Threw the baby out with the bathwater

User Rating: 4 | Rocksmith 2014 Edition (No Cable Included) X360

I rated the original Rocksmith (2012) as a 9.5 This one swings and misses, badly.

I do not give a rating as an average as all categories are not equal.

The Good- improvements over Rocksmith 2012

+The lag between guitar and program is greatly reduced (very good thing, and very noticeable to those who played the original)

+ The instructional videos and instructions in lessons are far better than before.

+ The program does a better job of picking up notes, particularly techniques such as bends.

+ Addition of some great songs!

The Bad-

-Despite paying for the first 2012 version of the game and being able to immediately import all DLC songs that you have purchased, you have to pay $9.99 to import the original songs from the 2012 version. They have the right to do anything they want, but this just feels like a sleazy money grab (the game already recognizes that you have purchased the first one and imported your DLC.....)

-Career mode is gone. This put the fun into the game. In fact, it put the "game" into the game.

-Game is aimless. What do you do? Where do you start? And why? No one knows..... (ok, if you choose a song, on the lower part of the screen it will suggest activities that you can access immediately from that screen. However, it feels scattered and without direction)

-Very little feedback as you play. For a split second you see the note you just hit light up, but that is it, and honestly you are looking for the next note not at the very bottom of the screen. The old scoring at the top from 2012 and feedback popping up on the side of the screen are sorely missed.

- "Path" Now you choose a "path": lead guitar, rhythm guitar or bass. The only thing this does is limit your song arrangements to just: lead guitar, rhythm guitar or bass. If you want to play different arrangements you have to back out and change your "path". In the 2012 version you could choose a song and from there you could easily play several different arrangements to the song. "Paths" add nothing and limit choices.

- The menu. The menu from the 2012 version was in need of improvement. What 2014 offers is sheer chaos. Perhaps they felt that because the game goes nowhere, then the menu might as well be aimless.

Graphics-9

The graphics are an improvement over 2012. Everything looks sharper and better. I like the base white background more than I liked the original base black background.

Sound-9

One would hope to have impressive sound in a music game. Rocksmith 2014 meets sound expectations. I have a surround sound system on my TV and it is great with this game.

Career Mode-0

Gone. Does not exist. Preparing for an upcoming show was a driving force to log on and practice that day. The excitement and pressure of playing well in your show to earn encores and double encores was great fun. But they chose to take it all out. And with it goes the fun of the game and the intuitive guidance. They feature commercials referring to a 60 day challenge. It is not a game mode or feature of the game, it is just a marketing ploy that "recommends" playing everyday for 60 days.

Song List-10

Great new songs with wide variety.

Fun-1

This game is NOT fun. It is purely a guitar lesson program. The 2012 version was fun because you were in a career mode and practicing to qualify for, then playing shows.

Summary

They claim you can learn guitar from this game. This is a learning guitar program, not a game. Sure enough the lessons are there. But learning is difficult when it is not fun. I played Rocksmith 2012 a couple hours everyday for two years. I have had Rocksmith 2014 for a week, and I have to force myself to play the game. The game is aimless, sterile, and frustratingly designed. Advice to people looking to buy: The mechanics work better than 2012, the song list is great, the fun is gone, choose for yourself.