PS4 Review Code Provided by Appeal Studios
Making a video game based on a game show can sometimes be a tricky thing to do correctly, but it seems that Appeal Studios took on this challenge. Working with Microids, they got Who Wants To Be A Millionaire released on multiple platforms, and for those who like having these game show games on their platform of choice, this is a gift. However, even gifts can hold flaws and this game definitely has its fair share.
Gameplay
From the menu, you have a few modes to choose from. Here you pick if you are playing solo, with a friend, or even if it is a family game session. These modes will essentially pick how difficult the questions are going to be overall and then even ask if you want it on an easy or normal difficulty level. Once you have that setup, you have a chance to alter which subjects the questions will be pulled from, and then the game will actually start.
Overall, starting a game is really quick and is well-tailored for whatever kind of session you are looking to have. With roughly 3,000 questions to choose from and only 15 correct answers standing between you and victory, narrowing down the questions to specific subjects and difficulties hardly makes it probable that you will see the same question within the same few rounds on the game. Plus, the family-friendly game mode is full of questions that are good for kids and youth, all while giving you the chance to see if you are as smart as this game expects kids to be. Fun fact: I am not!
When it comes to the lifelines they included in this game, you get the classic three and one of the new ones. You get to choose between 50:50, Call a Friend, Ask the Audience, and Switch the Question. All four are available for each game as a one-time use life line, just as they are in the actual game show.
Essentially, the game is as you would expect it to be. You are answering questions and progressing as long as you get them correct, regardless of what game mode you choose to work with. Having a variety of game modes was a nice touch for players to have customized game sessions when they are playing by themselves or with others.
Visuals
This game provides a rather sub-par graphic quality and really shows that they focused on the questions themselves. The crowd is bland, the character models are diverse yet clunky-looking, almost as if they were made out of clay. Really, the best part of the game’s visual quality is the stage and question menu, but even that is only passable.
Sounds
The music and sound effects used for the game are nostalgic to the TV show version of this game show that I used to watch as a kid. However, the voice acting is embarrassingly terrible. I don’t know why they didn’t think they needed to get people to properly add voice acting to this game when it is literally a game show video game, but they didn’t put much effort into this quality either.
Replayability
Thanks to there being so many questions and subjects, unlockable subjects, and multiple game modes to choose from, there is plenty of replayability to this game. It is the ultimate TV show trivia game brought to your preferred gaming platform and is loaded with questions to test your knowledge. That never really gets old.
What Could Be Better
Sure, they did a great job with the questions and the trivia aspect of this game, but they practically ignored every other quality aspect of this game. The graphics are minimal, the voice acting was terrible, and just everything aside from answering questions was not impressive. Just cause you nailed the gameplay part of this game show video game doesn’t make for a perfect game on its own.
Conclusion
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire is everything you could want in a trivia game and thrown onto a mess of a video game. I’m happy with the questions, game modes, and overall gameplay, so I would recommend this game for that alone. But if you are someone who can’t get over bad graphics or bad voice acting, then I would say beware.
