Can you smell it? It's the scent of big, fat, greedy publishing execs who drive Lamborghini Gallardos, have Bill Gates on speed dial and wipe their Kalvin Klein-caressed arses on Christmas festivities by regurgitating rubbish franchises for a quick buck [insert evil laugh right about... here]. With the likes of Pictionary, Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit clogging up release schedules, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Party Edition is just the industry's latest boneheaded contestant in the hot seat, no doubt allowing execs to "mwa ha haaa" their way through the Thomas Cook book with their freshly-gleaned millions.

For those who don't watch TV (all of you weirdos who read books and - God forbid! - commune with friends), Who Wants To Be A Millionaire is a popular game show hosted by Chris "I can't get enough!" Tarrant, whereby lucky contestants get the chance to win up to a million quid. And a hug from Chris if you're blond. The actual gameplay doesn't deviate from the show's winning formula; for those unversed, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire essentially sees you answering 15 multiple-choice questions, which - as you'd no doubt expect - escalate in difficulty as you progress. And it's no different here. Kudos to Climax for getting the writers of that Nation's favourite game show to pen the questions for Party Edition, with a satisfyingly eclectic mix of over 4000 questions - meaning that repetition isn't as much of an issue as previous iterations. Starting out with relatively facile modern trivia, pop music, TV and games-related questions, progression brings with it a whole host of more knowledge-specific questions. However, it's this steep progression - in contrast to Buzz's family orientated questions - that doesn't lend itself well to the party game formula, making this iteration strictly one for the adults. Even then, it's hard to see how a tipsy granny would know who publishes the Pro Evolution Soccer series, or, hilariously, know her Snoop Dog from her Jay-Z.

That said, if the worst should happen and you find yourself biting your fingernails with embarrassment, the lifeline system returns to ease the pain a little - and the system is just as well implemented as its TV counterpart. 50/50 whittles down the 4 multiple choice questions, leaving you with just 2 remaining answers (one right, one wrong), making the question just that bit more fathomable, Ask The Audience sees the PlayStation 2 generating a poll on the likeliness of each answer being right - and having foreseen the potential for this to go horribly wrong, the poll is rarely misleading. It's a crying shame then that the infamously-titled Phone A Friend lifeline - whilst voiced specifically to the question at hand - is about as accurate as a drunken, blindfolded, broken-armed knife thrower. Ouch. On many occasions the lifeline is fairly helpful, helping you through those tricky "I don't know the 100 pound question!" embarrassments - however, its inconsistency renders it somewhat obsolete.

Climax's efforts to emulate the game show leave little to be desired. Whilst the Chuckie-esque digi-Chris has been given the boot since the previous iterations, Party Edition replaces the former freak of nature's warm seat with a whole new freak - invisible Chris! Aren't you lot lucky? That's just utter laziness on Climax's part when you consider that pre-rendered avatars would have done the job nicely. Okay, so at least we should give Chris a pat on the back for sitting his backside in the studio chair, having lent his voice to the game, but with that said he doesn't actually voice the questions, rather he just blurts out a cringe-worthy array of, "But we don't wanna give you that!" catchphrases in between questions. In terms of the game's aesthetics, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Party Edition features the exact same laughably low-res introductory video as the PlayStation original, with a frame rate to make the NES cry with sidesplitting hysteria. THQ needn't worry about Eidos stealing the belt for the best-looking in-game crowds, either, with rows of motionless mutes filling the seats, probably wallowing in despair about starring in such a lacklustre game.

The most substantial difference here is the inclusion of superbly integrated multiplayer. Aside from the usual, TV-adapted single player experiences, Eidos have seen fit to throw in a set of four Buzz! buzzers and EyeToy compatability for biscuit-and-beer Chrimbo hilarities. After choosing from an array of Vikki Pollard-inspired contestants and fiddling around with the various costumes, you can jump into the likes of Millionaire Party - a head to head Buzz!-like approach to the traditional formula, and the fairly amusing Play or Pass - a tactical take on the proceedings, letting you choose the difficulty of your given question and allowing you to pass a toughie over to a friend if you're feeling a bit nasty. Then there's a TV-orientated doubles approach to Chris's primetime classic, with two players working through the 15 harder-than-Phil Mitchell-with-a-baseball-bat questions, and having to share the lifelines. Gulp. There's even the chance to add a timer to the original single player game in Quick Fire, which helps to shake up the mechanics, but doesn't exactly innovate in any particular way.

With over 4000 questions in the bag, there's only one question left to be answered. Should you buy Who Wants To Be A Millionaire: Party Edition? If you're a Chris-adoring fanatic, then despite a few unfaithful touches, Eidos's latest is about as faithful an adaptation as you're likely to find, with every last tense crescendo and familiar theme tune present and correct. However, its slightly subject-specific questions and undeniably steep difficulty level may alienate various generations - Who Wants To Be A Millionaire doesn't lend itself well to the party game formula. If you're looking for some top-notch party action this Christmas then you'd perhaps be better off with the likes of Sony's Buzz! This is one for the diehard fans only. And *yes* that's my final answer!

Reviewed by Ricky Lee Staines for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).