PLATFORM: PS4, SWITCH (REVIEWED), XBOX ONE | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
If you were to ask 100 people what their favourite gameshow was, surely Family Feud (or Family Fortunes) would be right up there. It has appeared on consoles since the 90s – the last entry being on the Wii in 2011 – and now Ubisoft have brought it back in time for Christmas.
The game does a good job of recreating the TV show, and what host Lucky McCoy and the contestants lack in banter, they make up for with amusing camp little jogs across the stage. Just like the real show, some of the answers will make you question the sanity of the people they surveyed, but they’re all official surveys done for the show. There are a few different game modes, all with pretty much the same format; four rounds offering increasing numbers of points, followed by the final Fast Money round. The final round changes over the various modes; against the AI it’s the authentic experience, whereas against humans, the other team isn’t forced to sit and watch you play. You instead go head to head, with the leading team getting to give their answers first.
As well as single player, local co-op and local head to head, you can play online against other families. If you’ve got a capture card, the game also supports streaming on YouTube and Twitch. To add a bit of longevity, there’s a levelling up system and outfits you can purchase, although it’ll only take you a handful of wins to be able to purchase them all.
Each way of playing on Switch has its advantages. The game looks a lot better on the TV (it can sometimes look a little blurry when zooming out on the Switch’s 720p screen), but being able to use the handheld touch screen to type words under pressure can prove invaluable. Overall, Family Feud is a great package for its price. Its enjoyment will mainly come down to if you have anyone to play with, or if enough people play it online to find games with other players.
