Customer Ratings & Reviews

Super disappointed with this game. I might have built it up too much in my mind, but it sucks. I thought it would be an inexpensive alternative to guitar lessons for my son, but the if he's not having fun what's the point.

To further explain the Review Summary, it must be explained that this game will appeal to a limited base. Rock Band players who wished they could try Pro Mode but were scared off by the obscene pricing of the Pro gear will find this worthwhile, as will the more persistent Guitar Hero players. In fact, the only negative peripheral will be the guitar they choose - you hook up the guitar YOU provide in order to play. Since the game features the actual chords from the songs, guitarists who scoffed at the fake guitar controls of the past will finally have an excuse to play. I'll try to review the game based on the rating parameters Best Buy uses. STORYLINE What story is there? It's the same story used by music games the world over. You start off playing in the boonies as a nobody, and eventually your fame builds to bigger and better venues. I rated it as "Average" because it doesn't seem fair to neg a game for something its genre was never meant to have. CHALLENGING GAMEPLAY The game adapts to how well you play. It starts off simplistic, but it carefully watches how well you perform. Each section of the song, called a "phrase" is individually scored. If you do well on that playthrough, the game will add more notes/chords to that section next time you play it. If you're doing really well, notes/chords can sometimes be introduced as the song is playing. It's not like RB/GH where any fret was used just for the sake of playing along. The notes you begin with are the notes you will end up using (either in faster streams or as part of chords) when you eventually master a song. Even as a well-versed guitar player, I found some of the songs challenging. The beauty of Rocksmith is that it adds just enough to get you out of your comfort zone, but tones itself back if you start having too much difficulty, creating a playing field that is both challenging and yet never overwhelming. As a guitarist, I found this part especially neat because I have run into my share of songs that were simply too difficult and I never went back to them. GRAPHICS Your attention will be mostly on the notes, so I did not consider graphics too big a selling point for the game and this review. The note highway and hit zone are easy to see and once you become accustomed to the way the notes approach you, it's easy to see what's coming up next, which is a MUST in this game genre. Some of the audience CGs look like they could have been improved for this console generation, but still enough to recognize you're playing on a PS3. I did not rate this as a 5 because of a known issue with lag between the audio and video. Other music games offered Lag Calibration options, Rocksmith does not. It is not so much Ubisoft's fault - this issue is known to happen with HD TVs and gaming. Depending on your TV, you may not notice a lag at all - I didn't on my Samsung. If you have external speakers or headphones, the lag issue goes away. Again, it's not Ubisoft's development, but at least they could have offered an in-game option to compensate for it. AUDIO The most critical part of any music game. The audio quality is awesome, even if played through a TVs default speakers. A little more emphasis was given (rightfully) to the guitar tracks which is a great help in learning the song. The song list is not as diverse as other music games, but supposedly Ubisoft is planning to remedy that with Downloadable Content. It's not bad either, but just a few more songs from other genres would have been appreciated. As of this review, Nov. 2nd, there isn't any DLC. OTHER STUFF This game does NOT require an Electric guitar. If you have an Acoustic/Electric or an Acoustic with the audio jack, then you can play. If you happen to have a guitar without an audio jack, they are not expensive to have installed on a guitar you may already own. I have not had the opportunity to try Multiplayer, so I cannot comment on the Multiplayer mode or how it functions other than it is supported in this game provided that the second player has a guitar and the audio cable. There are several complaints against the price of the game for including the Audio Cable to hook your own guitar up to the console. Considering how much money people threw into the peripherals for RB/GH, a cable is not asking for much. Any guitarist will tell you that the type of cable needed, as well as the length provided, is more than covered by the extra $10-$15. That being said, the game can be expensive for someone without a guitar. True, some copies of the game come with Guitar Center coupons, but I highly recommend that you purchase a decent quality guitar. Any distortion of sound, warped necks, and other common problems with cheap or preowned guitars can cause problems for you in-game. If your guitar cannot make the correct sound by playing the E string, for example, the game (based on the sound you just played) will register that as another note. Therefore, it is extremely important that your guitar is able to produce clean sounds. If you have dull strings or a warped neck, then expect to compensate for those problems as you play. The minigames are addicting while teaching important skills at the same time. For example, there is a Duck Hunt-like game in which you have to play a string on the correct fret to shoot the duck. If you don't do it within a certain time limit, the duck gets away. Another, Attack of the Chordead, does the same except with chords rather than just a fret. You must play the chord shown on the screen in order to shoot the approaching zombies. OVERALL I think that one of the weakest points of Rocksmith may also be its strongest. While it may only appeal to a dedicated base of gamers, the appeal is strong and the game has enough to keep one occupied longer than most games out on the market today. If you were seriously considering getting the Pro gear for another music game, then perhaps investing in a real guitar and a copy of Rocksmith may be worth your money.

