Who Wants to be a Millionaire (Wii) Review

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Joins an increasing line-up of party-titles itching to grab a slice of family-orientated gaming through interactive puzzles and quizzes to try and offer something for everyone. The game conversion follows a near-identical format to the hit TV series: contestants are offered the chance to win £1-million by answering a series of 15 multiple-choice questions ranging from anything from film, music, literature, real-world issues and a whole host of general and recent knowledge. To help tackle some of the harder questions up the latter, three “lifelines” offer players the chance to ask the audience for help, phone a friend or take away half of the incorrect answers (50/50).

Presentation wise, the template follows the basic look and feel of the Millionaire formula: a money ladder panel, question and a series of four different question blocks to choose from with the flick of your Wii-remote. And whilst it’s a quick means of selecting your answer and moving on, that’s where any interaction ends. Plastered in the middle of the screen in an ickle circle is your presenter, ushering repeated phrases in turn to plod you along the path to success.

Essentially that's exactly what the game conversion is: re-living the TV show from the comfort of your living room, but that's unfortunately where much of the excitement ends. The TV show itself is full of character and many would argue a worthy addition to public-television prime-time, however much of the human interaction has been stripped bare leaving a set-phrased presenter and "friends" who don't really help out at all (nor speak, for that matter). Chris Tarrant, in the UK edition, brings a series of familiar remarks in video form in-between each question however after several rounds becomes predictable and ever tiresome to sit through.

The game's redeeming factor however, comes in the selection of questions. Aside from the unfortunate lack of a voice-over to read lazy-bums each one, the difficulty levels are appropriate and offer a challenge to even the biggest nerd in your gaming posse, and aren't too obscure to leave everyone in the dark. Life-lines are useful, but when calling a friend each one displays an adorable recycled shot of the same four chaps and chapettes, and stupidly enough have the most unrealistic types. A five year old being an expert at Egyptology and Physics? The human on the other side replies with a most normal reply: "it is A", and he's wrong. Blimey.

Sound comes into the equation, but again could have been done far better. The show's ambient background-music and sound-effects add a worthy note of authenticity however is as far as the musical aspect stretches. Tarrant's voice clips are monotonous and can be applied to virtually every question, leaving the general feeling rushed and robotic at times.