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Preview - Rocksmith 2014

Preview - Rocksmith 2014
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PLATFORM: Xbox PlayStation PC / Mac
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BY: Pierce

Learning to play the guitar has always been one of those life-long goals that many people add to their to-do list, up there with learning a new language or travelling the world. Trouble is, normal life chores get in the way and then most people prefer to relax in their spare time watching TV or playing a videogame. The Rocksmith franchise goes some way to fixing this problem, by being a game that actually teaches you valuable lessons as you play.

Using a real guitar and taking you through a career mode, Rocksmith was somewhat of a revelation when it launched last year, becoming a superb learning tool for aspiring guitar players and even guitar veterans. That game was not without fault, though, and Rocksmith 2014 Edition is hoping to change all that.

First up are the instructional videos that show players all the fundamentals of guitar playing. These can be as asinine as showing you how to attach a strap to the guitar or as complicated as showing you tapping and other techniques. The lessons are interactive and after you're shown how to do things properly, you get to have a go yourself. The lessons can also be repeated right up until you master them, and if you're like me you'll probably be undertaking the same lesson several times before feeling comfortable about moving on.

There's also the Riff Repeater mechanic when you're learning specific songs, which allows you to slow down sections of a track and remove notes. You master the slower version and gradually build up your speed so that you can attempt the song at full pace. The best part is that the game can see when you're finding a track difficult and turns on the Riff Repeater automatically.

The thing that caught my eye the most in our hands-on was the mini-games that are designed to be fun and educational in the GuitarCade. They can be as simple as teaching players how to control the volume of their instruments, but even these can turn out really fun due to the way they're presented as old games from the 80s. At the end of each mini-game you get given a score and of course you can return to it as often as you wish to do better.

Our short time spent with Rocksmith 2014 was very enjoyable and even a complete novice like myself learnt a few things in a short space of time. With time to take on the full roster of over 50 songs and a little patience, we can easily see why this could become the most popular way to learn the guitar in the near future. Who knows, after spending a few months playing Rocksmith we might be able to tick off one of those life-long goals afterall.

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