I haven't had many opportunities to curl my fingers around a sleek Epiphone G-400. But an actual ax fulfills the one requirement of Ubisoft's upcoming rhythm game Rocksmith. So when I was handed one at a recent preview event, I had everything I needed to get my jam on.
Notice I omitted knowing how to actually play a guitar as a requirement. That's because Rocksmith carries a bundle of tools and features specifically designed for burgeoning shredmasters like me to learn the ropes of working that bundle of strings and electronics strapped to myself.
Carry on past the jump, my wayward sons, for an overview of some of Rocksmith's helpful hallmarks.
Dynamic difficulty curve
I vividly remember the cheery reactions I received from my roommates whenever I selected Easy mode in Guitar Hero or Rock Band. Their exasperated groans quickly gave way to complaints of "you'll just slow us down," and "we'll get less points," and "take a shower, dumpy."
Expert snobs, meet Rocksmith's dynamic difficulty curve.
Essentially, every action you take in the game figures into a comprehensive tracking system measuring your performance on a song-by-song basis. Charts start out simple at first — a few pluck of the strings per verse. Nail successive measures, though, and the game quickly keeps pace by throwing more notes (and even chords) at you. If you start faltering, the game automatically reels back to a more manageable pace.
It all flies under Rocksmith's banner of improving applicable guitar skills instead of fostering a needless division between beginners and haughty high-scorers. It's genuinely rooting for you to ace that iconic arpeggio from The Animals' "House of the Rising Sun" or the heavy metal riffs of Red Fang's "Number Thirteen."
Guitarcade
Ubisoft knows that learning something new goes down better when taught via an interesting method — like a clown instructing you on supply-side economics using pantomime. Rocksmith's Guitarcade –oriented for non-musicians as much as experienced players — offers a brilliant and fun approach to the daunting task of learning an instrument.
Designed as retro-style minigames, the Guitarcade focuses on a specific set of (pun intended) instrumental techniques that commonly appear in most contemporary musical structures. For example, the "Ducks" activity teaches finger shifting by sending a duck-shaped sprite along the fretboard. After plucking the appropriate string, you'll shoot down the duck with a satisfying blam. If you miss, no sweat; just try again. At least your integrity won't be at the mercy of a snickering dog.
Guitar handling 101
Perhaps one of Rocksmith's best hidden boons sits right within its boot-up sequence. Before its main menu even loads, the game plays a video tutorial detailing how you hold a pick, where the guitar's strap should go, and where the fingers rest. Very basic stuff indeed, guaranteed to cause some eye-rolls for its obviousness. But as someone who once called a guitar's pickups "racing stripes," I consider this a godsend.