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Review:

3rd October 2001:
The Weakest Link
Winking Anne Robinson - live in your living room!
Posted by John Grothier - - UK and Europe

Do you remember the first time you heard the great ginger one utter the mortal line – “You are the weakest link, Goodbye!” From teatime audiences to worldwide television domination, it seems everyone is watching. Now you too can be insulted, live in your living room!

Activision have just released ‘The Weakest Link’ for the Playstation, complete with a computer-generated Anne Robinson, the brusque host, who insults both human and computer players alike.

The Weakest Link plays exactly like the television show. Players pick one of twenty-four very different computer generated characters, each with their own voice and personality to match. Each contestant must answer a question in turn, if they provide Anne with the correct answer, the prize money raises until the team reaches their target, but if one of the contestants ‘bank’ the money will be saved for the final round. If a contestant gives a wrong answer, all money not previously banked will be lost, and players must start building up the prize money again. At the end of each round the team must ‘vote off’ a player, so eventually leaving two players to go ‘head-to-head’ for the prize money earned in the final round.

The Weakest Link is a truly fantastic achievement; it really has the entire atmosphere of the show crammed onto the Playstation disc. Anne Robinson is perfectly re-created for the home. At the start of each round an FMV clip of Anne informs you of the round they are playing, and how much time the contestants have remaining. Then after a thankfully brief loading time, a real-time 3D model of the studio is revealed, with Anne and all of the seven contestants, it even has the same lighting effects as the television show!

Anne asks each contestant a question, turning on her podium as she goes. When the time is up, she will insult the team if there is hardly any money banked, or rarely congratulate you of you have reached your target. Then ‘Its time to vote off the weakest link.’ Voting is executed by simply pressing the relevant button on your Playstation controller. Once voting is over, like the TV show, Anne will quiz some of the contestants to find out why they voted for a particular person. Then the host will insult the contestant with the most votes, and off they will go, leaving the studio in real time, usually whingeing as they go.

There are three different difficulty settings- normal, which is comparable to the television show. Each contestant is presented with a multiple-choice format that really doesn’t give anything away, in most cases only the first letter of the answer is shown- so you either know the answer or you don’t. Easy difficulty shows the player four possible answers, again in multiple choice format, but this time all the possible answers are fully displayed. Junior difficulty for the young, or drunk, gives easier questions with only two possible answers.

Up to seven players can play The Weakest Link, with any combination of human or computer players. You can bend the rules in the options section, so Anne will ask less on a given subject. Players are even able to increase the voting abuse, so Anne gives each human player an especially abusive film clip when they get voted off.

There are three main ways to play The Weakest Link - Single player, Multiplayer and the Championship in which the player must compete in four shows in order to win £1 million. There are a staggering 100,000 questions in the game, I have been playing for the best part of a week, and I can’t recall the same question coming up twice!

The graphics in The Weakest Link are extremely polished; the studio looks just right, and the player models are detailed and varied. Each of the twenty-four contestants have their own personality, they put there head in their hands when they loose, look at other contestants while voting, and remember if you voted for them in previous rounds, again just like the real show. The artificial intelligence employed is very impressive, if you are too good they will vote you off in the latter rounds!

Each character has some funny, if a little stereotypical, voice acting which is superbly done, and very varied. A lot of effort has been put into the sound to keep it fresh for a long time. Music and sound effects are taken directly from the show and Anne, as always, has plenty to say. She also has a special message for all of us gamers when you complete the championship.

Overall The Weakest Link is a perfect conversion of the hit television show, fantastic in single player, but even better when you play the multiplayer with your friends and family – and then, of course, vote them off!

;

John Grothier

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Review Summary:

100,000 Questions! Up to 7 players can play at once, with any combination of human or computer players. Computer generated Anne Robinson, who insults the contestants. Play as one of 24 different characters, each with their own voice and apperarance.

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