(PSN) Jeopardy

Where’s Kebert Xela?

Posted 4 years ago By - Jay Acevedo

Jeopardy it’s easily one of my favourite TV gaming shows ever. So when I saw that Sony was releasing, , the game over to the PSN without any huge announcement whatsoever, I was very excited and I started dreaming about how it would be to play the game against three other people from other parts of the world and win lots and lots of money like Ken Jennings (except he was winning real money). So how is the Jeopardy PSN experience ? Find out in our review.


Like on the show, you and two other contestants will face each other by playing three Jeopardy! rounds: the Jeopardy! Round, the Double Jeopardy! Round, and the Final Jeopardy! Round. In the first two rounds, six categories are announced, each with a column of five trivia clues in the form of an answer each one valued in dollars. Each contestant must supply correct responses in the form of a question. In the last round, contestants will get to see the category the last question and then wager how much of their winnings they’d like to play for.

How do you answer questions? Once the clue appears, a visual notification that asks you either to respond or pass the question will show up. Once you press on the answer button, four choices will be given to you. Select the correct one and collect your money. Is it a good system? Well we’ve seen other trivia games using the same system and make it work (Buzz for example) but in Jeopardy, it feels broken. First of all, the multiple choices aren’t great. You could easily press to answer and then have enough time to choose the correct answer because the correct choice is very noticeable. Part of the problem is the time given to choose between the 4 possible answers is a bit too long. By making it a bit shorter, a second or two, you’ll be forcing the “guessers” to actually think before answering. Secondly, the response time between the “Answer” button and my character isn’t well balanced. Either it’s too fast or too slow even if I’m pressing on the button before the answer visual appears. But it works most of the time.


The option to play locally or online with two of your friends is sure cool and well welcomed. I’ve played a couple games online and didn’t experience any lag at all. Plus, the game supports audio chat which is wonderful in game where the audio isn’t great to listen to (more on that later on).

The game also features a “so-called Trophies” option. Why “so-called”? Because it’s not the “Real Trophy” support Sony added a couple of weeks back. You’ll be called to unlock these 16 trophies by either scoring points or playing a certain number of games that aren’t tied to the PS3 Trophy system. Weird…

Graphics & Sounds

Graphically, the game isn’t too shabby. Although the show environments and game board look great, the characters looks and animations aren’t the best we’ve seen. Of course, the choice of character customization isn’t huge and it sure doesn’t fix the problem of character ugliness.


As for sounds, even if the game’s official theme and buzzer sounds are accurate; the whole Jeopardy experience feels empty without any voice-over whatsoever. That’s right, nothing, nada. I’ve seen a funeral with more action. The occasional “Awwwww” when you guess wrong and the crowd cheering when you’re right are sure welcomed in such a silent environment…plus, there’s no Alex Trebek. Jeopardy without Alex Trebek…if you never envisioned that, you can experience it for $15 on your PS3. I do have two theories: either someone at Sony Online really spelled his name backwards and sent him to the 5th dimension where he belongs or Trebek was a real jerk and didn’t authorized his likeness to be used. Either way, it sure feels empty without him…

Value

For $15, if Sony Online is telling me that this is a test version of a bigger and better version of Jeopardy, I will totally understand it and start dreaming about Jeopardy 2. If no, I must say that even if I will continue to play the game for the fun of it with some friends, the game has squashed all the good expectations I had. But something does tell me that this isn’t the end of Jeopardy on the PS3 and that Sony is indeed preparing something way cooler. Still, there’s a lot of worthless stuff you could do with $15 like eating some a nasty McDonald meal, buy two packs of cigarettes or even bring your wife to the theater to watch the latest Woody Allen movie where two chicks kiss (love you Scarlett!). Instead, why not invest it on Jeopardy…at least your brain will thank you for all the learning you will do.

Conclusion

It sure feels empty when Alex isn’t around…but the game isn’t that bad. Yes it could be better and the team at Sony Online sure knows it. Let’s cross our fingers and wish for bigger and cooler version of Jeopardy. I would play 60$ to have it and I’m sure more would as well.

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