Rocksmith Reviews

  • OfficerBarbradyOfficerBarbrady300,424
    20 Oct 2011
    48 5 18
    Video Games and Guitar are the 2 things that I love the most in life. You can guess how excited I was when I heard that Rock Band 3 would feature a pro mode where you could play the actual instrument. However, I never played RB3's pro mode because I would have to buy the special pro guitar. I always wanted to just plug any of my guitars in and jam away. Then they announced Rocksmith, the game where you can plug in any guitar. I immediately jumped on board when I heard about this game, and I pre ordered it and bought it day one. It is one of the best investments I have made.

    In order to play Rocksmith, you will need 3 things: A guitar that can plug into an amp, a Real Tone Cable(sold with all copies of the game), and a controller. There is a guitar bundle available that comes with an Epiphone Les Paul Junior, which is a good starting guitar. If you already have a guitar, you only need to buy the game with the cable. An extra cable is needed for multiplayer. Cables are also sold separately.

    Gameplay: 9/10

    The gameplay in Rocksmith is similar to other music games like Guitar Hero or Rock Band, in there there are coloured gems that scroll down the screen and you must hit them when they cross the strike line. However, there are more than just 5 different gems to hit. Each string has a colour. The low E is red, the A is yellow, the D is blue, the G is orange, the B is green, and the high E is purple. The strike line looks just like a fret board. Each note will scroll by on the fret you are supposed to play. The red notes come at the top of the strike line and the purple notes come at the bottom. They are in the same position as they would be on the guitar. You can also sing along if you have a microphone plugged in.

    One of the neatest things about this game is the metamorphic gameplay. When you first play a song, it will be like Easy difficulty in Guitar Hero. There will be one or two notes per riff to just give the general idea of how it is played. If you start doing really good, the game will notice that and increase the amount of notes. If you start doing bad, the game will keep you at that level until you manage to get the notes down. You cannot fail, so you do not need to worry if you are doing bad.

    The game incorporates all the guitar techniques you need to learn such as hammer ons and pull offs, harmonics, palm mutes, slides, chords, sustains, you name it. There are tutorials and challenges for each of these techniques so you can master each one.

    There are also minigames that help you master different techniques while playing a fun little arcade style game. The mini games are as follows:

    (descriptions taken directly from Wikipedia)

    Ducks
    Ducks is a game like Galaga that teaches fret placement, keeping things simple with a single string

    Super Ducks
    Super Ducks is similar to Ducks, but uses all six strings

    Scale Runner
    Scale Runner focuses on teaching scale patterns

    Quick Pick Dash
    Quick Pick Dash focuses on the tremolo technique, where the player picks a string as fast as possible

    Big Swing Baseball
    Big Swing Baseball places the player on home plate, ready to swing. The player hits the ball by playing and bending the correct note on the guitar

    Super Slider
    Super Slider is a puzzle game inspired by Nintendo's Dr. Mario. The slide technique is used to succeed here

    Dawn of the Chordead
    Dawn of the Chordead mixes up chord playing with zombie-killing. Play the right chord to kill the zombies

    Harmonically Challenged
    Harmonically Challenged is a "Simon says" type of game where the player repeats a series of harmonics

    The biggest thing I was worried about when it came to gameplay was note detection. I am glad to say that this game pulls it of nearly perfectly! It might depend on what guitar you are using, though. I heard from people who use the PowerGig guitar that it has a hard time picking up notes. That is most likely because the PowerGig guitar is probably the lowest quality guitar ever made. As long as you don't have a really low end guitar, you should be fine.

    Amp mode is something that long time guitar players will enjoy a lot. This mode lets you customize a bunch of settings and pedals to make pretty much any sound that is possible on a guitar. Playing through songs will unlock more pedals and guitars for use in Amp mode. Once you have all of your settings down, you can just jam away! There is no score and there is no objective. Just relax and play!


    Graphics/Visuals: 8/10

    The graphics in this game really aren't important. The main focus will always be on the notes scrolling by. Although, there is a background which can either be a venue or a practice space. The backgrounds aren't incredibly detailed, but they fit their purpose.

    The interface can be pretty confusing at a first glance. The interface consists of the fretboard, your score, and the lyrics. You can ignore the lyrics, unless you are singing along with a mic. Your score tracks how well you are doing based on how many points you are getting.

