Buzz Quiz TV
Review
Get Your Buzzers Ready
by Chris Scott
reviewed on PS3
Nifty new additions
Despite releasing at the tail end of the Playstation 2 lifecycle, the trivia series Buzz became a fairly big hit. Armed with a special buzzer controller the games transplanted players into a virtual game show hosted by the animated puppet creature, Buzz. Using the special controller players answered questions in a variety of categories and game types. As much fun as the Buzz games were they had some problems, most notably wired buzzer controllers that quickly became a tangled mess and the complete lack of online functionality. With Buzz! Quiz TV, the first Buzz game on the Playstation 3, every major complaint about the previous versions has been cleared up and there are some nifty new additions to boot.
Wireless
The first thing players will notice is that Buzz! Quiz TV does not ship with a tangle prone series of wired buzzers but instead a small USB receiver and four wireless buzzers. The freedom the wireless controllers offer is refreshing and certainly more comfortable as you can lounge around your TV instead of being crouched around it with your friends. The second thing you will notice is that the game looks great. Despite being a primarily text based game, Buzz! Quiz TV has a slick design. It looks like a TV game show that just happens to be hosted by a Muppet reject.
The game itself plays pretty much how you would expect. Players can play by themselves, going after the high score, or play with others. Single player gameplay is played just like multiplayer with two minor differences. The first is that players can only play the Stop the Clock game mode; in this mode players are tasked with answering as quickly as possible which directly correlates to their score. The second thing is that the endgame mode, Final Countdown, is left out because there is not much point in racing when there is no one to race against.
Modes
While the single player game is certainly functional, Buzz is at its best when you play with others. Regardless of who you play with, yourself or others, the gameplay is pretty much the same, except that playing with others will bring a few different game types into play. Fan favorite types make a return, including Fastest Fingers (buzz in quickest to earn the most points), Short Fuse (an explosive version of Hot Potato) and Pie Fight (answer correctly to get a chance to throw a pie at your opponent). It all makes for quite a fun experience.
If you want to play against others but aren’t in the mood to throw a party, you can take your knowledge online. With Buzz! Quiz TV’s Sofa vs. Sofa mode, players can take on other Buzz players from around the globe, pitting your wits against theirs. The biggest issue is that players who plan on spending a lot of time online with the game may start to see duplicates, giving them an unfair advantage over the more casual players.
Trivia fun
The game ships with about 5000 questions in a variety of categories, ranging from Movies and Music to Science and Technology. If you don’t want to play particular categories you can remove them in the preferences menu, meaning everyone can get a customized experience. Two other new additions can also help customize the experience and prolong the length of the title. The first one is the ability to download new question packs and while it will run you a little bit of money, it will also give you 500 questions per pack developed by Relentless Software. The second one is the ability to create and take your own quizzes with the new mode called MyBuzz. In conjunction with MyBuzzQuiz.com players can create quizzes and make playlists for use on the PS3. Provided people keep playing the game, there is potential for never-ending user content.
Buzz! Quiz TV is a solid and challenging experience for single players, parties and online gamers. Most importantly it is fun. For trivia fans, Buzz! Quiz TV doesn’t get much better.
8.0
fun score
No Pros and Cons at this time
