Game review: 1 Vs. 100

Back in 2006 NBC premier a game show called 1 Vs. 100. The premise of the show is one contestant would be answering questions to move up a money ladder similar to the format of the show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Like Millionaire the top prize of the show is $1,000,000. But what separates the show from Millionaire is that there are also 100 other people answering the questions. These people are known as the mob. The only way to win all of the money is to not get any questions wrong and to know out every member of the mob and be the only one left standing.

The show would mix things up by putting people like brain surgeons, rock scientists, nuns, Hooters girls and even Jeopardy champ Ken Jennings in the mob. Now if at any point the person answering the questions gets a question wrong all of the money he or she has won gets split amongst the remaining members of the mob.

Microsoft has decided to bring the show to Xbox Live. A few months ago they premiered the game in an open beta. The game is free to play for anyone with an Xbox Live Gold account.

There are two ways to play. The first being extended play where you and everyone else in the game answer a series of questions to earn points. If you get a question wrong you aren't knocked out but it does hurt your point total. You can also earn bonus points by building up a streak of correct answers. If you answer three questions correct in a row you earn the ability to skip a question. You won't get any points for this question but it doesn't end your streak to use a skip.

The questions are shown in a multiple answer format. The question is show and three answers appear one at a time on the screen and you hit the appropriate button on the controller to lock in your answer within the given time. You can also earn bonus points for how fast you answer and if you do what is called an instant answer where you hit the button immediately after the answer appears on the screen.

Your in-game persona is shown as your Xbox Live Avatar. You get to see the avatars of other players and get to see them dance around when they get an answer right and see them hang their heads and frown when they get an answer wrong. This helps to bring a feeling of community to the game and gives people a chance to see your avatar.

The other format of the game is the live show where prizes are up for grabs. These shows are usually done once or twice a week, usually on a Friday. The prize ranges from free Xbox Live Arcade games to as much as 10,000 Microsoft Points. Now the format of this is a bit different and follows the show more closely. When everyone logs in the game's lobby the game searches for the best player to be the one going up against the mob. This is determined by your overall lifetime score as well as your percentage of correct answers and how quickly you answer questions. The person who is determined to be the best player is chosen. Then the game chooses the next 100 best players to make up the mob. Any other players can play the game as the crowd but you aren't up for any prizes. Now I have to say that I haven't actually played in one of the live shows yet. There is one this coming Friday that I hoping to participate in and I will let you know what happens. Most likely I will wind up in the crowd and I know I won't be the one and it's very unlikely I'll wind up in the mob.

I have watched a video on YouTube of what one of the live shows looks like and it is very similar to the extended play but what is added is the mob members being knocked out and the addition of the person going against the mob. Also as the player gets questions correct you can see a box at the bottom of the screen that shows how high up the prize has gotten. But of course if you are in the mob and get a question wrong you are out and you won't get a cut of the prize should the one miss a question. Also if you are in the mob you can't attempt to play again for a prize until the next live show comes out. This is to prevent people from abusing the system.

The graphics in the game are pretty good for what is essentially an Xbox Live Arcade game. The avatars all look really good and they even got an avatar of the real show's current host and hostess and they both supplied their voices for the game.

But probably the biggest downside of the game is since it is free for the beta and is likely to remain free when the full version of the game comes out it is full of ads. Right now Sprint seems to be the main sponsor so when you enter the game's lobby you are immediately shown a Sprint commercial. Also during the extended play games after every 12 or 13 questions there is a break so you can look at stats but also so that they can show you a few commercials. This is a good time to put your TV on mute or to make a quick run to the bathroom.

Overall I think this game could be pretty good but if enough people play it then the likelihood that most people will get a chance to be the one or be in the mob will get less and less likely as time goes on. Now supposedly the live shows run for 2 hours so there is a chance that you could wind up in the mob but keep in mind there are a lot of people out there that have nothing better to do than to sit and play one game for hours on end to increase their score.

One last thing I should mention is the game can only be played certain times during the day. The game runs on a schedule and it usually starts each night around 7:30pm EST and runs until midnight. For extended play the time is broken up into half hour games. Most of the time it is general trivia but sometimes you'll get subject like In the News, Sports, Movie Quotes, Soccer, Super Hard and even user submitted questions.

As I said before I think this game has the potential to be good and I recommend going into it just looking for a fun trivia game. If you go into it with the soul purpose of trying to win something you might wind up being disappointed. Since this game hasn't fully come out yet and is still in beta I won't give it a score but if you are a 360 with an Xbox Live Gold account you should check it out.