POSTED 28/10/13


ROCKSMITH 2014

Ubisoft
PS3 (also on Xbox 360, PC)

SOUNDDEVICEANDLOTSOFICEIWILLSPELLMYNAMEOUTLOUDBECAUSEIWANNA!

OH YEAH!!!

BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAEURRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Ahem, sorry.

We’re just pumped to have blistered fingers again, after kinda letting the ball go plop on the super-impressive Rocksmith debut. We were super-impressed, and it’s only our flibbertigibbety commitment to commitment that saw our playtime dwindle. Just when we’d nailed ‘Where is My Mind?’, too.

Rocksmith was ace, but it had niggles. Its creators have since hired a niggle hit-person, as they’re essentially goneski in this all-round enhancement. Plus bass is built-in, and you’ve a choice between being Mark or David Knopfler. That’s lead or rhythm guitar, and snobbishly we wish we didn’t know it...

Critically, naff Guitar Hero-like gaminess has been excised – playing set lists in different venues and such - in favour of song learning. If you wanna play (DLCed) Nickelback repeatedly then you can – but you suck hyper-gargantuan poo balls.

The most noticeable thing initially is the uncluttered, sensible menu system. Then the banished loading times. But, better still, is a less-cluttered ‘note highway’. This in itself makes learning easier. Then there’s the beefed up ‘riff repeater’, which you can kick in at any time. Fancy yourself at Muse’s ‘Knights of Cydonia’? You’ll need this.

Speaking of bands, there’s an eclectic track mix. We reckon the first release’s was better, but you can pay a vaguely reasonable fee and import them (beware fuck-arsed bollocks region locking though...)

Want an encore? ALRIGHT! Actual guitar/bass lessons and more and varied ‘guitarcade’ excursions, where you learn under the glow of assorted classic arcade game rehashes, are smushed in. Then something we thought would scream lameness – but doesn’t - a new ‘session mode’. Pick band members and their vibe, then get jammin’. We’re shit, but sounded like we had ‘hot’ affixed to that. Ace!

Wanna rock and you’re not a Ramone? Rocksmith 2014’s even more edifying than Rock ‘n’ Roll High School.

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