Hands On: Knowledge Is Power (Unless You're Thick as a Brick Obvs)

The obligatory trivia game in Sony’s burgeoning PlayLink line is exactly what you’d expect it to be: a jovial round of multiple choice with silly photo opportunities and a host that likes the sound of his own voice. With an eccentric, borderline claymation artstyle, it certainly looks the part – although the jury’s out as to whether this will stand the test of repeated plays.

What’s here is nice, though: each player must select an avatar – from a pantomime dame to a depressed goth – and you can even take a photograph of yourself posing as one of the characters using SnapChat-esque overlays. As with all PlayLink titles, you control everything using a compatible Android or iOS smartphone, and the app is nicely outfitted with a similarly vibrant design as the main game.

Questions are displayed on the television, then it’s heads down to post your answer. Fastest finger first scores the most points, though brainiacs can be stopped by power-ups which obscure the screen, freezing answer boxes in ice or covering them in gloop. You need to tap and swipe respectively to take back control and send your solution to the screen.

It’s good fun, and it’s all rather comically presented. Quiz categories range from popular television shows through to world history, and you even have to battle over which line of questioning gets the nod. The only problem is that, in the demo at least, it seems quite slow to get to the actual quizzing, with the elaborate presentation getting in the way. Don’t get us wrong, the slapstick silliness is fun to watch, but we ponder whether that will still be the case on a third or fourth play?

Perhaps the other thing working against it is that it’s just not Buzz. Relentless’ quiz show series may not have been a big seller on the PlayStation 3, but it was pretty popular during the PlayStation 2 days, and we must admit that we prefer its glitz and glamour to what’s on display here – even if the art style is still very agreeable in this particular game.

Are you in the market for a PS4 quiz game? Do you think Knowledge is Power sounds like the business? Fastest finger first in the comments section below.