Knowledge is Power (PS4)
As smartphones became a more reliably ubiquitous part of modern life, it was perhaps inevitable that console game developers would find ways to integrate them into their games. Sony’s PlayLink series is entirely based around the concept of turning smart devices into controllers for PS4 titles, with smartphones able to provide easy additional controllers for small party gaming, and perhaps the PlayLink game that most intuitively makes use of this Sony initiative is the trivia game Knowledge is Power.
After downloading the companion app for the game, 2 to 6 players are able to compete head to head in a virtual quiz show, although the PlayLink aspect likely lead to the game entirely ditching any sort of single player component or even the option to play with any PS4 controllers. The PlayStation 4’s role here is to project the main screen for the action, the player’s phone or tablet displaying the user specific information like the multiple choice quiz answers. To kick things off, players pick from a selection of kooky characters like a man in a hot dog suit, a duchess with skull shaped hair, an emo fairy boy, and a few less off the wall picks like a climber and cowgirl, but they all provide a unique filter to the player when picked so they can take a silly selfie before things kick off. Supposedly, the game uses stop-mation for its characters and environments, and the reason I say “supposedly” is, besides a few traits like how character hair looks, it could very easily pass for regular computer generated graphics. The host of Knowledge is Power is a pretty functional character, explaining rules and guiding the game without ever getting too cheesy or braking the game’s momentum to tell jokes, so most of the game keeps its focus squarely on the trivia show.
The questions in this particular quiz show are decently varied without ever plunging too deep into completely esoteric knowledge, although there are certainly a lot of specialized topics to be found all the same. Each regular round consists of four options appearing for the subject of the next question, and trivia fans can expect to find many of the typical standbys. Science, pop culture, history, and other general knowledge topics influence what these subjects might be, although while there are broad ones like World History or Animals, Knowledge is Power does include more focused options. For example, music questions might have topics based on the genre, the decade, or award-winning songs, and this does lead to an inevitable case of there being questions where regular players might just not have the knowledge to answer correctly. All questions provide four multiple choice answers to choose from and one is often a joke, but when you plunge deeper into topics like Sports or Movies, you can start getting questions that require much more than a passing familiarity. One interesting but perhaps not beneficial choice Knowledge is Power made is having the questions branch off from the previous round’s topic. A round about food might have the four options for the next round be more particular types of cuisine or maybe focus on preparation and the history of food instead, although the game may also throw a broader topic or a nearly unrelated one in so players can stray away from a topic if they so wish.
The ability to go down a path of connected topics could conceivably lead to a focused trivia experience that a certain group of players might enjoy. Movie buffs might press into the cinema questions, science nerds might want to test their mettle against the harder topics in that category, but no matter how players want things to go, each question topic is decided first by players picking one of the four, and if they don’t agree on them, one of the player’s choices will be randomly selected. However, players also have a Power Pick option once per game where they can force their subject of choice to be the one picked, and this exposes a weakness in the branching question paths. Sure, if all players have equally broad knowledge any topic might work, but a player with focused interests can Power Pick their way into the more restrictive topics, and while a Power Pick from the less knowledgeable player might be able to pull them from the subject eventually, you can end up down a losing path for a bit.
The game does break up the regular questions into three separate segments though, with different round styles splitting things up so there can be a topic refresh. The special rounds are always the same two concepts, one being a linking challenge where two sets of subjects will appear and you have to link the correct pairs together such as a singer to their song and the other being a sorting challenge where players need to swipe subjects into one group or the other. The unfortunate sorting question that comes to mind from my experience was an MSNBC or Fox News sorting round for people and shows that no one playing was knowledgeable enough about to do well at, although other sorting and linking rounds thankfully tended to be more general or more easily guessed questions. During regular question rounds, players are scored first on being right and then can earn more points by being quick to answer, and in the linking round things are somewhat similar, points going to anyone who can complete all the links in the time limit and then getting more points if they were the fastest player to do so. Sorting instead involves players getting points based on how many they got right total.
The final round of the game is strange though. After 9 round of multiple choice questions split up by the linking and sorting games, the finale is the Pyramid of Knowledge, where all the points you earned so far in the game are essentially discarded. The goal of the Pyramid of Knowledge finale is to reach the top, climbing stairs based on your answers to a quickfire round of multiple choice questions, but if you performed better than the other players in the game up until then, you will get to start the game on a higher stair. This lead doesn’t amount to much, so there is room for a late game comeback, but it does somewhat devalue the previous rounds since point totals ultimately amount to little. This doesn’t completely detract from the trivia game though, and having that head start can benefit the player if the rapid fire round near the end throws them unexpected curveballs, especially since answer speed will determine how many steps up the pyramid you’ll take with a correct answer.
