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REVIEW
BUZZ: The Hollywood Quiz

By Michael Pugliese - May 5th, 2008

Even through the BUZZ series of games has gained a massive following in the UK, I had never gone out of my way to try and play the few releases that have made their way to our great white north. Although the concept of a game show videogame seemed like it would work well on a console level, I wasn’t completely convinced, and I’ll admit that the word gimmicky crossed my mind when I saw the buzzer laden retail package on store shelves. Actually playing the newest instalment in the series: BUZZ: The Hollywood Quiz, both enlightened and surprised me. I was happy to find out that the idea completely works on the PS2, specifically in a large group; and that though gimmicky the buzzers really add to the BUZZ experience which just wouldn’t be the same without them.

The graphical styling works well with the overall concept of an over the top game show hosted by a mostly obnoxious host (yes quite the stretch from reality I know). Since this is The Hollywood Quiz, the red carpet clad award show environment does well in setting the mood for all the Hollywood trivia about to be experienced. Keep in perspective though that it is a PS2 title, and one that is targeted at a more casual player. That being said, things look as good as they need to and even add to the charm of the BUZZ experience.

Thanks to the aforementioned obnoxious host, appropriately named BUZZ of course, there are plenty of surprisingly excellent sound bites to be heard. As players make their way through round after round, Buzz is sure to chime in with something witty depending on how well or poorly each contestant is performing. Everyone involved always had a some chuckles at the wisecracks BUZZ spits out, although I did notice the quips got slightly repetitive after playing through so many rounds myself. The music works for the stage that is set, though none of it is memorable. There are no leaps and bounds being made in the sound department, but adequate works for the type of game that BUZZ is.

The BUZZ buzzer controllers, consisting of only 4 coloured buttons under an extremely large BUZZ button, gamers an non-gamers alike can enjoy the seemingly infinite amount of Hollywood related trivia. The full BUZZ experience plays through the many different rounds of a trivia game show. Each round has a slightly different twist with some rewarding the fastest player to answer correctly with the most points, another which allows players to steal points from each other, and there’s even one that lets players to throw pies to knock the competition out. These little twists are what keep the game fresh and fun, and a constant favourite for when guests come over.

Therein lays the main problem with the BUZZ series. As a party title it works on every level, with everyone I introduced it to having a great time. It was when I sat down to play some of the single player modes that the game became much less interesting and entertaining. The main attraction here was definitely mocking the friend who always seems to place last, as the lack of human interaction really just takes everything away from what makes a game like BUZZ fun.

The imminent problem of question repetition was my single greatest fear for a quiz game of this type, and I am happy to announce that it has yet to come up as a real issue. Through all my play sessions I have only seen 2 questions repeated. Since having a PS2 memory card inserted has the effect of reducing question repetition, I am happy to report that these repeat questions were actually encountered when using a different memory card. As a game that makes an appearance mainly when guests are over, BUZZ should defiantly prove to be worth its cost.

For anyone who has played the previous entries of the BUZZ series, you know what to expect: some excellent trivia wrapped in a game show shell which is easily accessed by even the most novice player. Add in a witty host that is as unforgiving to a poor performance as friends are sure to be, and you have a great supplement to any get together. I was extremely impressed at how well the game was received by everyone that I could force it upon, and I’m looking forward to the next time I can mock someone for not knowing that Arnold owns the first Hummer produced for commercial consumption.

Posted in PlayStation 2, Reviews |