The brilliantly named, That Trivia Game is, you guessed it – an all new trivia game, and in that respect, it does exactly what it says on the tin. Sadly, it doesn’t do it very well.
While never the most popular of genres, there have actually been quite a few decent trivia games released in the last few years. From Microsoft’s surprisingly brilliant Scene It? and Sony’s highly enjoyable, Buzz! through to the very decent, Who Wants to be a Millionaire and Trivial Pursuit, the last generation saw a wealth of top tier, family friendly trivia games released across all major formats. This gen hasn’t started quite so strongly.
That Trivia Game works in so much that there are questions and a game-show-esque set-up, but everything about it ultimately feels lazy and rushed. There are plenty of subjects to choose from (the usual i.e. history, television, science etc), but while the questions themselves are solid enough, there simply aren’t enough of them to warrant multiple playthroughs. After only a few full matches, repeat questions were already starting to appear. Sure, there were only a few, but as soon as that starts to happen, the game and the competition is essentially broken. I appreciate that this issue will inevitably become a problem for any game of this ilk at some point or another, but in the case of, That Trivia Game, that point came far too soon.
While repeat questions are obviously a major issue, the biggest problem with That Trivia Game has to be the presentation. Visually, this looks like a PS2 game. Technically it is very poor, and artistically, it’s even worse. I don’t expect a work of art, but the character and set design are all horribly garish and overtly childish. That would be fine if this was aimed at children, but it’s abundantly clear from the questions that this is aimed at a more mature audience.
In fairness, a handful of different permeations on the basic quiz show template does inject the game with some life and certainly imbues each of the four rounds per match with a little originality, but again, with limited questions, even these nice little twists are invariably diluted after only a handful of matches. Character customisation too, while a welcome addition is far too limited to have any major effect on the overall experience. Of course, it also doesn’t help that, customisable or not, every character looks absolutely terrible (think a poor man’s take on, The Sims).
As always, playing locally with three friends is the best way to go, and despite its problems, That Trivia Game can still deliver moments of entertainment under the right kind of circumstances. If you’re looking for a cheap and cheerful trivia game to play once in a blue moon when the friends are over and drinks are in hand, That Trivia Game will certainly do the trick, just don’t go expecting anything that is likely to hold your attention when playing solo……or sober.
Look past the limited content and garish art design and you’ll find a competent trivia game that can be fun when played with friends. Look any closer though, and you’ll find a budget PS4 release that looks and plays like it belongs on the PS2.
REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Sony Playstation 4 code was provided to Bonus Stage for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to press@4gn.co.uk.
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Gameplay - /10
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Graphics - /10
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Replay Value - /10
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