If you’re not a fervent fan of this series, you’re probably better off saving your cash.
For the uninitiated, Karaoke Revolution games task you with singing along with a collection of well-known pop songs spanning decades of music while the game’s pitch-recognition technology rates you. The interface consists of scrolling tubular notes that let you know when to raise or lower your pitch, along with the lyrics spread out logically underneath them. You’ll need to nail sections of the song fairly consistently to keep the raging masses satisfied. Miss one too many notes, and you’ll get booed of the stage, effectively ending your performance. A variable in the form of the occasional sparkling tube will make the crowd easily impressed for a short time, assuming you sing the illuminated section of the song well.
Now, there are multiple ways to play – you can progress through a more rigid single-player mode, choosing from small groups of songs and progressing through small to large venues to unlock a couple additional songs not immediately on the roster, or you can just choose a couple songs, a judging difficulty (which will change how picky the game’s pitch technology is), and get to it.
Of course, this volume marks the addition of duets, and these are pretty interesting, overall. You have the option to sing in unison or have one person sing the backup harmony. The latter is a much more interesting choice, though many of the songs in this version don’t really have fantastic potential for harmony. Many times, the backup singer will be left with just a couple lone lines spread sparsely throughout the performance. So while the duets are a nice addition and can occasionally be great fun, they feel a little undercooked.
No matter what mode you choose, though, you’ll be treated to some well-conceived covers of these hits (re-recorded presumably to keep the fidelity consistent) along with a great sense of performing a musical act on stage. The crowd swells with uproarious cheering or hissing depending on your performance, and the stage moves of your on-screen avatar (chosen and clothed by you) look like something straight out of American Idol. The song list is great, packing in classic pop tracks like Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York and Aretha Franklin’s Respect along with new hits like Evanescence’s My Immortal and the dubious Oops!…I Did It Again. The audio is crisp, separated well, and generally comes off as quite impressive.
Unfortunately, many of the negative aspects of the game appear in Volume 3. The big issue is still that some of the vocal phrasing in the game is way off, and unless you sing it using the game’s skewed interpretation, you’ll get a bad score for that section of the song. It’s an annoying problem, especially if you’re really familiar with the song, and it takes away considerably from the game. The use of some second or radio edit structures for a couple of the game’s tunes is also a little weird.
Visually, this game just doesn’t quite cut it. Not that graphics aren’t very important for a game like this, but that doesn’t mean developer Harmonix can’t get it together enough to provide some clean-looking character models. As they stand now, the models are awkward and bland, and aside from some inspired animations from the lead singer, the musicians look stiff and mannequin-esque on stage. The game also just lacks a lot of clarity overall. Overall, this is a competent but completely unimpressive package.
Overall, Karaoke Revolution Volume 3 is a standard update package to a rhythm game with an interesting but underdeveloped Duet mode thrown in for good measure. While the song list is good, the nagging gameplay issues, combined with dated visuals, make this package a less attractive purchase than it could have been.