Guess Who's Back

In Two Guises! - by Andrew Ellard

5 May, 2006

So in our last update we promised some news on Red Dwarf: Beat the Geek that would have you dancing for joy.

Big news first, slightly-less-big-but-also-excellent news second.

The all-new interactive DVD quiz will be hosted by Holly. In fact, it'll be hosted by both Hollys.

Norman Lovett and Hattie Hayridge have stepped back into the black polo necks to reprise their role (roles?) as the brain-addled computer to guide you through the entire interactive experience.

Were we right? Are you dancing yet?

Guess Who's Back

It's the perfect choice for all the obvious reasons. Holly's a computer! On a screen! Just like the one you'll be looking at when you play! Plus, of course, legions of fans adore these characters (I've switched back into plural there; ho-hum) and the actors who play them. It was impossible to pick between them - so we figured, what the hell, we'll shove them both in.

When playing the game single-player you'll be able to pick which Holly you want to guide you through the eight levels and tell you if you're right or wrong. When competing in two-player (or in teams), you'll be granted a different Holly each. Aside from making the game flow that little bit smoother - no confusion over whose turn it is! - it adds a lot more variety.

We're all too aware that a badly made game can be very, very dull. And while the questions have all the requisite twists and turns, we wanted to keep things alive with the format. We want you to play and play again. The dual Hollys are a big part of that.

Which leads us on to the other news, another part of the variety fun-pack that is Beat the Geek.

Fans of our previous DVDs will no doubt remember the painstaking effort authoring house Deluxe Digital put into recreating some of the most fondly remembered sets from the TV series. Meticulous visions of the sets were used to navigate around the disc. And they looked amazing.

Guess Who's Back Guess Who's Back

Well, Deluxe are back! They'll be creating the DVDs for GNP/2 entertain once again, bringing far more passion to the project than is entirely reasonable.

You remember those eight levels of action we mentioned before? Each level will be set in a different area aboard the Red Dwarf ship.

Guess Who's Back Guess Who's Back

Based, for the most part, on the existing digital sets, the quiz will kick-off inside Starbug, then make its way up through the ship from the grey bunk and drive rooms, through the science lab, prison, and officers' quarters to the captain's office.

What's that you say? That's only seven levels? Hmm, so it is. That must be why, somewhere in the middle there, we'll be paying a visit to a brand new digital set. And the location of choice? That would be the Observation Dome!

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As seen in series two, the metal-and-plexiglass bubble sat on the hull of the ship, allowing visitors to look out at space without that horrible 'lack of oxygen' problem. It'll now also be home to Beat the Geek's seventh round.

The entire game will take place in a whizzy AR environment, a virtual Red Dwarf. And in keeping with that style, the ship's interior will be seen as a funky red wireframe between levels - rocketing past as you zoom around at high speeds from one location to the next. (This is all something of a homage to the wireframe Dwarfs and Starbugs that appear on monitors in the background of the show's fifth and sixth seasons.)

Guess Who's Back Guess Who's Back

We've seen some test footage and it's already shaping up to be very, very gorgeous. But then, with Deluxe on the case, did you expect anything else?

You may now cease dancing.

More DVD Details will follow soon...

Red Dwarf: Beat the Geek will be released on DVD in the Autumn/Winter of 2006.

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