So let's break it down: Storyline: 3/5, seriously this has no real story. I suppose it is kind of supposed to be your journey as a rock star but not really. I gave it a 3/5 more as a Not Applicable than a rating. Gameplay: 5/5, great way of learning guitar. The dynamic difficulty puts you at a great learning curve, challenging so you don't stagnate at an easy level but easy enough to continue progressing. Allows plenty of ways to practice all or part of a song or just generic techniques. Graphics: 4/5 The graphics are good but not great. Let's be honest though, that's not why you're playing this game. They more or less what I expect from a music game, particularly one that's actually trying to teach you guitar. Audio: 5/5 The audio is great. The music sounds good and it lets your sound system work as an amp for your guitar including effects. It also helps you setup your system in the optimum way to get good and synced audio. Overall: 4/5 Rocksmith does exactly what it claims to. Teachs you songs and techniques to learn the guitar in an intuitive manner. It lets you use your own guitar without any expensive peripherals except for the included usb cable. Only gave it a 4 because the song library is lacking. If you like the Black Keys you are golden. If you're looking for variety or prefer other styles of music, you may be dissappointed. Even DLC doesn't expand the variety much. That said, don't let it discourage you from purchasing this game. It will teach you the techniques you need to learn other songs outside the game and anyone who wants to learn guitar should find at least a few songs they like.

I have been wanting to learn how to play guitar for 14 years now, my dad has broken promises to me about getting lesson, my husband actually got me lessons but because of gas prices and such it was too hard to get there and back. My brother showed me Rocksmith a few weeks ago said he was going to get it for me. I finally got it two days ago and have been playing ever since! When you first start the game it has you choose if you are a right hander or left hander and it has you choose what your guitar looks like. The game actually lets you tune your gutiar, play songs, and has neat mini games so you get better at guitar. The only down fall i have to say about it is you have to check to see if your game is out of tune with everthing you do also if you have difficulty with a lesson there is no one to help you they just replay the instructional video, all in all though I love the game I jut played one of my favorite songs and actually felt like i was playing it like i knew it!

I grew up playing in garages with friends far more talented than me teaching me songs. I haven't played guitar in decades but recently pulled my guitar out of its dusty case and began refreshing my ability to read and play music. Very quickly I found myself longing for my old music buddies to teach me some real music. I've been an avid video gamer for years and when I ran across Rocksmith and made the purchase several weeks ago and found myself quickly addicted. While my old garage band buddies can't be replaced Rocksmith was able to start teaching me how to play new songs in a fun and interactive way. While there are some improvements I would make to the game like better navigation and the ability to set the pace of the song myself this is a very good first attempt and sets the stage for a great learning experience. The game isn't for the game junkie who want to mind numbingly press red/green/yellow/blue/orange buttons on a plastic guitar. Its for someone who wants to learn real guitar techniques and actually play a real guitar. While it won't teach you to read sheet music it will teach you some awesome songs and teach you real technique. Who knows, 10 or 15 years from now we could see an entire generation of guitar rippers lured into music by this platform.

My knock on the Rock Band & Guitar Hero games was that you weren't really playing an instrument, just a guitar shaped controller with buttons. When I saw this game I fell in love with it right away, even b4 gettin' it. Now I have purchased it and its worth every penny. In a few days I went from amateur to new act and feel really proud of my progress. Its so much better than playin guitar on your own in your room because this game gives you a sense of accomplishment since it grades all your performances. The song selection is very decent and it wont ask you to play at a level you are not ready for. It automatically senses your skill and accomodates to it.

