Buzz gets a generation upgrade, adding online and user-created trivia to a proven formula, with some puzzling omissions.
First, let's get to the basics of the gameplay and presentation before covering the different modes. The game is presented just like a trivia studio set that you would see on TV, though with highly exaggerated, comical and typically stereotyped characters for you to choose as your avatar. Once you've chosen your avatar, you can choose a costume, your preferred buzzer noise, and in local matches, your name (your PSN name is used in online matches). Front and centre is Buzz himself, voiced by Jason Donavan, as has been the case in all previous Buzz titles. While not technical standouts, all the character models look great. Buzz remains the star of the show, letting out quips with regularity that are genuinely funny, and the writers have done a good job in making sure he has something varied to say depending on the outcome of each question and how people are performing throughout the game. Overall the presentation feels polished, with some graphical effects and attention to detail over its predecessors that while cosmetic, are still welcomed.
The majority of the gameplay consists of being asked a question, which is spoken by Buzz and printed on the screen. Four potential answers appear, of which only one is correct. As you would suspect, you press the corresponding rectangular button to enter your answer. On the odd occasion you will use the round button instead, such as when the correct answer appears on screen in a certain round. With over 5000 questions and the game tracking which questions you have already been asked, you won't be running into repetition for a while. The questions cover five major categories, and each is broken down into subcategories.
There are three modes in Buzz; single player, with friends, or online. Single player is a test of your knowledge and reaction times. Every round consists of answering the question as quickly as possible, and correct answers are rewarded by how fast you answer. If you simply want to test your knowledge without being heckled by anyone else for your potential ignorance when you get a question wrong, this mode is for you. Since I enjoy learning I found this mode enjoyable, though the game is far more enjoyable with other people in the room.
Having your friends around so you can rub your gleaming intellect in their face is where this game shines. Up to 8 players can play locally by connecting a second set of buzzers. In most rounds, being the fastest to get the answer right will reap you the highest points or benefits. At times this can be quite hilarious, as sometimes players who have no idea about the question or subject will randomly guess the right answer, or you will answer the question as quickly as possible, then realise that you knew the answer. Generally though, those who know the subject at hand will come out in front. To balance this to some degree, after each round four random topics are displayed, and the losing player gets to select one for the next round, potentially giving them a way to catch up if they know their stuff.
Playing with random people online is easy. Select join a game, where you will automatically enter a lobby, and once the timer counts down, a game will begin. Games are a little shorter than offline, offering 4 rounds. The game plays out almost identically to the offline multiplayer, aside from the different types of rounds.
A new feature to the game is creating your own quizzes. These are created by going to the MyBuzz website, where you can name your quiz and create 8 questions for it. These can be marked for use by only you and your friends, or for the general public. You can use the website to create a playlist from any number of player-created quizzes, which can then be played alone. After each quiz is played, it is mandatory for all players to give it a rank, which are then uploaded to the website, so players can see which quizzes were most enjoyed by others. While the MyBuzz feature works as it was designed to, it feels limited in some respects, particularly that each quiz will feature the same 8 questions, in order, each time it is played. While I have no answer to it myself, I can't help but feel this feature could have been implemented better.
After playing the three modes, I'm somewhat puzzled by the lack of some options. While the game offers lots of buzzer sounds, a nice variety of question categories, an abundance of those questions, and a few different modes, it lacks customisation options for how you want to play, and only has a few question types. While you can play a game that focuses on only one major category of questions, each time you play any of the modes in Buzz, the structure of rounds is always the same; gone is the option of playing short or long games found in some of the past games. The rounds are always in the same order every time you play the game. While there is nothing wrong with that order, and certain rounds would not make sense in certain places (Final Countdown for example only makes sense as a final round), it would have been nice to choose your own order and save it as custom game type. For example, a game consisting only of Points Builder (players score the same for correct answers regardless of time) would reward knowledge over reaction times, and a game consisting of only High Stakes (a round where you gamble your points to earn more) would make for some interesting choice making. The online version of the game is called 'Sofa vs. Sofa', which had me dreaming about me and my friends testing our group knowledge against those on another couch elsewhere, alas, no team modes are present. This would have made for a nice addition and I can't understand why this opportunity would have been missed.
Furthermore, there is a lack of question types (note : not question categories, which are nicely varied). Regardless of how different rounds have differing score methods, the majority of questions are of the 'Here is a question, here are 4 answers, choose the right one'. There appear to be only two question types that deviate from this formula; one asks you a question and presents a slideshow where you have to buzz in when the correct answer appears. All That Applies is the only type that has multiple correct answers; given that this is one of the more fun modes, it is oddly and criminally only available online. I can't fathom why this is not in the longer offline version of the game. Previous PS2 versions of the game had other question types as well, so it is puzzling they are not here in any form.
While these are things that feel like obvious ways to improve the game, they aren't necessary. The game is still great to play, and feels like it should; like you are playing out a TV quiz show in your living room. If you like to learn or test your own knowledge, then playing alone can be a rewarding experience. The real fun comes from testing yourself against your friends, calling them out when they choose a stupid answer, defending your ignorance when you are wrong, feeling smug when you win, and claiming luck when someone else does. Hopefully some of the letdowns will be addressed in patches or with downloadable content (there are already additional quiz packs available in the PSN store), but out of the box, it will still entertain you and your friends over a long period of time.