.com
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Experience the pace and excitement of Wheel of Fortune from the
contestant's point of view. Give the wheel a spin and see if you
can solve a variety of clever, all-new puzzles, written by the
show's producers and never before seen on computer games. Music,
sound effects, and 3-D graphics enhance the game.
From the Manufacturer
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The number one TV game show in America is playing on your PC
better than ever. Now for the first time, feel like a contestant
on Wheel of Fortune. Experience the glamour, the pace, and the
excitement from the contestant's point of view. Give the wheel a
spin, and see if you can solve a variety of clever, new puzzles,
specially written by the show's producers and never before seen
on PC games. A sophisticated artificial intelligence, 3-D
graphics, and great music and sound effects make the Wheel of
Fortune game experience better than ever. Do not just watch Wheel
of Fortune--be a contestant with Wheel of Fortune.
Features:
* Special fantasy prizes
* On-location settings
* All puzzle types, including rhymes and before-and-after
* Adapts to player level
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Review
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Wheel of Fortune is one of America's most popular game shows.
It's easy to see why. There's little or no skill involved, and
your e is usually decided by the spin of the giant wheel. Pat
Sajak and Vanna White have become household names from sea to
shining sea. Zillions of hess Americans tune in regularly to
see who will walk away with the brand-new car, luxury vacation,
or fabulous yacht.
The premise of the game is simple. You try to guess a person,
place, or thing by choosing consonants and buying vowels. If
you're lucky, your spin of the wheel lands you on a dollar a
(ranging from $250 to $10,000). If you choose a consonant that's
in the mystery phrase, you get the dollar a you spun
multiplied by the number of occurrences in the phrase. For
example, let's say you spun $500 and picked the letter T. The
mystery phrase has four Ts, so you get $2,000. Vowels are
purchased at $250 a pop. The wheel is also loaded with Bankrupts,
Lose a Turns, and Surprises. If your letter guess isn't in the
phrase, the wheel passes to the next player.
The trick of the game is to figure out what the phrase is
quickly, then keep spinning until the last possible moment. This
strategy of sorts works well, unless you happen to land on a
Bankrupt or Lose a Turn. All this activity and puzzle solving
sounds exciting, right? And it is, if you happen to be playing
the game in the Sony Studios and actually have a chance at
winning money or a prize. It's less fun watching it on TV at
home; but there's still some drama and excitement, wondering what
each player will do and, of course, solving the puzzle before any
of the morons on TV can.
Although there doesn't seem to be a compelling reason to bring a
game show like this to the PC, Hasbro will definitely have an
audience amongst people who dream of being part of the action of
a big-money American game show. But beyond that, what does this
game really offer?
The game sets out right from the get-go to be as much like the
TV show as possible. An emcee asks you simple questions to get
you started and puts you in control of the wheel. That vicarious
thrill alone will sell hundreds if not thousands of copies of
this game. Not to mention the appearance of the one-and-only
Vanna White as the show's host. Hasbro has cleverly integrated
her FMV image dialogue into the show. Of course, at times, it's
totally silly (there's this smiling clapping thing she does that
pops up randomly that's just hilarious). But the dialogue and
mannerisms are exactly as they are on the TV show (I watched it a
few times just to make sure). It's the lack of human interaction
that makes her appear so much sillier on the PC.
The point of view also changes constantly. Since I'm not a
regular viewer of the TV show (really, I'm not), I found this
irritating in the extreme. After watching a few shows, however, I
realized this effect mimics the changing points of view on the
set in an attempt - I'm guessing - to elevate the level of
excitement (sort of like that weird hopping camera on NYPD Blue
makes it seem more "real"). Another problem was that the mouse
pointer used to select letters was slow, clunky, and often jumped
around the screen in an alarming manner. I made many incorrect
guesses and was chastised by Vanna for wasting time because I
couldn't get my mouse pointer to simmer down and behave.
The first few games, I played against two computer nents.
Right from the start, I got the general impression that the
computer-generated players were having a lot more fun than I was.
("Come on, baby! Big money! Big money!") The game isn't even
smart enough to give these poor hess ghosts in my machine
names. But when Computer Player 1 won the fantasy prize - an
African ballooning safari - I had no doubt that she was soaring
the skies of the Serengeti somewhere between my hard drive and my
motoard. I, on the other hand, could only imagine going on
the luxury cruise I won and paddling my antique wood canoe in a
pond that looked like it belonged in one of those bottled water
ads.
The big problem I had with my exuberant nents was that,
unless I was in control of the wheel, I spent a lot of time
watching my AI counterparts playing, guessing, spinning, and
winning. Then, I wised up and played against myself (under
assumed names, of course). But I have to say, the game soon
palled. The mystery phrases were so simple, even I could guess
them with only a few letters showing. I totally realize that the
object of the game isn't really to guess some difficult phrase or
use my brain in any way. The mystery phrase is just a vehicle of
suspense for the greedy players.
But the worst part of Wheel of Fortune was the lack of reward.
This is a game where the only reward is winning money and prizes.
Imagining money and prizes is just not the same. Even watching
other real live people win money and prizes on TV was better than
imagining how I would spend my imaginary $50,000 while driving my
imaginary Land Rover. Another couple of games, and I'm cracking
my computer case to join Computer Player 1 on her African
ballooning safari. --Nicole Freeman
--Copyright ©1998 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction
in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written
permission of GameSpot is prohibited. -- GameSpot Review
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