BUZZ! Quiz TV

The greatest quiz game of all time finally arrives on PS3.
The popular trivia series is back with its PS3 iteration and Buzz! Quiz TV gives enthusiasts and newbies alike everything to love about knowing way too much. Packed with four wireless buzzers and enough questions to last a few gaming lifetimes, Buzz! might even teach players a thing or two, at the very least about what makes a successful quiz game.

The primary Quiz mode has you playing alone or with up to eight friends locally. The quiz show format hasn’t strayed far from prior iterations. Pie Fight, Fastest Fingers and Short Fuse are back, with the Final Countdown factoring the players’ scores and correctly answered questions as they descend. Quiz TV has over 5,000 questions in categories like sports, lifestyle, braniac and music – and if that sounds inadequate there are already a handful of downloadable quiz bundles available. Sony has promised upwards of a bundle a month with branded packs (like National Geographic) at a slightly higher price point than the general quizzes (Videogames), and since my favorite price point is “free” MyBuzz! is where the magic happens.

In MyBuzz! players can create their own quizzes, or just taste the fruits of another’s labor. The quiz-making is done on MyBuzzQuiz.com, with the amateur wonders appearing instantly in-game. You will be prompted to rate each quiz you play, and the number of plays per quiz is tracked. Also MyBuzz! quizzes are comprised of eight questions and use the Stop the Clock format which awards more points the faster you answer. Also available through MyBuzzQuiz.com is the ability to tag quizzes as favorites or even create a quiz play list – ideal for some quiz nights with friends. As awesome as that is, I would like it even more if some of the currently online-only options were available in-game. Searching through user-created content is a breeze. You can simply choose to play the most popular, flip through the creations of your friends on PSN, or the more adventurous can can search out quizzes by category.

Graphically, Buzz! is pretty without pretending to be something it is not, and I respect that. There is an assortment of fifteen (with the patch) character models to choose from, a color for your ensemble, a noise for when you buzz in and a name for yourself. Buzz hosts the show from the stage with the contestants spread in an arc in before him and an audience – that laughs when you err and cheers when you’re spot on – in the dimly lit background. The limited script for Buzz and the announcer gets repetitive long before the quiz questions ever could, which is the extent of my audio criticisms.

Local multiplayer supports up to eight players with the option to play through either the traditional quiz show format or choose user created content. One of the customizable features that comes in handy here is the ability to turn off an aspect of a channel, definitely nice if you all are just rotten at a specific subject or if one of your friends perpetually loses earning him the right to choose the same lame category every single time.

In online multiplayer you will have to forgo the user created wonders for the disc fare – and there is plenty of it. Sofa v. Sofa mode only allows for one contestant per system – others can turn additional controllers on locally, but as they are on the same team whoever buzzes first is answering the question. This set-up creates a very traditional sort of team quiz show component, and I am a fan. Actually, my biggest gripe with the game is that once you have begun a quiz there is nothing you can do to exit. You can quit the game entirely, pause with another controller (not on your buzzer) or finish the quiz, and I want option D: the ability to exit to the menu.

In the Buzz! News section players can get information on everything from the new patch to top quizzes and ratings to rankings and your friends’ stats. Buzz! also features some Playstation Eye support so winners and losers alike can document their fun and even save the pics to in-game gallery or the XMB Photo library. Trophies range from playing twenty MyBuzz! quizzes to answering questions – correctly – at near lightning speed. For the most part, they are pretty attainable just through sheer, natural, quiz addiction.

Buzz! Quiz TV is more than just a good quiz game. An abundance of questions, some DLC already available and online features combine to make a lasting product. Lighthearted and well-paced, trivia junkies and social gamers just won’t find a better fix than Buzz! Quiz TV.