    The fretboard that is displayed is where the notes come by. It is set up exactly like a real guitar. Each string is a different colour to signify what string each note is played on. Chords are displayed with the name of the chord and the fingering. Whichever note is being played next, the string it is on will light up and there will be a square on whichever fret the note is played on. As you shift up and down the guitar, the screen will zoom out and zoom into where you are shifting to. At all times, 4 adjacent frets will be lit up. This signifies where your hand should be placed. Each of the different techniques are represented by a different symbol. Some are easy to figure out like slides and palm mutes, but you might need to go into the techniques section and do the lessons on each of the techniques to learn how they are displayed.

    Menu set up is fairly basic and easy to understand. Pressing Start will bring up the main menu where you can choose between all the different game modes.


    Setlist: 7.5/10

    The setlist is what most people I've seen complaining about. The variety is pretty low, and there are quite a few bands who I have never heard of. However, after playing some of the songs I have never heard of I understand why they are there. Each of the songs chosen use various guitar techniques. The main focus of the game is to teach you everything about the guitar, and that is why they chose the songs they did. There are still quite a few big names like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, and more. Although, it would have been nice to throw in a jazz tune or two. It could have really helped with learning chord changes. Also, there is a huge lack of metal tracks. They could have atleast added some simple Black Sabbath songs if they didn't want to scare people away, but still keep the metal heads happy.

    Here is the full setlist: http://www.thegamingvault.com/2011/10/official-rocksmith-set...


    Campaign(Journey): 8/10
    The Campaign mode(or Journey mode) focuses on you rehearsing songs and then playing them at a gig. The main objective is to become a guitar master, but there is no real storyline, and it is not needed anyway.


    Multiplayer: ?

    I have currently not played the multiplayer component of this game yet, because it has to be local. Once I buy an extra Real Tone cable and try out the multiplayer I will edit this section.

    Achievements: 8/10
    The achievements in this game really focus on mastering the guitar. There are achievements for ranking up, scoring note streaks, getting high scores, etc. Some of the most difficult looking ones are the high scores on the minigames. You will really need to practice each technique in order to get the high scores on them. You will also need atleast 2 guitars and 2 Real Tone cables for one of the achievements. You will also need a USB microphone to do the singing achievement.

    Gameplay: 9/10
    Graphics: 8/10
    Setlist: 7.5/10
    Multiplayer: ?
    Campaign: 8/10
    Total: 32.5/40

    Like most people, I was very skeptical when it came to another music game franchise. Rock Revolution and PowerGig failed miserably, and I'm sure people thought the same about this game. However, Ubisoft did a really good job with this one. Guitar players should definitely pick this up. Even if you have never played guitar before, this is a great way to start learning.


    If you like Rocksmith, you might also like:

    Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
    Guitar Hero 5
    https://www.trueachievements.com/Guitar-Hero-World-Tour....htm
    https://www.trueachievements.com/Guitar-Hero-III-xbox-3....htm
    Guitar Hero II
    https://www.trueachievements.com/Rock-Band-xbox-360.htm
    https://www.trueachievements.com/Rock-Band-2-xbox-360.htm
    https://www.trueachievements.com/Rock-Band-3-xbox-360.htm
    PowerGig: Rise of the SixString
    https://www.trueachievements.com/Rock-Revolution-xbox-3....htm
    5.0
    Showing most recent comments. View all comments.
    MissFuchsiaFireWhy do you say PowerGig and Rock Revolution are awful and then put them in your "If you like this, you might like:" section? lol Leave that trash in the garbage can. XP Anyway, a thumbs up from me. Great review. Thanks for all the info and your thoughts.
    Posted by MissFuchsiaFire on 14 Feb 12 at 06:31
    OfficerBarbradyI just put them there because they are both music games
    Posted by OfficerBarbrady on 14 Feb 12 at 07:11
    FatalBrushThanks for your review. I'm still unsure if I should buy it or not... hmm probably in case it gets cheaper :)
    Posted by FatalBrush on 25 Oct 12 at 11:10
  • Chakaal StarrChakaal Starr480,236
    22 Oct 2011 26 Oct 2011
    25 1 5
    As of this review, I have approximately 10 hours played in the game and have a pretty good idea of how the game works now.

