Microsoft
Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen!
By Ryan Newman
Jan 12, 2010, 7 :36 am

Based on the board game of the same name, Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen! (Scene It) is the third release of the party- and movie-based quiz series on the 360, focusing on the who’s, what’s, and why’s of the film industry’s more popular offerings of the last four decades. Up to four players vie for first place as an avatar – Desperado, Sci-Fi queen, Pirate, Mummy, Starlet, etc. – in up to twenty-two puzzle types, covering everything from posters to release dates to video clips and sound bytes. Clocking in at nearly 3,000 questions, with material as recent as 2009, newcomers and casual trivia buffs will find plenty to enjoy.

I can imagine few topics as disarming to mingling partygoers as movies. With that in mind, Scene It includes a number of options for get-togethers. Classic mode is the standard one- to four-player game, with a short (three rounds of three puzzles) and long (three rounds of five puzzles) play variation as well as a last round, Final Cut. Party Play is an open mode that allows players to join in or drop out after each round, offering continuous play as long as there are participants. If you want to bone up beforehand, Fast-Fire is a timed single-player mode that rattles questions off for five minutes to score as many points possible, with each incorrect answer removing chunks of time. Compatible with the Big Button Controller and the standard gamepad, it’s easy for players to log in and out of Party Play, and navigating the menus will be a synch for even the greenest of gamers.

The puzzle types will be largely familiar to fans of the series, but there are a handful of additions. The different types are encompassed within four broad categories: All-Play Puzzles, Two-Answer Puzzles, Four-Answer Puzzles, and Buzz-In Puzzles. Final Cut is an outlier, being a Movie Clip puzzle at the end of each Classic game and having a fluctuating score based on how poorly high-ranked players are doing. The types range from the more mundane – naming an actor or detail from a Movie Clip or movie title from a Soundclip – to the more imaginative, such as naming a movie from an NES-stylized recreation in Pixel Flix or by its props in the appropriately named Props. Other types include challenges to place movies in the order of release in Sequentials, naming a movie from faceless stills in Invisibles, figuring out a title by an assembling movie poster in Now Playing, by quotes in Quotables, and tackling a particular genre in Genre X. While they may be old hat to some, the types do a good job in presenting the questions in a varied enough manner to keep things interesting.

Scores are based on a timed system that works in conjunction with different types of answer triggers. Some puzzle types allow everyone to put in their answers at the same time; some require you to buzz in first, which gives you a few moments to come up with the correct answer and block any opponents from scoring; and some allow multiple players to score. All answer triggers feature a depleting bar that awards points based on how much of the bar is left: a fuller bar equals more points. There are also the optional Stars and Negative Points. Stars are awarded based on performance, and once you have banked two, they can be engaged to give an additional multiplier; however, if you fail to click while an icon is in your zone on a meter, then your opponents receive the modifier. Negative Points amp things up a notch by removing points whenever an answer is wrong – a more traditional quiz show approach.  Stars can be chosen per player profile, but Negative Points are universal.

Thankfully, the announcer is optional as well. One of the biggest annoyances in Scene It is the repetitiveness of the announcer and the player avatars. In an attempt to mimic game show hosts, the announcer is loud, smarmy, and obnoxious – not to mention poorly synched. You’ll be turning him off within a few minutes. The avatars are also a bit dull, and their comments, while not bad, are few in number and repeated ad nauseum. It would also be nice to have customization options for race and gender, rather than having to pick one out of the predefined handful. And, oddly, your 360 avatar cannot be used, unlike in previous installments. 

The presentation isn’t the only time when Scene It missteps. There are little quirks throughout the game that aren’t really conducive to a lively atmosphere; for instance, when playing a Soundclip puzzle, you have to wait until the clip is finished, even if everyone has already answered. The question difficulty is fairly easy as well, but that doesn’t stop the game from tossing some really random and uncharacteristically detailed additions into the mix. But one of the biggest missteps, and consequently the most noticeable absence, is the lack of any online functionality: no online multiplayer or leaderboard. With single player being limited to Fast-Fire and multiplayer to local play, there is a surprisingly limited amount of utility for a game with so much content. One mode isn’t enough, especially when there is so much to work with.

Overall: 6/10

Newcomers, frequent hosts, and movie trivia buffs will enjoy Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen!, but owners of the first two will be wanting a bit more variety and recognize the lack of progression. Most will be satisfied with the content, though, as it touches on nearly every aspect of film – actors, titles, release dates, props, posters, songs, etc. – and the new Star system interjects a bit of tension into close games. Some refinements would be nice, to keep the pace going at a smoother rate, but the real problem is the lack of online multiplayer or a leaderboard – and surprising ones at that, considering they are such natural fits with trivia games. Ideal for the frequent party host or friend of movie lovers, but otherwise you might find too little for single player or for those whose friends prefer to multiplay over Live than in person.

(This review is based on a retail copy provided by the publisher.)