2015 was a pretty great year for games. It was a bloody great year in fact. It had so many high quality titles that only the most hardened bastard would be able to look back at those twelve months and say it was anything but glorious. Yet still, my most played title was from 2013; it’s a title that you might be able to argue is not even really a game.
Rocksmith 2014.
I knew how to play guitar before the Rocksmith games. I grew up on classic rock as a child, moved into pop punk as an teenager, and graduated into metal as an adult. All the while I was fascinated with being able to play a guitar, so of course I bought a cheap Encore to satiate my curiosity. Then during college I was in the almost obligatory terrible band, but it wasn’t until university that I really took it up as a proper hobby. I like to pretend that it’s because I’m an artist and it’s all about the music and all that, but in fact it’s because if you performed at on open mic night at the bar on campus you would be allowed to drink for free (the amount you got to drink depending on how entertaining you actually were). So of course I learned to play guitar.
This is at the height of the plastic instrument age. You were able to go back home, pick up a 3/4 size 5 button guitar and really annoy your housemates with that infernal clicking. As a man that would often perform at the aforementioned open mic nights (for the art of course), coming home and loading up Rock Band or Guitar Hero was the best way to really live out the fantasy of being a rock god.
Then 2011 happened. Ubisoft released what would soon become one of my favourite things. The original Rocksmith took the general idea of being a rock star that came with flailing recklessly on a facsimile of a guitar, but added in the real thing. As a game, it isn’t exactly much to write about. You play along with a real song, and get scored. It’s standard fare, but when you have a full size hefty piece of wood in your lap everything just seems bigger and better.
Where Rocksmith truly shined though was as a tool. It could be used as a learning tool – I for one know I went from passable to good to, dare I say it, great just by spending some time with Rocksmith. It makes just sitting practicing more enticing by simply gamifying the process. Instead of just sitting playing along to a track in your underwear, you now had a representation of a crowd dancing along, taking videos and screaming for an encore if you played good enough. It felt good, and it spurred you on to learn more.
It also had something of a career campaign, with preset set-lists that meant you were playing (and learning) tracks that were maybe out of your regular comfort zone. Now you were gladly shifting into a completely different genre and playing style than you might be used to. Outside of the songs themselves were a collection of mini games that further made just practicing an enticing prospect. In the same way that practising typing was suddenly a lot more interesting when it was in the skin of House of the Dead, putting zombies in a guitar game that you shoot by playing the correct chord is a stroke of genius. Add in the fact that the game could be used to simulate a range of amps and effects, then you have what can be used as a portable, extraordinarily versatile piece of equipment.
How then, could Rocksmith 2014 be a better game? Session mode.
Seriously, if you like to play guitar – lead, rhythm, or even bass – Rocksmith 2014 is almost certainly worth it for session mode. Session mode essentially allows you to jam alone, yet still have a band jamming along with you. As you play other instruments kick in and match your speed and style to create a fantastic experience. While it isn’t always perfect, things can get a little out of synch now and then, or some sessions can end up just not sounding right, though this can be countered easily by tweaking the settings: you have complete control over a lot of the options in session mode to really get the sound you’re looking for.
After 231 hours I really cannot recommend Rocksmith 2014 enough. No matter what your ability level is, you will find something for you here. The automatically adjusting difficulty level will ease you gently into new songs, while master mode will test your memory as well as your fingering. The guitarcade games will test your ability in different specific areas, while the main missions in learn a song mode will direct you to your weak areas. Session mode is a marvelous piece of technology, and the range of options to play with for simulated amps and effects can be staggering. The available selection of songs, both packaged and DLC, ensure that everyone will have a long custom set list of favourites. You will learn to play guitar with Rocksmith, and the plastic accessories will be (or remain as the case may be) long forgotten.
The only negatives come from my neighbours regarding their newly diagnosed Iron Maiden based tinnitus, but what do they know about being a self-taught rock god?
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