    As far as my guitar experience, it is limited to playing Rocksmith and recent music games Rock Band 3 and Power Gig, so I would be considered very Novice. On Rock Band 3, I have both pro guitars with most time on the Mustang (the one with all the buttons) as I acquired the Squier only a month ago. To gauge, for Rock Band 3, I have managed 15 out of 25 songs thus far on the achievement 5 star 25 songs on easy or 3 star on higher levels. For Powergig, I did manage the achievements requiring the six string. I only own game guitars.

    To start the game, you have plug in any real electric guitar via a cord that comes with the game. This allows you to attach any electric guitar to your xbox instead of your amp. This is the big selling feature for this game, but there is a package with a guitar as well.

    I have been using the Squier pro guitar from Rockband and it seems to work well. I also tried the Powergig six string for a couple songs, but it felt really small so I stuck with the squier. At Pax, I also had tried it with some guitar with an odd shape body that they had at the demo. The Rocksmith demo guy at Pax said that they are planning an eventual Bass DLC, so hopefully the game is successful enough out of the gate that that goes forward.

    The game immediately helps you tune your guitar and you can start the game. The first thing I did was decide to watch a number of videos it has on the basics as well as various techniques on some of the things that I struggled with on Rock Band 3. Maybe I am a more visual person when it comes to this, but the videos seemed to explain these concepts well enough to where I had a better idea as to what stuff like a palm mute was or even how hammer on's and pull offs really work. I had gone through some of the RB3 lessons areas, but still didn't fully understand I guess. As explained, I am novice, so even the basic videos like where to position your guitar seemed to help a lot. The videos were all fairly short and sweet.

    After checking out videos, I tried a technique challenge on sustains. The challenges show you how to do that move then have it you do the technique, then after a few strums of it, goes into the actual challenge of apply what you just learned to try an earn a medal. As a novice, most techniques thus far, I was able to get a bronze after a few tries, but it will be a bit of practise to get gold medals on a lot of them.

    Playing the technique challenges unlocks the mini games which are really just fun disguised ways of practising the techniques. Ducks was the first one to unlock, that has you strumming the correct fret to shoot ducks working their way up the screen. I really liked the baseball one which names a fret then has you strum different strings timing it to hit the ball(sometimes using bends). A tetris like game to practise guitar slides. A bomb defusing game to get used to using harmonics. There was also a zombie game where it had you hit certain chords to shoot the zombies. I found it took me a bit to figure out how to play the mini games as at first I missed little things like where it said what fret on the baseball game. I am still a bit unsure about the harmonic game with when exactly I am supposed to hit the harmonic, but I somehow managed to get to level 3 on it. The zombie game is something that I think will be helpful but is quite challenging as a novice as it takes me a while to get my fingers in the right place each time it switches which chord because I look at the diagram on the screen then figure out my fingers all while the zombies work their way toward you.

    In addition to those options, you can also pull up an amp anytime on the menu to fool around with and try out stuff that you have unlocked in freeplay fashion.

    The main part of the game, 'the journey'. revolves around earning rsp points(which is like xp towards levels) by playing the actual songs. It starts off with Satisfaction by Rolling Stones and a Black Keys song. It seems each set introduces a new technique or two so I think the overall setlist is really chosen to help the new guitarist. The order didn't seem discouraging at all. You can plug in a mic and sing the songs as well, but it seems you can't just sing, you have to play the guitar at the same time.

    It uses a lane with notes coming toward you similar to rockband, except that the strike bar is your guitar sideways so you would hit that string when the note comes to it. I found it helped inverting the strings so that the thick string is on the bottom on the screen instead of the top. I understand that is also how tablitature is set up, so I thought I might as well get used to it. The fret numbers shift on the bottom (sort of like RB3 pro Keyboard) so you know what fret area is coming up, as well as the string you are going to use lights up to give you warning which string to be ready on.