I just bought this game yesterday, and I played it for a few hours last night. Ive been playing guitar off and on for 11 years but havent really made much progress despite taking around 12 lessons over the years. I dream of playing in a Metallica cover band but I dont put in the time it takes to learn how to really play the guitar. My guitar has collected more dust than it got played in the last 11 years. Ive attemped to learn songs only to get frustrated and put the guitar down and walk away after 15 min of trying. So now that you know where I am musically, lets talk about this game. This game is like Guitar Hero only way better because you use a real guitar instead of a plastic piece of junk (which I broke 2 plastic GH guitars from pressing to hard on the fret buttons and strum bars). The game doesnt have allot of songs im intrested in playing but there is DLC being added so maybe there will be better songs later. The game has more realistic graphics that GH. The mini games are kinda lame as far as the graphics but they are designed to help you learn different techniques. The game has allot of great features that make it fun to play as well as a great learning tool. I didnt like paying $80 for it but it does include a special cord that you must have to play. I have allot of games that i really like and this one instantly jumped to the front of the list. Buy this game, Its worth every penny!!!

If you like to play guitar and video games! this is a must have game. I play guitar for 3 years, I dont pay much attention to it until yesterday! the game offers you a "Virtual band" that you can play with, it also shows the lyrics of thee song so you can sing the song while rocking. they say 80 is too much for the game? but it include the 1/4 wire, the wire cost $30 the game for $50! great offer! the game adjust on your level of playing the guitar, the more notes you got right the harder the song gets, the less you got the next set of notes gets less. I use component output! NO lag issues so far! they say HDMI output will bring you sound lag.

I was skeptical at first when i heard about this game. After playing so many Guitar Hero and Rock Band games I was getting tired of the same old thing and the same old plastic fake stuff that they offered. Thinking to myself before getting this game I was like "just like Power Gig". But this was with a real guitar. Being that I already been playing guitar for 5 years i was kinda skeptical on how real it was going to be. Thinking to myself again is it really going to play well this time knowing that its going to use a real guitar. So i decide to pick this up and sure enough it was the right chose. This game is the real deal. You actually are really playing the song . You don't get that type of felling when playing Rock band or guitar hero. For me I got this cause I love playing guitar and I love playing video games but I wasn't going to settle for plastic fake playing. But this game changes everything.

this is simply the best game i own being a guitar student before this game came out it is helping me beyond i could imaging fun great songs great gameplay great practice arcade games hoping this will be the first of many rocksmiths waiting for guns led zeppeling metallica etc.....

Want a game that's actually Guitar Hero? Rocksmith. I have played guitar for about 10 years, and I play drums in a band. I got through expert mode on every Guitar Hero game and learned absolutely nothing other than how to hit 5 buttons. Rocksmith came along and actually provided a challenge, and is also a teaching tool for anyone who wants to progressively learn guitar. You can target areas you are struggling in regardless of your skill level, and the game's difficulty changes as you play to adjust to you, instead of hitting pause to put it on Medium, or easy. I love the game, and I played it for over 2 hours a day both days I've owned it. I highly recommend this game for people looking for a video game that you can actually get real like rewards from instead of a level up online. Its about time.

So i just got this game last night and have already played it for hours. I am a beginner on guitar, knew a few power chords and a couple easy songs, and now since playing this game I have already learned some songs and my muscle memory as to where frets are has significantly improved. read a review that complains about the lag but I havent had any issues since I followed the games recomendations and used a headset, I guess if you dont have a headset it can be your only downside to this game. The dynamic difficulty is achieved very well i just wish you had the option to set the difficulty if you want to. Dont complain about this game it is the first with its technology, I have RB3 with the guitar i spent 350 dollars on and it is nowhere close to this game.