To add a bit more spice to the trivia challenge, Knowledge is Power adds in Power Plays for the regular quiz questions. Outside of the first round of the game, players will have the option to sabotage other players with things like green goop that must first be wiped away to see the answers, ice that covers the answers and must be tapped to break through, bombs that litter the answer screen with moving mines that explode if touched, and nibbler monsters who eat away letters from the answer choices. Players losing by a wide margin can even get combined versions of the Power Plays to try and help close the gap, but the good thing about the Power Plays is they interfere without being overly obtrusive. None of them are so devastating that a player is doomed when hit by one or more, which is good because they are a constant factor, even in the pyramid round where your space determines which one you use rather than a random roll. Goop is probably the most effective since it must be wiped away before you can even see the answers, but nibblers might bite away the right letters to make certain questions hard, and ice can at least rob players of speed points, only the bombs feeling like they’re a bit weak comparatively. Bigger play groups can even get things like mutually beneficial points multipliers for all players, but only the four hazards are guaranteed in any size play session.
While the Power Plays do spice up a pretty typical quiz game quite a bit, they do add a small issue that isn’t endemic to the genre in the same way specialized knowledge questions can be. Power Plays are likely what leads to the slow pace of Knowledge is Power. Outside of the speedier final round on the pyramid, Knowledge is Power only has nine regular question rounds for a game that has about half hour play sessions. Sorting and Linking definitely last longer than the regular rounds, but you do a lot less question answering than you might expect before you hit the pyramid, and that’s because the process of getting through a question is a little slow. First players need to pick their topic, and it might be a random roll they then wait on to complete to see which option is chosen. Then, the players need to pick their Power Plays and their targets, after which the game shows each one being executed. Only then do you finally hear the question. The pyramid round speeds up the Power Play aspect as well by doing them simultaneously and auto-selecting the quiz subjects, and while the selection and sabotage are what make Knowledge is Power unique, it does feel like it should have streamlined things to allow for more question rounds before those traits were turned automatic for the pyramid round.
Knowledge is Power does contain one final mode that does essentially fix some of the issues with the main game. If you wish to play the companion app without a PS4, there is a quick quiz mode where two competing sides answer five questions each, alternating control of a single device to answer their questions. Subjects are picked by the game here, but Power Plays remain, and an interesting twist to them appears in that you can see your opponent’s upcoming question and choose your sabotage to match what might mess them up. In regular play, each round refreshes any spent Power Plays with a new one, but in Quick Quiz, you only get to use the five you are given once, leading to a bit more strategy than the main game. Quick Quiz is appropriately quick as well, so if some of its elements had been rolled into the main game, perhaps Knowledge is Power could better blend together its concepts into a more thrilling quiz game.
THE VERDICT: Knowledge is Power is a quiz game whose unique concepts are a bit half-baked. Smartphones allow it to be easily played with a large group and the companion app even has a more condensed version of the game, but the main game contains a lot less question-answering than players might expect. Power Plays inject some sabotage into play to make it more interesting than just picking answers, but they do slow down the pace of the game. Besides the endemic quiz game issue of covering some overly specific topics though, Knowledge is Power is mostly fun for what it is, the special rounds and Power Plays mixing things up but the general pace and the downsides to some of its design choices keeping it from being more than just a serviceable trivia title.
And so, I give Knowledge is Power for PlayStation 4…
An OKAY rating. Much of the strength in any quiz game undoubtedly just comes from the quality of the questions, and while the topic choosing in Knowledge is Power has the potential for abuse thanks to the Power Pick and some specialized knowledge finding fertile soil down certain subject paths, it can also lead to players finding a more personalized trivia route or one that strays away from subjects the group mutually dislikes. Options to remove certain question types could help, but branching off from topics in such a manner does make the progression of the game likely to always throw never-before-seen questions your way even on repeat plays. More time spent on the question answering would definitely help the play break away from its somewhat slow pace, but luckily the more unique rounds do at least inject some quick style deviation that avoids the issue of the game dragging.
Overcomplicating a quiz game can certainly lead to it losing some of its casual appeal, but Knowledge is Power almost struck a decent balance of gimmickry on top of a solid base of general knowledge and subject focused questions. Integration was the issue here, as the basic task of answering questions sometimes took a back seat to things like the Power Plays, meaning that while it still works for a bit of trivia fun with a large group, it’s not quite there when it comes to being the life of the party.