Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action Review for Xbox 360 (X360)

Scene It All Before, But It’s Still Pretty Fun

Scene It? Lights, Camera, Acton for the Xbox 360 is the logical progression for the Scene It? interactive DVDs. No longer do you have to fumble around with the pause button and worry about repetitive content. The four bundled Big Button Pad controllers and the intuitive gameplay make the game very easy to manage for gamers of all ages and dispositions. The presentation is a bit hokey, and the game modes aren’t perfectly structured. However, there is a good deal of movie trivia content to be explored and with the prospect of more downloadable content in the future, it will quickly replace your old Scene It? DVDs.

Navigating through the game menus is very simple. The game is easily controlled with either the standard Xbox 360 controllers or the Big Button Pads. Of course, the game show feel of the title best lends itself to the use of the buzzers. The Big Button Pad controller is a simple design that feels good in the hand. The large button at one end is easily and quickly depressed, so it functions as a buzzer. The buzzer also can be used to navigate through menus by pressing on the top, bottom, left or right side much like a D-Pad. The rest of the buttons correspond to the red, green, blue, and yellow buttons found on the face of your standard Xbox 360 controllers. These buttons are organized vertically with a point in relief on the second button from the top. This makes it easy to quickly access the appropriate button without having to waste time looking down to orient your finger positioning. These controllers are wireless via an infrared input that you’ll have to run through the USB slots of your Xbox 360.

The IR controls, paired with the fact that they require two AA batteries for each controller leaves gamers longing for the true wireless technology of the 360. Fortunately, it’s not that big of a deal. The IR cord is long and thin enough to accommodate any entertainment center, and it functions flawlessly. Overall, the four packed-in controllers are worth it because they increase the play value by streamlining and simplifying the controls for players of all ages. This is a game that your parents will probably want to play, will enjoy playing, and at which they will excel. This may open them up to the idea of interactive video gaming, and in turn get you more games this holiday season. Microsoft is definitely taking a page out of Nintendo’s book and trying to appeal to a much larger audience with this game.

There are only two modes of play, and one of them is not particularly well thought out. This is unfortunate because it will essentially leave you playing only one of the two modes. In both Party and Play Now, the first person to answer correctly will get the most points. Party Play mode differentiates itself from Play Now in that it continually selects challenges at random. This mode could have been good except for the fact that once a player has selected their answer, it is visible to the other three. This has the effect of keeping games tighter than they really should be. We made a rule that you couldn’t look at the other players’ answers, but the occasional glance when you are stumped is inevitable. Furthermore, you have to play Party Play with four players or you’ll be constantly waiting for the timer to expire before you can move on to the next round. This really makes game pacing in Party Play slow for three or fewer players. The Play Now mode, thankfully, keeps your answers hidden from view while dividing the game into categories and rounds. It also moves at a much faster pace and allows you to choose between either short or long duration games. This will be the mode that nearly everyone will play due to the greater level of competition and faster pacing.

Game types, or categories, are simple and fun. Some we liked better than others, but this is subjective and will depend upon the varying tastes of the people playing the game. Suffice it to say, there is something for everyone to enjoy. There are picture jumbles that slowly come into focus and depict a classic scene from a film. There are also movie clips and sound clips that test your film knowledge. In some cases, you’ll have to name the movie, know the year it was made, or make simple observations about what you saw. There are also stills where a telltale object, actor, or animal has been left out of the scene. You then have to decide what was missing from the picture.

I also really liked the game type known as “Credit Roll.” It has you divine the correct movie by giving you a series of hints that could apply to a number of different movies. It is not until you’ve been given enough clues that you can successfully decide on which movie it actually is. As you can see, the modes of play are varied and quite fun. In fact, there are 1800 total questions divided between 21 question types that do a great job of testing your grasp on movie trivia. An additional boon to the series is the fact that the questions are tracked by the Xbox 360. As a result, you will rarely see the same question twice. Better still is the prospect of future downloadable content that will keep the game infinitely fresh.

As I mentioned previously, the presentation is rather hokey. The visuals are so simple and cheesy that it looks like a flash game you might have posted on your MySpace page. Fortunately, the visuals have no real bearing on gameplay and so this is really a non-issue. Disappointingly, the movie clips are supposed to be shown in HD, but they do not look crisp at all. Even if they are outputted in HD as the developer claims, the maximum graphical quality is 720p which is not full HD. I suppose it is better than the 480i or 480p that your standard DVD kicks out, but the images really don’t seem to be any better. Additionally, the sounds are decent, but not great. The sound clips are easily understood, but the music and commentary are cheesy at best. The voice and comments of the host are particularly annoying and repetitive. It is probably best to provide your own sound track and conversation and turn the in-game sounds off. Heck, it’s a party anyway, isn’t it?

Don’t expect this game to knock your socks off. However, it is the best Scene It? released to date for any platform, and it will easily replace the DVD versions you might own. The inclusion of the Big Button Pad controllers probably makes it worth the $60 price tag. However, there isn’t $60 worth of quality gameplay in the title alone. Fortunately, additional downloadable content, and automatic question tracking will keep gameplay fresh and re-playability high. This is by no means the best game out there, but you will have fun with family and friends. This is the perfect game for Thanksgiving evenings and lazy Friday nights when you don’t feel like facing the crowds or spending the $50 on dinner and a movie.

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