    It starts the song off simpler and as you get that phrase, it adds to it. If you seem to have trouble, it reduces it until you start getting it again. This is similar to one of the Guitar Hero vs modes. For example Satisfaction has you hit the second thickest string, fret 2, twice, then fret 5. This works it's way to 2 twice, then 4, then 5, then 5 again, until it eventually you get the 22455554 kind of thing(it is harder to remember while not having the guitar in front of me). On my first night of playing, I actually was able to play the main riff from Satisfaction and was able to remember it. I can still go into amp mode and play that part without the notes on the screen. I felt this really was a plus for this game, because it felt like I learned something.. On the second night I played the Black Keys song, and it added some hammer ons into the mix. Many songs have the choice between single string(described above) and chord mode. In chord mode, it works the same way except you are hitting chords(multiple frets and strings at once). I found chord mode to be challenging when it switches chords, but the same leveling technique should help a lot once I start getting used to them.

    After trying the practices(which is just playing the song), and getting the minimum score to qualify that song, I tried playing the songs as a show(so 2 songs in a row) and it threw in another song as an encore. It gave me a couple items like a distortion pedal and guitar for my amp area and introduced a couple more songs. RHCP Higher Ground and Queens of the Stone Age. I think this is where it introduced a technique to strum really quickly, I don't remember the term, arpegio maybe? Once I played my first show it also seemed to open up all the songs to play indivudually if I wanted instead of having to wait for them in 'the journey' but I am trying to work through them in 'the journey' as it introduces them so as to not overwhelm myself.

    For the novice guitarist, some of the achievements are a long ways away, though I was pretty surprised when I got 5 chords in a row achievment while the doing the chord technique challenge. There is a two player one in there that requires two rocksmith cords. I tried starting it with the one, and it wouldn't proceed.

    In terms of graphics, I was pretty focused on the guitar highway, but you can watch how you did back as it records you(including voice if singing). The crowd and club seemed to be what you would see from the musician's perspecfive with lights on you. It isn't showy or cartoony, maybe more realistic, but the emphasis is on the single player learning guitar and it accomplishes that. I haven't gone to enough clubs in game to know if the crowd changes.

    Sound is good, though I found the voice a bit low for the guy telling you the techniques, so when I played I really cranked my sound system up. In my opinion they couldn't have picked a better setlist. These songs are really good for encouraging someone who is learning. There is enough catchiness in main riffs and the difficultly seems to be an appropriate curve thus far that I think they planned it a lot for the novice audience to learn something and keep at it.

    There is an insert with the game letting you know if you have lag, the best way to set it up and sound through HDMI can cause lag apparantly. I am running HDMI and didn't seem to notice a problem though.


    plusses:
    -It actually teaches you, the increase in skill seems to be very effective
    -setlist seems perfect for the new guitarist
    -amp mode is easy to get to and fool around and practice, even if you just wanted to play something not in game, and play with different effects
    -mini games are actually seemingly good tools


    minuses:
    -some navigation confusion with how to get to some areas at first(granted most games have that)
    -local multiplayer requiring an extra guitar cord accessory
    -mic and real guitar only, even though it is designed a guitar tool they could have maybe added in some plastic instrument support for when your fingers got sore and to not be so niche market

    In terms of guitar teaching, I would give Powergig a 1, RB3 a 4.5, and Rocksmith a 5

    Overall in terms of how fun it is as a game, I would give Powergig a 3.5, RB3 a 5, and Rocksmith a 4. It is fun, the mini games add variety, but RB3 has much more game to it rightly so)

    I am not going to compare it to Guitar Hero or Rock Revolution, as those are a different class of music game. This game is not the guitar version of a Karaoke machine, it is really a learning tool, setup in a fashion to make it more entertaining.

    Note: If you vote on this review, please keep in mind that you are rating the quality of the review and not the game.
    5.0
  • C Frizzady DizC Frizzady Diz146,370
    19 Jan 2013 19 Jan 2013
    10 1 1
    This is not a review in the traditional sense, the other reviews here are excellent, i will try to say something different.

    I love this game, i waited for it since the first time i picked up a guitar hero controller and had a blast.

    I want you to buy this game, i want it to be profitable so they will make sequels, i want other developers to make thier own uniqe versions with more veriety and better fetures and compete, getting better all the time.

    For Beginners:
    I have played the guitar for years, so i have quite an advantage over someone who has never played one before, to those people who might not play this for fear of it being to difficult, this is why you should still get it:

    - Once you get the hang of the basics it can be extremely addictive, i believe rocksmith could be just as popular as the other games if people would simply try it.

    - The automatically adjusting difficulty is excellent for learning at your own pace, each segment will adjust to how well you play it, increasing or decreasing as you play.

