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