Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action

7.0

Format Xbox 360

Developer Screenlife Games

Publisher Microsoft

Genre Puzzle

3 Comments

Obviously an attempt to appeal to a market currently cornered by the likes of Buzz and interactive-DVD games, Scene It? is a four-player quiz game, the subject matter of which is a multitude of cinema classics (the majority of which are lifted from the late 80s onwards). Rounds use movie clips, sound-bites and movie trivia to source a number of quick-fire questions. Players with the highest score come the game's end (through a combination of the quickest and most number of correct answers) wins.

The great thing is that you don't have to be a complete movie buff to enjoy the game. The questions never stray into hardcore, the tougher questions never being more than a 'on-the-tip-of-my-tongue' answer away. Crowd-pleasing films like Ghostbusters and King Kong are the order of the day. Anyone with a passing interest in cinema will won't feel completely out of their depth.

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Powers of deduction and observation are needed as well. Pictograms breaking up film titles into name-related icons mean quick thinkers can still beat film historians. Likewise the film clips are a real lesson in memory-management. We're watching the scene in Ghostbusters were Sigourney Weaver finds out her fridge is possessed by a evil entity. Her eggs start exploding, the yolk frying on the kitchen top in front of her disbeliefing eyes. We count the number that start frying. We've got this one in the bag.

"How many hats were hanging on the stand when Diana came into the apartment?" WHAT? The game certainly knows how to throw you.

One thing we notice immediately, something that was wisely absent from the preview build we played a few weeks ago. When you chose an answer, your choice is flagged up underneath your Gamertag on-screen. The disadvantages of this is obvious, allowing sneaky competitors unsure of the answer to wait and gamble with a majority vote. This isn't Ask the Audience however - and the competition that is already escalating in the room has silenced the party atmosphere. But most importantly the game is proving to be a lot more enjoyable than we gave it credit for. But the cut scenes between rounds quickly grate.

This is not the game you're going to show off your brand-spanking new HDTV with. The graphics are hardly indicative of the system they're on. The question and answer menus might be crystal sharp, but are verging on Victorian curtain bland. The 'comedy' cut scenes as we're rolled around a movie studio could have been (whisper it!) a tarted-up PS2 game. So presentation wise, the game's a flop. But gameplay-wise, the deathly quiet that's blanketed the room proves that it's nearing blockbuster territory.

With the promise of future downloadable content, there's little chance that the game is going to exhaust its vast repertoire of clips and questions any time soon. (But let's hope the downloads are going to be easier on the pocket than the recent GHII packs, okay?)

Gillen McAllister