Can Scene It out-Buzz Sony?

The Xbox 360 has a reputation for being a hardcore gamers system, with the likes of Halo 3, Project Gotham and Mass Effect all appealing to the dedicated players. Microsoft, however, seems intent on changing this image, and a few select titles are slowly appearing, designed to appeal to youngsters and play-together families.

The 360 may still be some way from matching the Wii and PS2 libraries, but with Viva Pinata, Fuzion Frenzy 2 and Viva Pinata Party Animals Microsoft made a good start – and are continuing the trend with their ode to Sony's Buzz series, Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action.

Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action comes complete with four Big Button Pads, matching the buzzers in Sony's series. Unlike Buzz, The BBP's in Scene It? Come without wires – but instead of synching to the 360 like the console's wireless controllers, they use their own infrared connection. The receiver is a wired dongle which plugs into the console's USB port and sits on top of you TV like a Wii Sensor Bar, and pleasingly, the pads have a range of over 15 feet – though you will need a clear line-of-sight between all four pads and the infrared receiver.

Cutting it?

Scene It?, then, is every bit as easy to set up and play as its PS2 competition. It's also far more fun than the DVD game of the same name, with four separate buzzers for four individuals infinitely preferable to passing a single DVD remote between players.

But does Scene It? Cut it as the Xbox 360's answer to Sony's party-tastic Buzz? We'd say it certainly has the credentials to. Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action boasts colourful, easy-to-follow multiple choice questions complete with an annoyingly unfunny host, and three game modes offering different playing experiences.

All of these game modes make sure Scene It? plays more like a quiz than its board game counterpart, and let you tailor your playing experience as you choose. Short Game lasts for around 25 minutes and takes you through a variety of question types – from answering questions on film clips, to naming the movie poster being drawn before your eyes, completing famous film quotes and putting four film's in the order of the date they were released. Long Play is, well, a longer version of this for dedicated film fans.

Party Mode is meant to be the defining four-player experience in Scene It?, but sadly there's a rather large gripe. If you've only three people playing, Scene It? still assumes the others are present, and so in the relevant rounds the clock will tick down waiting for the non-player to confirm their answer.

There's also few annoying issues with the questions themselves. Specifically, the fastest finger first rounds only give you the anagram options after you've buzzed in – so instead of it being a race to work out the answer and then buzz in, it tests your buzzer speed before you're even sure you know the answer – and then you frequently risk losing points if you don't.

Great with mates

It's an annoyance, but the real disappointment is saved for the lack of online play. Microsoft, it seems, are intent on Scene It? pushing the 360's same-room multiplayer qualities. Here's hoping we see an online patch at some point.

That said, Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action is a decent title if you have a group of movie-loving mates, and the four buzzer pack it comes in really does present excellent value. The Xbox 360 still has a long way to go to be considered a family machine, of course, but titles such as Scene It? are a leap in the right direction.

GAME's Verdict

• 1800 questions and 21 Trivia Challenges that real movie buffs will appreciate
• Great played with mates
• Quiz style presentation and four buzzers beats the DVD Board Game version and matches Sony's Buzz series admirably
  

• Sitting around waiting for the clock to tick down in three-player party mode. Grr.
• An odd design decision for fastest-finger-first rounds
• No online play

Review by: Mark 'Movie Mogul' Scott
Version Tested: Xbox 360
Review Published: 14.11.07