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Playstation > PlayStation Game Cheats > PlayStation Reviews > Staff Review | |
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| Setting the Scene: Who Wants To Be A Millionaire arrived on US shores in August of 1999. Already a big hit in Europe, television execs figured they would give the game show a shot in the states to see if people were ready to accept another game show in a rather stale market. What happened next was nothing short of a national phenomenon. After its first week of airing, Millionaire starting attracting over 35 million viewers each night the show was on television. This immediately spawned a bunch of "copycat" shows in an effort to compete and ultimately made Regis Philban and the phase "Is that your final answer?" a household name. So in an effort to try and capitalize on this national craze before it dies down, it was only natural to expect a computer game version of the show to touch down. For the Sony Playstation, gamers will be treated to the 2nd Edition of the game with all new questions (compared to the 1st edition). Can gamers really take all of this Millionaire propaganda? Do we really need to sit expose ourselves to droning of Regis' quips through a videogame? What's next.Edition 3? 4? Will the madness never end? Well, read on to find out "My final answer." Type of Game (Genre): Who Wants To Be A Millionaire is the videogame version of the popular TV game show that is currently sweeping the world. The aim of the game is to correctly answer consecutive questions to win progressively more money - get one wrong though, and your out..! Sound and Vision: For those of you that have seen the show on TV (and at this point who hasn't?) one of the things that really help to build the tension of this game is the music. The good news is that the same score is included in this game. As you work your way up the questions, the music gets more dramatic and really helps to build that anticipation that goes along with each question. The music definitely gets a thumbs up for what it accomplishes. As far as sound effects go, there really isn't much to talk about. You get a decent little effect for pressing the buttons for the answers or for selecting your lifelines and there are a few sound effects to go along with the answer displays, but that's really about it. Oh, we are also treated to Regis' quips and banter throughout the game but unfortunately he doesn't actually read off the questions or provide the answers. I found that kinda strange as I suspect it could have been done with some cleaver programming.oh well. On the graphics side of the house.well let me just say, this is gonna be a real short read for you folks. The actual set of the TV is a true spectacle in terms of lighting, display and overall interactivity between the contestant, the host and the audience. Everything works perfectly. Unfortunately this just has not been translated very well to the home console version. About the best way to describe the graphics in Millionaire is "sterile". What we see are the questions as they would be viewed through the contestants monitor and a slit screen view of the stage.devoid of all life. The flash and substance of the TV show is completely lost here. I understand the limitations of the console and didn't really expect to see fully modeled contestants and Regis but even stick figures and some animation would have sparked things up a bit here. There is not reason at all why there couldn't have been an audience, a contestant and a poorly textured Regis on display.heck, the game could have even taken it one step further and given players the option of a "create a contestant". Now that would have been cool. Click HERE to read the PLAYABILITY and SCORES for this Review... |