Unique challenges and plentiful movie trivia make Box Office Smash a fun party game for the Xbox 360.
The goal of Box Office Smash is to answer questions concerning movie trivia correctly to earn points. The earlier you buzz in, the more points you can get. Whoever has the most points at the end of the game wins. Box Office Smash can be played in short, long, or custom game length, either offline or over Xbox Live. Prepare for some challenge when playing online, because the competition is fierce. Being that the game can be won by memorizing the questions, the online field can be a bit tricky to nail. Fortunately, the game is best played locally. Upon selecting the game length and type you get to select your avatar. You can load your profile's avatar from your 360 memory or randomize an avatar if you want. Once everyone joins in, the game takes off.
Questions are divided into varied groups, each one challenging you with different questions. Some are pretty simple like Movie Clips, where you must answer questions based on a movie clip shown to you. Sometimes you'll be asked the name of the movie or the actors, but sometimes you're thrown a curve ball like "How many flowers are in the vase in the background?" or something similar. This is good because it gives movie newcomers a chance and actually makes the game accessible for more people. Other groups are more abstract like Invisibles, where you must say what's missing from the picture, or Sequentials, where you need to arrange movies in the order in which they were released. The diversity in the games makes for some great balance, letting even the newest of movie-goer have a fighting chance. A major change in the gameplay is that you no longer lose points for incorrect answers, which can make the game more involving and easier to dive into as well. After three rounds of gameplay, the Final Cut appears, where correct answers net you multipliers for more points. After playing a few games, it's safe to say that the game balances much better than the original. It may make it seem a bit too easy at times (mostly in part to not losing points for wrong answers), but it makes for a better game overall.
The multiplayer is Box Office Smash's crowning achievement; the game is best played with friends or family, but you can also play against opponents over Xbox Live. While it's great to see some serious online play in such a fun and competitive game, the game shows its best qualities when played with three other players in the same room. The game is available game-only, or like its predecessor, packaged with four Big Button Pads. The Big Button Pads act as buzzers and focus themselves on simplicity. You get a central buzzer button along with the face buttons for choosing the answer you want. They come with a sensor that plugs into the USB port of the Xbox 360 console, with the Big Button Pads working wirelessly. You can choose to play with a regular controller, but quite honestly, it doesn't feel right. The Big Button Pads are clever inclusions with the game, and really make the game simple and easy to jump into.
But Scene It? would be nothing without a wide collection of movies to identify, and like the original board game, there's plenty. If you're a real movie fan, you'll be able to identify the big names like Little Miss Sunshine or Edward Scissorhands, but you'll be surprised to find newer titles like The Dark Knight or The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Big movies, small movies, old movies, new movies, there are a lot of movies in Box Office Smash. While this may alienate some movie knowledge novices, the diversity and tremendous span of movie questions makes for some good competition. However, as great as the diversity is, the game still feels a bit lacking. Like Lights, Camera, Action, the game just could've used more questions. You will see clips repeating (though you'll usually get different questions concerning the film), which can be a bit distracting. With downloadable content still unknown, you may have to deal with the on-disc questions for a while. The diversity and expansive movie library to sift through are impressive; there just could've been more.
The presentation is a bit different than the original Lights, Camera, Action game. Instead of taking place on a movie studio lot, your avatars sit on a flying couch with buzzers in hand. You won't find the same film-style authenticity, but the avatars' different actions are actually pretty good. There's a quirky charm in seeing your avatar dance, celebrate, or even cheer on an opponent and it is hard not to crack a smile at their actions. The rest of the game's graphics are good, some pretty inventive. Seeing a giant refrigerator in the distance before a Child's Play game (where you identify the movie based on child's drawings) is clever. While a majority of the previous Scene It? 360 title was movie-lot authenticity, Box Office Smash tends to make fun of itself much more. No better examples are the movie trailer announcers, who talk in weird movie puns and joke around with each other. It's funny for a while (despite it being very cheesy at times) but the guys can be annoying after a few games. The presentation in Box Office Smash is different than its predecessor, but the great use of avatars and clever cosmetic design make for a charming and relatively funny result.
Pros
+ Great collection of movie trivia
+ Varied questions are challenging for movie experts and novices
+ Online play
+ Funny and charming presentation
Cons
- Announcers can get annoying
- Could've used more clips and questions overall
- Online play isn't as good as local multiplayer
Scene It? Box Office Smash essentially gives you more of the same, but the improved presentation and new selection of movies make for an overall better game to play. Despite its slightly low question count, it's pretty easy to get hooked on Box Office Smash, especially with a group of friends. The online play is a generally good addition, though it pales in comparison to having four people in the same room playing the game. If you love movies (or loved Lights, Camera, Action) you can't go wrong with Box Office Smash. With challenging and clever game types, a great selection of movies to test your knowledge, and a funny presentation, Box Office Smash is a remarkable improvement over Lights, Camera, Action. It's a great party game, even for movie knowledge newcomers. Overall, Box Office Smash is worth a rental at least. Pick it up sometime; you may be surprised at how much you know about the movie Mean Girls.