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Buzz!: The Music Quiz
Thu, 1st Dec 2005
FYI, this story is more than a year old

Buzz! is the latest innovative title for the aging PS2 hardware and another entrant into the party game genre, cunningly timed for the Christmas rush. The first thing that sets Buzz! apart from other titles vying for your Christmas gaming dollar is the stylish hardware it’s bundled with – a set of four game show style buzzers, allowing players to (wait for it) “buzz” in with their answers.  This controller is adorned by a suitably tacky big red buzzer, and four coloured buttons, which are used for selecting your answer (all the questions are multiple choice in nature) and suit the game show setting perfectly.

As the name would suggest, Buzz! takes a quiz show format, with the questions revolving around popular music. There are approximately 1000 music samples and 5000 questions, so there won’t be a lot of repetition. In keeping with the game show atmosphere, the ‘host’ of the virtual show (aptly named Buzz!, and voiced by a washed up ex ‘Neighbours’ star) is suitably arrogant, and his stereotypical female counterpart takes out the ‘pointless window dressing’ award nicely.  Players get to choose their in game appearance from a selection of music stereotypes (my favourite is the Liam Gallagher doppelganger) and there is sure to be one in here to match your personality!  Gamers also have the choice of whether questions focus on Modern music, Older music or a mix of both.

While the overall aesthetic of Buzz! would lead one to believe that it’s a title aimed at the younger gamers out there, the general difficulty of the questions mean that it’s twenty-somethings and above who will get the most out of this – it’s perfect fodder for getting a party started (at least until you’re relaxed / drunk enough to break out Singstar 80’s). To get the most out of Buzz!, you need a group of people playing – it just doesn’t really work as a solitary affair. With that being said, you are limited to four players at a time, so if you’ve got a large group on hand, some of you will have to sit out and be patient! Overall Buzz! achieves what it sets out to do, and sets itself up nicely for a myriad of sequels.  Maybe not one for the younger gamers out there, but a brilliant ice breaker at that upcoming Christmas party.