The Price is Back!

by Sebastian Stefanov

Fun factor: Fun

Worth to: Buy/Rent

A decent game for any household due to its ease of play and accurate recreation of the classic show, but it doesn’t offer enough to merit being purchased anew.

The Price is Right returns, and as you can imagine, it doesn’t revolutionize the previous installment in any way. In fact, it has taken the Unreal Tournament yearly annotation principle and started releasing the same game with a few tweaks every year. So is this year’s update worth the $20 price tag? It depends on how much you like the old show. A few annoyances make a return; some things have been fixed and an obvious game mode has finally been added. In all, a decent iteration but there’s still room for improvement, which, by the looks of things, will be partially fixed next year.

A few superficial changes

So what’s different? For starters, there’s a new character customization feature. Players can create their own avatars through a simple customization panel. Various body shapes, faces, hair styles and clothing pieces are available from the start. More are unlocked as players chalk off achievements by playing the 32 games.



With the upgrade also comes a slight improvement in graphics, at least as far as contestants are concerned. You can even assign your digital-self one of three personalities, which don’t amount to much in presentation and even less in gameplay terms. Character animations are still out of place most of the time (clapping like an idiot while landing on $0.10 when an opponent has $1.00 on the Big Wheel), and repeat far too often. Avatars are rudimentarily similar. Everybody looks young and pretty -- no more granny, and no fat, ugly, ravioli-stained sweatpants-wearing, class skipping slob… but at least the Gorns are gone!

Bob and Drew no-show again this year, but the whole thing sounds and feels as good as before. The pacing is now more authentic with the ability to play using classic Price is Right rules. To be honest, classic rules should have been in last year’s game, but hey, it’s here now, and makes a world of difference. Three strikes are back as an alternative mode in case you missed it.

Same old Price is Right…

Gameplay-wise, it’s the same game as before. Ubisoft rehashed the old engine, adding but slight esthetic changes here and there. Prizes are presented via small screens with actual footage from the show. Not much to say here considering that’s probably the best way to get the job done. Ubisoft unfortunately under-spun on The Big Wheel for the second time in a row, for it’s as unintuitive as last year. There’s absolutely no skill needed here; a simple press of the button makes the wheel spin, only to randomly stop where it may. One can’t, for instance, try and barely squeeze in a single go-around to get the green zones in the bonus spin.



Overall gameplay almost feels identical to the actual TV show. The only negatives are found in the show’s traditions, which won’t bother casual viewers but might annoy hardcore fans. In Safe Cracker, for instance, the game doesn’t have a safe opening animation and doesn’t show you the correct safe combo if you fail (something that happens in other games too). After winning a car (the most expensive prize) you might still get to spin first at The Big Wheel. And no one calls for mass castration of animals at the end of the show (sniff)…

Some games also need tweaking. For starters, items have different prizes between games. I understand it’s used to keep things fresh, but large disparities make me question the program spitting out the random numbers. A sauna was valued at around 4000 in one game, then over 8000 in another (same item). In other instances sounds don’t match the situation. In Lucky Seven, the announcer always asks you to bid for the “car” even when you’re playing for a trailer or boat. Speaking of sounds, Bonkers will drive you you-know-what with the announcer saying “it’s wrong” every time your combination isn’t correct (which amount to about 30 “it’s wrongs” in 30 seconds). But for the most part you will have the same wacky fun as watching the show.

What will keep you going?

As of writing this review, the game offers a Party Mode that lets you play against four other players online, but the mode isn’t ready yet and appears to be web-based -- not actually part of the retail package. Anybody will be able to play it at this link: http://www.playtpir.com/LiveGame/.

Besides that, Ludia made a great achievements section. After successfully completing a game (Cliffhanger, for instance), a memorable clip from the show unlocks. It’s actually easier to find funny Price is Right clips on Youtube, but for some weird reason the feature got me hooked. Getting them all squeezed out a solid 4-5 hours out of my life, just to see the next moron manhandle Barker or faint in the Showcase Showdown.



The extra character garments aren’t really an incentive to keep playing, for we only see our avatar’s upper-body, and we get fed up of watching the same three animations, like the shy contestant holding his/her arm, looking like he was caught making a stain on the carpet…

The prizes have been updated to plug this year’s line of products, and plug they will. They even remind us in the captions when something is Trademarked. It® gets™ pretty™ annoying® seeing™ all® those® signs™ after® a™ while®. Seriously Ubisoft, it’s bad enough the smaller products have direct links to their official websites, but adding all the legal crap makes it look like you care more about the sponsors than your customers. To Ubisoft’s credit, I only noticed the links and legal bragging in one or two games.

Summary

Honestly, Price is Right 2010 is a decent game for any household. Anybody can plug into it and have a quick fix. People who usually don’t play video games can join in on the fun simply by helping out with the bidding. But with its rehashed engine and games, and all the product placement, it’s probably the only game in history that makes money before even hitting retail shelves, so you can bet your sweet ass there will be another Price is Right next year. For $20, I say the price is right, but only if you don’t already own a copy...