When I saw titles like Guitar Hero and Rock Band in the past...I had ZERO interest in getting those for myself or my children. Spending that kind of money on plastic "pretend" music equipment so that you can only learn how to press buttons in time with a music track on screen seemed very lame to me. So two years ago I decided to buy my oldest son (10) his first guitar. He watched lessons on DVD and the internet and he even took a few lessons but that "spark to play" hadn't really hit him yet. Then I saw that Rocksmith was going to be coming out in the Fall of 2011 in time for Christmas. It looked cool...really cool. Rocksmith ROCKS! First off...it now excites my son to pick up his guitar and play! Yes...he is learning...but he's excited to do it! The games are fun and challenging and unlock as you progress up the ranks from songs performed and venues played at. This has been put together SO well that I can honestly complain about little. There is one major area that I would like to see improvement (Please Ubisoft...Pay attention to this). The song download section needs to be reworked in a few ways. For starters...music variety or selection!!! All the songs included in the game are fine...and the small amount available for download are "Ok" at best...but it's almost as if you skipped completely from the 60's and 70's...over the 80's...and landed firmly in the 90's. I would love to see more rock songs from artists I love!! Another area that is completely untouched and really needs to be is music from today's morern Country music! Yes...it's called "Rock"smith...I get that. But many Country music artists rock out in their music as well and I would love to play some of their music too. Lastly...download prices! This is the worst part of the game!!! The price for one song is $2.99 and that's too much! I should be able to pay $1 per song or get a bundle of 6 or 7 songs for $5. Other than that...this game/guitar teaching title is top notch! More accurately I would give it 93 out of 100 as a score! The only thing I would hope that Ubisoft does in the future in Rocksmith 2 is add the ability to hook up my MIDI keyboard and play alongside my son on his guitar!

I have never played guitar or taken lesson and I thought it would be fun to try out this game and it is a great game. I am definitely learning to play, which far exceded my expectations of just wanting a fun game. At first I borrowed my friends guitar to see how it went, and found out that I loved it so much that I went out and bought my first guitar.

I had my doubt about how well this game would work, but I love it. I have been playing guitar for a while now and was easily able to start getting into the flow of it. I sat my wife down and told her to try to play the game and she did very well. The notes get harder as you progress but also back down if they become over whelming. Any body get buy this game and immediately start gettinggutiar basics down and easily move to playing whole songs quickly. They song selection is fair.

I love to play guitar, and I've been waiting for a long time for something like this to come out! I'm sure I'm one of millions of people who have said in the past how cool it would be to have the real thing and look!! Not only is it a good challenge for the more experienced but what a cool way to learn guitar for the new guy or gal. There are a few things I dislike about the game such as the moving fret board in the background where your next notes are coming from, which reminds me a bit too much of the "other" guitar game if you want to call it that and can cause me to feel a little dizzy at times. I wish you could make that zoomed out and a non moving background with the entire fret board showing. I did have to switch the way I saw the strings at the bottom of the screen as well. My brain sees it backwards and it was way too confusing for me so its a good thing that in the settings you can swap that around. Other then that I'm addicted to it and like the challenge that comes with it.

You won´t be a musician and learning to play an instrument isn´t easy, say your fingertips (hurts until you get used to it). But Rocksmith is a great way to learn the basics, practice and get better at various itens when playing a guitar. Awesome!

This game is definitely worth the investment! I had taken lessons for about two years, but had to stop because of the cost of them. After stopping the lessons I basically didn't touch my guitar again for about three years. After hearing about this game and learning that you could use any guitar, I was excited but skeptical. I finally broke down and pre-ordered it and when I finally got it, I was completely blown away. This game is great for any skill level and actually TEACHES you how to play the guitar. My final verdict - Buy the game, you will not be disappointed!! Even though it is 80 dollars, when compared to private lessons, the cost of the game doesn't even come close.

The game adjusts to your ability, keeping it challenging without becoming infuriating/frustrating. Teaches a few chords, but main thing is developing finger strength & dexterity while having a lot of fun playing music. Mini-games help to develop skills beyond plucking the strings.

This game's software was written in a way that it recognizes your skill level and adjusts everything accordingly. So whether you're a novice or you can flat out shred, this game is it.