Make a Scene!
These days, no Christmas get-together is complete without some form of knowledge-based party game. And if you're already eyeing the Trivial Pursuit board with a feeling of bottomless dread, Microsoft has the perfect alternative.
Following on from last year's hugely successful Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action, Scene It? Box Office Smash is a truly engrossing movie quiz for up to four players. There are hundreds of questions covering everything from fifties' classics right up to modern-day releases, and many are accompanied by film clips, so you get to enjoy your favourite moments as you go along.
Buzz off
It's possible to play this game with standard Xbox 360 controllers, but you're not getting the complete experience. Scene It? Box Office Smash is designed to be used with its own special 'big button' pads, which look just like the buzzers in TV quiz shows and are much more intuitive for any non-gamers you've managed to rope in. Game stocks a bundle pack, which provides the game itself, plus four pads, and it's a sound investment.
Scene It? Box Office Smash, features a number of different puzzles, ensuring that your movie knowledge is tested in a range of entertaining ways.
Thankfully, you're not just bombarded with written questions. Scene It? Box Office Smash, features a number of different puzzles, ensuring that your movie knowledge is tested in a range of entertaining ways. You may have to identify a snippet of dialogue, guess a movie from a child's drawing, or put a list of films in the correct chronological order. Gamers will particularly enjoy the 'Pixel Flix' puzzles, which use retro videogame graphics to portray classic movie scenes - you've simply got to guess the film in question.
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Sometimes, only the fastest player to hit the buzzer button gets to answer the question, in other rounds, everyone is given the chance to have a go; this means the tempo is always changing, keeping everyone on their toes. It's all multiple choice, so participants can guess at anything they don't know. However, you're rarely given a stand-out correct answer with three obvious duds - this is no daytime TV phone-in competition. Most of the time, there's no substitute for a decent all-round knowledge of the cinema. Also, the quicker you answer the more points you get, so it always pays to think and act fast. Film buffs won't necessarily win every time though - each game ends with a huge-scoring final round, that can totally turn things around. Scene It? Box Office Smash is more about providing a fun experience than massaging the ego of your home's biggest movie-nut.
You can now play against up to three pals, wherever they are in the world, or go up against complete strangers to prove your movie prowess to the Xbox community.
One of the major additions to Scene It? Box Office Smash is the online multiplayer mode. You can now play against up to three pals, wherever they are in the world, or go up against complete strangers to prove your movie prowess to the Xbox community. The game is also compatible with New Xbox Experience, the improved Xbox Live interface introduced in November - consequently, you can import your unique gamer avatar and see it on screen as you play.
Scene It all before?
Although there are hundreds of questions, in Scene It? Box Office Smash it probably won't be long before you start getting some repetition, especially if you're playing every night for hours on end. The good news is Microsoft has promised to deliver extra question sets as Xbox Live downloads. Also, you'll probably see the same movie segments crop up several times, but fortunately each one has several questions attached to it, so you'll get plenty of mileage out of each clip.
Scene It? Box Office Smash is up against quite a few decent party games this year, including Lips, Guitar Hero World Tour and, on PS3, SingStar. But this is a real winner for movie-loving families who don't want to leap around pretending to be pop stars. There's a good balance of questions, ensuring that all age-groups are covered, and the increased range of puzzles keeps things fresh and fun. As long as Microsoft fulfils its promise to provide downloadable question packs, this could remain a firm family favourite right throughout the festive season and well beyond.
GAME's Verdict
- Anyone can play
- Loads of puzzles, clips, photos and audio snippets
- Online multiplayer
- Questions soon start to repeat...
- ....as do the movie clips
- The final round can be frustrating if you lose at the last second after leading all the way through
Review by: Keith 'Movie Master' Stuart
Version Tested: Xbox 360
Review Published: 05.12.2008