The hybrid board/DVD game called Scene it? has now come to the X360 to challenge the likes of Sony’s Buzz!

And well, it’s almost like a mirror image; the 360’s version of something that’s already been done. Still, to its credit, the game is good fun, but it does have its pro’s and con’s, and we were left wanting more.

But on a positive note for starters, when you pur-chase this game you do walk away feeling like you’ve really got something for your money. Packaged in a nice big box, you get with the game four wireless Big Button pads and an infra-red dongle thingie to plonk in front of your TV; just like the Wii.

The game is simply a movie quiz, and it does what it says on the tin. There are over 1800 questions to run though, and all movie clips are shown in wonderful HD quality. Supposedly the 360’s memory follows which ones are asked to prevent repetition, however two questions were repeated within the first three games we played. Bit worrying, no?

Modes to choose from are short game (about 25 minutes) or long game (about an hour), and they’re your best options. There is also a party mode where you can keep answering questions indefinitely but compared to the ‘proper’ modes it just seems silly and superfluous. A game without an end? No thanks.

The ‘real’ game is set in a Hollywood movie lot, with a host that takes you around to different areas such as the cutting room, animation studio, sound studio etc, and then quizzes you with questions around that ‘theme’. Different rounds reward and penalize you in different ways. Sometimes you can loose points for wrong answers, and other times the points may go down over time, meaning you need to be quick to buzz in.

One of the game’s pluses is the variety of round types. These offer a good mix up of gameplay and styles, keeping you interested in the game, offering new challenges and making you want to keep playing. Just to give you an idea of the offerings, there’s Movie Clip - which shows a short clip of a movie and then asks you to answer questions based on the clip, Sound Clips - which plays an audio snippet and has you guess the movie, and Drawing Board - where an image representing a film is scribbled, Pictionary-style, on-screen, and you have to buzz in and guess the movie. You get the idea.

Those are some of the highlights, but there are plenty of other modes, most of which are fun, but there’s a few which aren't all that exciting. Some of the real stinkers are those that make you work out anagrams and put four movies in order according to their release dates, *yawn*.

Also, although citing itself as a movie quiz, a lot of the rounds involve common sense, or ‘say what you see’ puzzle-solving that we know and love from Mr Walker and his beloved Catchphrase. There’s also some visual questions related to the movie clips you watch, like what’s the image on Drew Barrymore’s lighter in Charlie’s Angels, and how many times does Mr Miyagi try to catch a fly with his chopsticks. Odd, we know, but still, this does mean you’ve got a fair chance of winning even if you’re not a movie buff. Add to that the variety of recent and classic films and its one you probably could play at Christmas with the folks – even granny could join in!

The scoring is quite hit and miss however; sometimes it can be luck of the draw rather than movie knowledge that gets you first place. For example, at the end of each round players are awarded bonus points for being the fastest, correctly answering a streak of questions in a row etc. Then, to complete every game, the final challenge is when you get taken to the screening room for the Final Cut. Here you'll watch a clip from a movie and then answer questions based on the clip and the movie in general. There’s a catch though; for each consecutive answer you get right you’re awarded a multiplier. This means final round scores can beat those you’ve managed to get in all the other rounds combined, so if some lucky bugger hits the lottery with their favorite film being chosen, well then, that’s the game!

As for its multiplayer features, we did feel let down by the lack of ‘Live capabilities. Sure, it’s a great one to play when your mates are over, or to entertain the ‘olds when you get a family visit, but what if you feel like a night in, challenging some of your friends that don’t live round the corner?!

We may sound quite negative, but to be fair the game is a good laugh. It’s hard to make a graphically jaw dropping quiz game, and you can’t please everyone with this genre, but overall Scene it? Lights, Camera, Action ticks most of the boxes. It may be your only option for an X360 quiz game currently, but it still puts up a good fight against Sony’s competition. No one’s got it spot on just yet, but they’re doing a damn good job…

Verdict

Scene It? Has its flaws, but overall the game is a fun purchase for people wanting some X360 quiz action. It’s got a variety of rounds and a good chunk of questions to run through, but we’re hoping we’ll get an update with new questions at a later date, as we did find that they began to repeat themselves almost straight away!

Still, a top game to bring out for a night with the mates over and it will bring out the competitor in you all. Even better, you don’t have to be a total movie buff to have a chance of winning, so it’s great for one and all…

7/10