    - It can seem intimidating: 22 frets on 6 strings would equate to a lot of buttons i.e. guitar hero pro. but the majority of the songs in the game have a single note mode so you can keep things simple when you start, making it just as easy as the four button setup of the other games

    For Guitarists

    When i saw the publicity for this game i was put off by the fact a lot of emphasis was on the dynamic difficulty and was worried it was going to be dumbed down, making it no more realistic than playing a plastic guitar, i was wrong, here are reasons why even the most seasoned guitarist should get it.

    - The amp mode could be a game on its own, you can create you own sounds using a setup of effect pedals and amps and jam away to your hearts content, its great value in this respect, you could spend a fortune on hardware to get a fraction of the possibilities included here, seriously, ive spent hours messing about with this part alone

    - The note detection is quite strict, which is good, if you play sloppy it wont detect and you will score badly, its definitely helped me play with much more discipline.

    - The mini games are a great basic practice, scales, chords, harmonics, moving up and down the neck, they are basic and repetitive but they are a slightly more fun way of practicing the things you might normally do solo.

    Like i said i want a more more more! Here are some ideas i had!

    Better interface and more customisation: this was my biggest dissapointment, there are many little things i would tweak about the game but these are my biggest ones.

    - I don't even get the chance to choose my difficulty?!?!?!, why not? i have to work my way up playing disorientating half solo's, some songs were much harder on the "simplified" difficulty levels (admittedly you can increase the level but only one section of a song at a time, its just not practical). maybe a choice of, easy:medium:hard:dynamic, would have pleased me.

    - May sound weird but i would have liked to change the color coding of the strings, the G string (he he) just doesn't seem like an orange to me.

    - I want to design a band and style some characters with crazy hair and make a band poster like i did in guitar hero, it gave the game much more character.

    - Guitar battles! i know rocksmith stayed away from "winning" and "losing" but a little competition could be fun, maybe highest score wins, or question-answer style one-upmanship battles, the possibilities are endless.

    - Xbox live multiplayer, co-operative and competitive, even just random jamming, can you imagine, just randomly connecting with people and having a jam session over the net, that could be awesome! though maybe thats not possible with lag and all that.

    - Rocksmith has done better than i expected for music variety, I have bought lots of the DLC, some of my favourite tunes are DLC but could be improved, jazz, country, folk, even classical! i want it all.

    I had very high expectations for this game and it did well, the core was excellent, the note detection is fantastic, i had no problem at all with lag (after some adjustments),it is challenging but also fun.

    Somehow it felt more like a proof of concept than an actual game though, so ubisoft when can i expect rocksmith 2.0?

    I hope you liked what i have to say, if you haven't played it, why not? im sure i sound like a guitar fanboy but i honestly cant think of a reason not to get this if you liked any of the other guitar games, this is as good, if not better, if you have played it, would you buy another? i am eagerly awaiting bandfuse, which i hope can build on what rocksmith has done
    4.0
  • TrimSkinkTrimSkink586,332
    18 Oct 2014
    7 2 0
    If you like guitar, and love video games, you're likely to like Rocksmith.

    I've been a guitar/bass player for over a decade now, so playing this game, I felt quite at home. I was able to be creative and increase my gamerscore... Big Score. The achievements weren't overly upsetting, the songs were fun and though you'll be playing these songs a lot of times, you can create your own setlists to make for less of a grind.

    I had a few issues with lag which were discouraging, but all in all, when the issues are addressed and you're all sync-ed up, you'll be rocking out and learning to play.

    The achievements will likely all be earned through regular play, but I found the hardest ones to be the guitarcade. These achievements will have you pulling your hair out and breaking strings, at times, because they don't pick up exact sounds as it should. This could be because my intonation was out, but still didn't help matters.

    While the setlist isn't the strongest, there are some bright stars on the songlist, including RHCP, Nirvana, Blur, STP, Velvet Revolver and others. The songs that I didn't know weren't my favourites, but were there to teach specific styles and methods.

    So if you're looking for a good time, gamerscore and maybe a new hobby, you're sure to enjoy this game. Think of it like this, video gamers don't always get the woman, but women love guitar. ;) I really hope that you enjoy this game like I did.
    4.5
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