Scene It? Movie Night was developed by Sarbarkan Games and published by Screenlife LLC. It was released November 30, 2011 in the US only, for 800 MSP. A copy of the game was provided for review purposes.

Scene It? Movie Night is the latest iteration in the Scene It? movie trivia franchise. The ultimate party game and just in time for the holiday season too. Previously a board game, DVD game and Xbox retail game (complete with buzzer style controllers), but this is their first crack at the XBLA market. Fans of the series will recognize and be right at home with the tried and tested format which remains much the same across all formats: watch a clip then answer the following multiple choice questions. But how will it fair as budget XBLA release?

The game is essentially a bare bones platform from which you can launch the various question packs, purchasable as DLC. The first pack, Mega Movies is provided with the game and features big name movies such as Back to the Future, Saving Private Ryan and The Godfather. The multiplayer is offline only for 1-4 players and the big button controllers that have been included with the retail versions are still compatible.

Here’s what we liked:

Variety show – Each quiz consists of seven rounds and there is no way to change this. You will always get at least two movie clips, which are of surprisingly good quality, and a quick fire round to finish. The other four rounds are made up from a variety of puzzle type questions. For example Role Call will see you matching the actor or actress to the roles they may have played or Sequentials where you must order the films by their release date. The inability to set how many and which rounds are to be included at first seemed like a negative, but with each quiz lasting only around 15 minutes it does keep the play fast-paced and the randomness gives the game that “one more shot” addictive quality.

Next big thing – The questions cover movies from several decades of cinema and current choices are bang up to date. In fact during one round we were even asked about the newest release in the Twilight saga, Breaking Dawn, which was only released a few weeks ago. Similarly, most of the movies included are fairly well known so the majority of players should have at least heard of them without needing to be a diehard movie buff.

Best Supporting DLC – It’s a good sign that the developers have already promised to continue supporting the game with new question pack addons and the first DLC is rumored to be a Sci-Fi trivia pack. Regular addons should ensure the game is kept fresh and up to date and stop boredom setting in too early.

Here’s what we didn’t like:

Host with the most…annoying voice – Apparently someone thought it would be funny to have a wise-cracking host make constant digs at you when you get questions wrong. Gabbing inanely throughout the game, at best he is downright irritating and eventually you just want to punch the guy. Thankfully you can adjust the volume of “Host” all the way down to zero in the set up menu. However without any sort of host the game feels a little less like a game show, however we felt this was the lesser of the two evils.

LIVE studio audience not included – Sarbarkan really missed a trick here. Inclusion of an online mode would have been a massive selling point. Offline multiplayer fans will love it either way but it doesn’t suit a large number of gamers and single players will get bored fast. Think how much fun it could have been to host regular quiz nights with other players across the world, instead it risks becoming just another party game to be wheeled out when you have guests.

Extras wanted – It doesn’t come with the big button controllers. Well duh it’s an XBLA game! However given the lack online play you really need 4 Xbox controllers or have the big button buzzers from a previous installment to get the full experience. It may priced at a mere 800 MSP but by the time you factor the cost of extra controllers into your budget plus the DLC expansion packs, you may prefer to consider purchasing one of the now heavily discounted retail versions instead.

These quiz games always go down well at parties and if you’re already a fan of the franchise and are on the look out for some new questions then this is a decent release and you should definitely try it out. However it does feels more like an add-on than a full game and if you’re new to the Scene It? series, this one is hard to recommend over one of the boxed versions that include buzzers and an online experience.

Score: Try It!