Countdown to boring repetition
 Aug 29th, 2007
Advantages:
Can be fun for the first game
Disadvantages:
Rounds are repeated, lose the will to play, disappointing
Recommendable:
No
Detailed rating:
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Educational Value
How good are the presenters?
How good is the content?
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  mummy2harry
About me:
All my book reviews appear on my blog http://chicklitreviews.com - have a look and let me know what ...
Member since:12.04.2007
Reviews:433
Members who trust:192
Review rated by 31 Ciao members on average: very helpful 
I have played quite a few of these interactive DVD games, especially at Christmas and found them to be a lot of fun. So when I saw this one in Marks and Spencers for the absolute bargain price of £1, I snapped it up. Now I am thankful I did not pay full price for it, and here is why. The game is actually quite simple, and very easy to use, even for people who are not familiar with other DVD interactive games. You simply put the DVD into a DVD player, and use the remote control to operate the game.
- The Game*
First of all, there is a welcome message from presenters Desmond Lynam and Carol Vorderman which gives you a 90 second introduction telling you there are 2 games to play and the order which things will appear in each game mode. Cue the famous Countdown music which runs for the same length of time as on the television show, and then the game then moves onto the main screen, which again is easy to use. It has the background image of the infamous Countdown clock, and in the bottom left corner, there are 3 options:
- Countdown Game
- Conundrum Game
- How To Play
*How To Play option*
This option does what it says. It is Carol Vorderman and Des Lynam telling you in detail how to play the 2 games available on the DVD. They alternate in telling you how to operate the game, the way that the games are played and general information about the game. This goes on for a few minutes and is worth watching the first time you play the game so that you can become familiar with how the game is played.
- Countdown Game*
This game is like playing the version which you see on the television show. You can play with 1-4 players, all using the same DVD remote control, and each will have their score counted on the game. There are 3 rounds of the game,
and the follow this format:
- ROUND 1: 3 letters rounds followed by a numbers round
- ROUND 2: 3 letters rounds followed by a numbers round
- ROUND 3: 2 letters round, a numbers round and the Countdown Conundrum
The letters rounds are simple to play. One thing I do not like about this part of the game is that you can't choose your own letters, they are prechosen for you which is a bit of a shame. Carol appears on the screen with the letters board, and chooses 9 letters like on the show, speaking them and putting them on the board. Then the letters appear on the board on their own, with a continue box underneath. When each person playing has written all the letters down on a piece of paper, press continue. Des will then appear saying "Let's begin" or something similar, and the clock will appear in the middle of the screen, with the music, for 30 seconds.
When the 30 seconds is up, Des appears telling you the longest word that you can get out of the selected letters, and it then comes up with a screen saying this: "Player 1, how many letters in your word?". Then there are boxes numbered 3-9, and you select how many letters your biggest word had. There is also a no-word box in case you can't find anything! This will appear for each player playing the game.
It is the same thing with the numbers round, you can't choose the numbers, they are randomly selected by Carol, as is the target. Again, the numbers are displayed on a screen to give you a chance to write them all down, then click continue for the clock to start. When the time is finished, it then goes back to Carol Vorderman, who will tell you how to solve the puzzle on her board, so you can it is possible to get to the target. The screen after this is obviously different. it says "Player One, how did you score?". Then there are several boxes on the screen, like this:
"Exactly right" - If you hit the target spot on.
"Within 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9", click on the number which corresponds to how close you got to the target.
"More than 10 away" if you couldn't manage to hit the target or get close.
The conundrum round is also very simple, probably the easiest one to use. Des introduces the conundrum and then it is displayed on the screen as the muddled up word. When you click continue, it disappears to the countdown clock. You have to just shout out when you get the conundrum. After the clock has finished, it says "Who got the Conundrum first?" then it lists Players 1-4, and you click on the appropriate player, or alternatively click on "no-one" if nobody solved the conundrum.
The scores are bought up throughout the game, after the rounds of letters, after the numbers round and again at the end of the conundrum. When the winner is announced, it says Player One, you are the Countdown Champion, and gives you the opportunity to play again or go back to the main menu. *Conundrum Game*
This game can only be played by one player, as there is no option to select multiple players in the game. You get 5 conundrums in a row, which you have to try and solve within the 30 second limit as usual. However, this differs quite a bit from the Conundrum in the other game play.
With this one, Des again introduces the round, and the first conundrum appears. You have to write down the conundrum as it will disappear when the clock starts, but this time, there is a stop the clock button, which is quite important! So as soon as you solve the conundrum, click on the Stop The Clock, because this will determine how long you have taken to solve the puzzle, and the quicker you go, the better ranking you will get in the game. Obviously, if you don't solve the puzzle, don't click anything and it will reveal the conundrum for you, so you know what it is. Sadly, I am so rubbish at the conundrums, I have yet to get any right in this particular mode (although I have only played it once!) so I cannot comment on the ratings or anything like that, but Des does ensure me that the quicker you solve it, the higher the ranking you get!!
Right, so those are the different game plays available to play on the DVD, so I hope that I have explained in enough detail that you get the idea of what the game is like!! However, I must now tell you about the awful problems I have had with this game, and why I am so pleased I only paid £1 for it! * PROBLEM 1 - The fact that you have to have everything written down, as the letters, numbers and conundrums disappear when the clock starts!! Sometimes it would be nice to be able to look up at the TV and look at the letters written on there, rather than in my writing, where I lose inspiration quickly! Also, if you miss a letter, or don't write down the target in the numbers round, you are a bit stuffed! This is quite a design flaw, and I am sure that they would have been able to design the game with this problem in mind so that the letters/numbers/conundrum remain on the screen while the clock counts down your 30 seconds.
* PROBLEM 2: REPEATED ROUNDS!!! AAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHH! My partner and I have played this game 3 times, and we have so many repeated rounds, we cannot be bothered to play it again. We keep on getting exactly the same numbers rounds EVERYTIME we play, so there is no point in playing them so you lose a lot of the competitive part of the game. Also the letters keep on appearing over and over again, and you do begin to remember the 8 or 9 letter words which Des reveals at the end of the round, which somewhat spoils the point of the game. The DVD cover tells you there is over 300 games on the DVD, yet we have had probably around 25, and that is it! We really lost patience with it quickly, because it seems so pointless. You play a game to win it, not to win because you remember the answers as they have appeared so much through out the game. It is such a shame, as this could have been such a great game if they had put a bit more of an effort into creating a good game.
Overall, I would say you will get one good round of gameplay out of this DVD. After that, you will get a lot of repeated rounds, and believe me, you will lose patience and indeed the will to live when you keep getting the same numbers over and over again. Very disappointing, and I would not recomment that anybody pay full price for this DVD, it would be a waste! Thank you for reading my review, hope it was helpful!
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by (6%):
24.12.2007 23:54
this one sounds as bad as the deal or no deal interactive dvd
30.08.2007 13:55
A shame it didn't live up to expectations - good review though
29.08.2007 23:23
Great review, sounds a bit frustrating, and these things are usually so good for all the family!! I'll steer clear Lx