightly upwards. Getting a question wrong results in your dropping considerably. If your podium, with your character looking pretty distressed on top of it, reaches the bottom then you are instantly eliminated from the game. The last man (or woman) standing is the winner and Final Countdown quickly becomes a frantic contest of rapid fingers and shouts of anguish as your opponent passes you in the opposite direction.

Buzz! Quiz TV has a database of 5,000 questions, distributed across dozens of sub-categories depending on your genre. Thankfully, unlike some of the previous PS2 versions, there were no repeat questions even after numerous hours of constant play. Strangely enough though, there was an unusual doubling-up of similarly themed questions. For example, there occurred two questions in a row that both had the same answer of “I, Robot”. This was weird at first, but shortly afterward it was followed up by another two questions in a row that both revolved around the Simpsons. Possibly not a huge fault to the game but considering the number of questions available these results were uncanny.

Quiz TV cleverly extends its life span by allowing you to create and download your own quiz packs via the MyBuzzQuiz online portal. Quizzes can even be rated by users, with the title of Big Chief Quizlord (hmm, possibly not a title you would announce to everyone) being awarded to different regions around the world. Although this online section of Quiz TV is an excellent addition, sadly the normal online multiplayer is slightly less entertaining. The Sofa vs. Sofa mode is designed to let families or groups of players compete against others from all around the world. This works perfectly, however the main enjoyment in Buzz! comes from seeing and hearing your fellow players react around you. All of this emotion in the online multiplayer is watered down due to the inability to communicate with your opponents. Instead the banter or show-boating is done via your virtual characters and their pre-scripted, often terrible jibes. Hopefully Sony will soon introduce EyeToy or voice chat compatibility as these features will dramatically improve Quiz TV online.

Oddly enough, the main issue with Buzz! Quiz TV is actually Buzz himself. Voiced by Jason Donnovan (yes, the washed up ex-Neighbours star), Buzz is your virtual host throughout the game. Basically he looks like a muppet in a suit and is quite possibly the most annoying thing you’ll ever come across in your life. He will constantly spew out random lines of nonsense at any opportunity, including mocking the losers or just talking about how great he thinks he is. It gets to the point where even his explanations of the rules of the game make you want to throw your buzzer controller at the television screen. Perhaps younger audiences appreciate this irksome little chap, but personally I’m just begging for that first-person shooter Buzz! title that allows me to throw kitchen scissors at his fat bulbous face.

All psychotic fantasies aside however, Buzz! Quiz TV is an excellent party game that is sure to entertain a wide audience. The four wireless controllers mean that there will be no more PS2s being dragged across the living room floor when a player forgets he has a Buzz controller in his pocket and goes for a drink. Sony have even been considerate and ensured that the older, wired Buzz! controllers from the PS2 are still compatible with the PS3 version. Up to eight players can partake in a quiz by passing the controllers around and Quiz TV is sure to get palms tenderised by the end of the evening. Even if you fancy a quiet night by yourself you can still crank Buzz! Quiz TV up to expand your brain power. Or perhaps just to memorise all the answers for that next big party coming up. We all know there’s no better way to impress a date than to kick-ass in Buzz! I hear it’s hotter than speaking fluent Elvish.