Buzz: The Big Quiz review

Buzz is back, Jason Donovan takes his place as the titular game show master and this time it’s not just for the musically inclined. The game comes with four specially designed controllers (although a cheaper controller-less version is available for those of us that had them for the original). Four players can get in on the action for the main game and it becomes a standard most points wins affair.

The rounds depend on the number of players, but are generally pretty standard (especially if you played the music quiz) with Pointbuilder giving everyone that guesses the correct answer some points, but giving variety with others such as Pass The Bomb (last person holding the bomb loses points) and Look Before You Leap where the answer is part of a picture that is slowly revealed and the first person to buzz in correctly gets all of the points.

Further Pleasantries

Buzz himself remains a picture of comic enthusiasm, breaking up the game with remarkably accurate insults directed at everyone’s performance. The occasional strange and surprising moments serve only to amuse and entertain while the different events and comments that occur seem much more integrated and well paced than the previous game, becoming more enjoyable even to watch. Especially when the more cutting score remarks aren’t targeted at you.

The variety isn’t just present in the non-interactive moments with more characters to choose from as your avatar and a fantastic number of new questions to ponder over. This time they have a wide range from film to famous people, giving this general knowledge quiz a selection that seems more fairly weighted to anyone rather than just the music buffs. They will be pleased to know that more music questions are present, so it hasn’t completely ignored that line of questioning. Almost every question is accompanied by a relevant picture, and some benefit from music and even video clips. All questions are fully voiced now too, giving a sense of both realism and sheer volume of content that seems to have gone into the making of the game.

Onto the Bonus Round

Although there is no actual ‘bonus round’, they all feel very well implemented and unique enough to keep your friends playing for the whole session… Mine even demanded a second full game before we had even got to the end of the credits. Some rounds make you lose points for guessing, some give you more for being the first to guess correctly and some let you use the buzzer to take control of play.

While very similar to the music quiz, the originality of playing a game show in your own home remains strong. Indeed, the prizes that go to the victor at the end of each show are worth playing for alone. My favourites were a jumbo jet and five robots to take care of my every whim at home. Each prize is talked through by Buzz and his explanation usually lasts well into the end credits rewarding vigilant players with not just a sense of victory but an amusing end gag to leave everyone on a high. (I was warned with my robots that ‘Buzz’ does not take liability for any accidents caused by malfunction.)

Size Does Matter

The scope of the game, and accuracy of the ‘live feel’ of each moment whether it be ‘Buzz’ commenting on something amusing in a picture, telling off Rose for taking too long to explain a game (whenever you skip her segments) or making a point about player 1 retaining the lead for the third round in a row make it very difficult to point fault with anything in the game, but one gripe does frequently come to mind; During the tense and tactical ‘Pass The Bomb’ mode, it becomes a regular occurrence that having four pictures on screen at once means that they are very difficult to decipher to find the correct answer.

Admittedly if a High Definition version is created for the PS3, this little fault might be erased, but ultimately it is a disadvantage that all players share, so at least the fairness of the game is never in question. That is if you ignore my girlfriend claiming that she pushed her buzzer before mine, despite what Buzz tells us.

What the PlayStation Does Well

The obvious gimmickry of Buzz has never been lost on me, and despite the fact that I seem to enjoy every type of game like this whether it be Buzz, SingStar or even Eye Toy games, I will admit that you need a party atmosphere to get the best out of Buzz. A fantastic family event for a lazy Sunday afternoon or even as just a pre-night out drinking game, it is fortunate that Buzz creates a party atmosphere if you have three or more people around. A one on one is certainly possible, but less enjoyable than having a full group of people all trying for the top of the leader board.

The final question I am left with is how well it performs, and the value of the package must be taken into account at just £19.99 without the buzzers. Well, dear audience, here come the answers.