This Is... not a bad downloadable version of the classic TV game show.
With the growing popularity of modern game show-style quiz games such as Buzz and Scene It, it's nice to see Sony Online Entertainment dip into Sony Pictures' license vault for some classic JEOPARDY! action. As an watcher of the show itself I've always wanted a good multiplayer console rendition of JEOPARDY! and SOE has actually put together a pretty decent version, especially for a downloadable game.
"This Is JEOPARDY!" all right. You have a board of 30 "answers" broken into 6 categories with increasing dollar values, and 3 contestants with buzzers trying to supply the correct "question". The contestant with the most money at the end, wins. Being a console game it was obvious we weren't going to have the ability to freely type in the questions, so multiple choice was the obvious way to go. The choices aren't revealed until after buzzing in and usually they are written well enough as to provide some challenge. Some are very guess able based on the answer/category provided, so there are times when just buzzing in and winging it is worth the risk. The game features more than 2,500 clues from the TV show, which seems a little skimpy at first, although it took at least 20 full games for any repeats to appear. There will be additional content packs available to download in the future, for a price, presumably.
One thing is for sure, they've got the JEOPARDY! presentation down pat. The set, the board, the "camera" movement/angles and the mannerisms of the contestants are eerily right on at times. Worth noting is that the game is rendered at 1080p natively and is super crisp and clean (the text especially) for those with "Full HD" HDTVs. The classic theme song, sound effects and recognizable little tunes are all as perfect as can be. There's a catch however. Alex Trebek is nowhere to be seen, nor is there a stand-in host of any sort, and there's literally an empty podium sitting there on screen. Secondly, there's no announcer or voices at all. Even the "This Is JEOPARDY!" tagline is completely missing. JEOPARDY! isn't exactly an action-packed TV show, but other than audio cues and occasional applause/golf claps, the set is far too quiet.
JEOPARDY! has a local mode for up to 3 players, an online multiplayer mode and a basic character customization tool. The randomly generated CPU players are fair at the default difficulty setting, although they can be absolutely brutal on certain topics you may be clueless on. Online multiplayer is very basic, you are more or less just tossed into a random game with strangers. It's a nice addition, and works for when you don't want to play solo against the CPU or if you don't have any friends or family that want to take you on. For what it's worth, I found local multiplayer games to be the most enjoyable. Lastly, JEOPARDY! has several Trophy-like "Awards" which could have easily just been actual XMB Trophies. When or if the game ever gets patched, it's possible the feature can be added.
I'm usually not one to complain about the pricing of downloadable titles, though at $15, I feel JEOPARDY! is just a little overpriced. The presentation is certainly nice, the games are well paced, the multiplayer is fun and there is an adequate variety of topics/answers/questions. Unless you have a household of JEOPARDY! fans, the whole package is still just a little light for the price point. Hopefully the upcoming Wheel of Fortune (which I'm really looking forward to), gets it right.
