Re: Got Rocksmith... initial thoughts
Update!
I played it for about 2 hours last night. I really like this game. A few updated points:
- The "game" is a little confusing. Like Guitar Hero, you have to play songs in a venue to get points. Unlike Guitar Hero, however, this game doesn't make you play the venues to unlock new songs. I'm kind of at a loss as to why I would play the venues at all because I have access to all the songs already. I think it might unlock "guitars" and "amps" and "effects" that I can use to create my own sound. I also think there might be some hidden songs to unlock, but I can't be sure. I would prefer if the game part of this was set up with a little more direction. Not a big deal.
- Also, in order to play a venue you have to qualify in each song you are going to play. In other words, you have to get a certain number of points (based on how well you play the song) in order to play that song at the venue. This is where the "game" aspect comes into play over the "learn how to play guitar" aspect. The qualifying threshold is fairly low, so you can play the song and really only be "ok" at it to play it at the venue. I would prefer that the game make you really learn the song - say 75% - before you play it. But, I think that would discourage people from playing the game, so...
- I played the second game in the guitarcade last night. Lots of fun! It was "Dawn of the Chordead" and it was great. Essentially you see a fretboard and a voice calls out a chord. The chord fingering lightly shows up on the fretboard and then zombies emerge from those spots and start to walk toward the screen! Play the chord and you shoot them down and then another chord gets spoken. It is very fun, and I've already found myself improving on a few chords. What I don't like about these guitarcade games (this is a nitpick) is that when you are done there is a leaderboard shown of the high scores from the internet. Of course, by now the game has been out for 6 months and there are scores up there that wioll NEVER get beaten. It sucks... I had a good game and scored like 145,000 with 56 chords in a row and then the leaderboard comes up with 99,019,000 and 899 chords in a row. Lame.
- One of the songs I played last night was Queens of the Stone Age's "Go With the Flow"... holy crap! Easy song but my arm was about to fall off after playing it three times. Mad props to Queens for figuring out how to make money from 3 notes.
- One of the issues I have with the game (another nitpick) is the size of the text on the screen. The screen is dark to begin with, and then some of the text comes on with the SUPER small font. Very hard to read and I'm playing on a 50" tv.
- I played Nirvana "In Bloom" last night. Cool song.
- Another thing I wished this had was a layout of the song before you play it... I'd like to know what notes/power chords are in the song to prepare. I also feel that a true beginner will learn poor technique with this game. The game just shows you notes to hit, but not which finger you should use for the notes. For instance, "Satisfaction" has a basic riff (A string, frets 2, 4, 5) and a total beginner would probably move their index or middle finger along the fretboard to play the notes. Of course, in order to really play it and sound GOOD you need to fret the 2nd fret with your index finger and the 4th and 5th with your ring and pinky (or middle and ring). The song is SO much smoother with this fingering, but you can still get through the song by simply moving your finger up and down the board. I'd love to see a tutorial for each song that shows you the preferred fingering to optimize the song.
Ok, back to more playing!
