That's right, You Don't Know Jack is back. And that weird dude named Cookie Masterson is back on the narration, along with pretty much the same gameplay concepts as the classic YDKJ series spanning something like 15 to 20 different releases over the last 15 or so years.
Gameplay: 7.0
Unique gameplay concepts - What drives the game, and what is it similar to?
You Don't Know Jack is a trivia game, but it's a clever trivia game. It's not simply "what's the answer to this question?", they skew the questions to relate to something modern day or just ridiculous.
It's pretty simple - you're given a question (usually along with a humorous explanation to why they are asking the question, or a ridiculous dialogue segment with other people on the "show" like stage managers), and you have to answer it. If you get it right, you get money based on how long it took you to answer, and if you get it wrong, you lose money based on how long it took you to answer, along with the host insulting your intelligence.
It's all in good fun. The game is meant to be a party game. With 2 players, it's still amusing. I'm sure with 4 it'd make the game a lot more chaotic and thus more interesting.
But, this game is very limited. It's a trivia game. It's something to be played when you don't want to play an actual game. It's not boring or anything, and definitely is the cream of the crop when it comes to trivia games. But, it's still a trivia game. It's nothing we've never seen before, but still amusing.
They also do a reasonable job of throwing in a couple of extra mini games, like Dis or Dat and the Jack Attack - fast games that rely on quickness to beat out your opponent to answer a series of questions correctly.
Although, I was a big fan of You Don't Know Jack since the beginning. They lost a ton of content, perhaps so they can add it into new games they port onto consoles, and it left me wondering why they would skip out on so many of their great ideas from the past. I was a bit disappointed in how basic it felt compared to the original series.
Presentation: 10.0
Graphical and audio presentation (animation, texturing, overall look & artistic style)
Considering this game is just text and narration, there's not a whole lot you can do to jazz it up. They did a good job of jazzing it up though and looking/listening to the game is about as much as you can ask for from a trivia game.
Theatrics: 8.0
Story, Dialogue, Cut-Scenes and Artistic Use of Camera
This game obviously has no stories or anything, but they're creative. They have segments of dialogue where the host is making jokes or talking to other characters. Overall, it'll keep your interest.
Controls: 9.0
Ease of Use and Smoothness of Controls
The controls are as basic as it gets, and they tell you how to play each game as it arrives. Literally anybody can play it.
It seems to me that they have a sort of delay on the timing of when a button is pressed and when the game reacts during their Jack Attack mini game.
Replay Value: 7.0
Total Gameplay Time versus Expected
I checked into the game's settings and it says it has 73 episodes, which is 73 Jack Attacks, 73 Dis or Dats and around 670 normal questions. I'm sure the entire game will give players around 35 hours of play time. And it'll slowly lose it's appeal afterward if you keep playing over and over because you'll know all of the questions already!
But the game itself isn't going to throw a lot of new gameply at you, so you'll be doing the same thing game after game. I mean, it's a trivia game.. what more can somebody expect out of it?
It should be noted that this game sells for about half the price of a normal game, so it should be considered when determining "value".
Fun: 7.0
What were the most and least fun parts of the game? Overall, how much fun is the game?
The game is pretty amusing overall, but there are no huge high notes to the game. The thrill of playing a game like this versus an action-packed game obviously cannot compare. This is definitely a party game, so be sure you have at least one other person to play with, or else you'll be entirely missing the point.
My Overall Rating: 7.5
Complexity Level: Pick up and Play. This is the definition of a game that doesn't really require a controller, but they tell you what buttons to press when it's time to press them. Literally anybody can play it.
Gameplay: 7.0
Unique gameplay concepts - What drives the game, and what is it similar to?
You Don't Know Jack is a trivia game, but it's a clever trivia game. It's not simply "what's the answer to this question?", they skew the questions to relate to something modern day or just ridiculous.
It's pretty simple - you're given a question (usually along with a humorous explanation to why they are asking the question, or a ridiculous dialogue segment with other people on the "show" like stage managers), and you have to answer it. If you get it right, you get money based on how long it took you to answer, and if you get it wrong, you lose money based on how long it took you to answer, along with the host insulting your intelligence.
It's all in good fun. The game is meant to be a party game. With 2 players, it's still amusing. I'm sure with 4 it'd make the game a lot more chaotic and thus more interesting.
But, this game is very limited. It's a trivia game. It's something to be played when you don't want to play an actual game. It's not boring or anything, and definitely is the cream of the crop when it comes to trivia games. But, it's still a trivia game. It's nothing we've never seen before, but still amusing.
They also do a reasonable job of throwing in a couple of extra mini games, like Dis or Dat and the Jack Attack - fast games that rely on quickness to beat out your opponent to answer a series of questions correctly.
Although, I was a big fan of You Don't Know Jack since the beginning. They lost a ton of content, perhaps so they can add it into new games they port onto consoles, and it left me wondering why they would skip out on so many of their great ideas from the past. I was a bit disappointed in how basic it felt compared to the original series.
Presentation: 10.0
Graphical and audio presentation (animation, texturing, overall look & artistic style)
Considering this game is just text and narration, there's not a whole lot you can do to jazz it up. They did a good job of jazzing it up though and looking/listening to the game is about as much as you can ask for from a trivia game.
Theatrics: 8.0
Story, Dialogue, Cut-Scenes and Artistic Use of Camera
This game obviously has no stories or anything, but they're creative. They have segments of dialogue where the host is making jokes or talking to other characters. Overall, it'll keep your interest.
Controls: 9.0
Ease of Use and Smoothness of Controls
The controls are as basic as it gets, and they tell you how to play each game as it arrives. Literally anybody can play it.
It seems to me that they have a sort of delay on the timing of when a button is pressed and when the game reacts during their Jack Attack mini game.
Replay Value: 7.0
Total Gameplay Time versus Expected
I checked into the game's settings and it says it has 73 episodes, which is 73 Jack Attacks, 73 Dis or Dats and around 670 normal questions. I'm sure the entire game will give players around 35 hours of play time. And it'll slowly lose it's appeal afterward if you keep playing over and over because you'll know all of the questions already!
But the game itself isn't going to throw a lot of new gameply at you, so you'll be doing the same thing game after game. I mean, it's a trivia game.. what more can somebody expect out of it?
It should be noted that this game sells for about half the price of a normal game, so it should be considered when determining "value".
Fun: 7.0
What were the most and least fun parts of the game? Overall, how much fun is the game?
The game is pretty amusing overall, but there are no huge high notes to the game. The thrill of playing a game like this versus an action-packed game obviously cannot compare. This is definitely a party game, so be sure you have at least one other person to play with, or else you'll be entirely missing the point.
My Overall Rating: 7.5
Complexity Level: Pick up and Play. This is the definition of a game that doesn't really require a controller, but they tell you what buttons to press when it's time to press them. Literally anybody can play it.
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