Are you ready to have your music knowledge tested? Are you prepared to repeatedly mash a brightly coloured peripheral? Can you endure insults (and the odd compliment) from a host with an oversized head? If you answered yes to the above questions then you’re ready to play Buzz: The Ultimate Music Quiz.
Those accustomed to previous versions of the game will have little trouble jumping back into the saddle. An untrained monkey could figure out how to play it in a matter of minutes, but that’s by no means a criticism. This is the just the tonic for those pesky friends who loudly and proudly declare their hatred for the medium. Just try not to sound too smug when you say, “See, you do play video games.”
Since its inception back in the PS2 days, Buzz has expanded its reach to the PSP and the iPhone. However it’s on the home console with a bunch of mates that the game really hits the mark. So, in order to provide a meaningful review, I invited a few friends over for trivia showdown. We played the game in its intended spirit, i.e. mean and nasty. We trash talked, laughed at each other’s misfortunes and bragged when we were on top.
As in previous iterations, you can win and lose points in various ways. For instance, the quickest off the mark in one segment earns the right to fling a score draining pie at an opponent. Misjudge the throw, however, and things can get messy. I particularly enjoyed watching a certain Black Panel editor plant a pie in his own face during a misguided attempt to derail my march to victory. These memories I will cherish.
The game does reward mediocrity from time to time. I dominated numerous encounters only to have my hard earned points stolen away by vulture-like opponents. As a result, I missed out a range of enjoyably wacky prizes. That inflatable dancing partner should have been mine, I tell you, mine! Due to my (justified) whining, we decided to tackle the game in its purest form, the Quickfire Quiz Mode. No gimmicks, just questions. May the best player win. I bombed out in that mode as well, so let’s move on.
As with previous PS3 versions, you can jump online and buy additional questions. You can also play (or even create) custom quizzes. Maybe I’ll invite my friends around again for a little homemade quiz and see how they go.
The mini games incorporating Sony’s Move peripheral quickly become tiresome. Whether you’re hammering answers with a novelty hammer or popping balloons featuring the incorrect answers, you can’t help but get the impression it was a tacked on feature. After a short time I was searching for the buzzers again. Worse still is camera part of the move. With no warning, it snaps a photo of you during each segment. Without fail I was pulling a face each time. It must sense when you’re not looking your best.
Approach Buzz: The Ultimate Movie Quiz with eyes open and you’ll enjoy the experience. Sure the ability to download quiz packs and create your own quizzes provides some longevity, but don’t expect any drastic changes that will have you seeing or playing the game in a whole new light. At its best, The Ultimate Music Quiz is just like the original Buzz, a fun trivia game you can play with ‘all the family’.
