Rocksmith 2014 is my new favorite video game
Learning a new skill takes dedication and practice. This is hard work and can be a slow, frustrating process. Last month, I hooked up a bass guitar to Rocksmith 2014. Not one of those plastic toy guitars that comes with other video games, but a REAL bass. Why a bass not a standard guitar? Because basses are badass.
After a few days I was playing riffs and chords and working on the basics of bass guitar. The progressive difficulty is great as it adapts to your playing level always pushing you to do better, but if you get lost it drops the difficulty to make it fun again. It does actually teach you, and it never gets frustrated if you keep making the same mistakes over and over.
A few weeks later, I’m nailing some songs with 80-100% accuracy. Am I a total rock star? No, not yet… but considering I’ve never played an instrument before this game, I’m impressed with how rewarding it’s been. The game also boasts a great collection of songs (and I decided to buy MOAR).
After only playing the song about ten times, I mastered System of a Down – Aerials and can play it outside Rocksmith. I absolutely love the progress metrics to know what I’m learning and where I’m stuck. As a stats junkie, this is EXACTLY the type of feedback I crave to quickly grow my confidence. I can see how much better I get each day.
OMG I can play Oasis
The various sections (learn a song, session mode, lessons, guitarcade) are well-balanced. I never get bored of playing this game, which means I keep going even when my fingers hurt. It’s incredibly addictive!
Having all the different types of content is really helpful for an absolute beginner such as myself. If I get stuck with a certain technique in a song, I can play along with a specific lesson. If I want to warm up by jamming out, I’ll hang out in session mode for a while. The mini-game arcade practices everything: plucking strings, sliding, fretting, bending notes and scales (just to name a few), all perfectly gamified.
But I don’t want to practice scales… Oh hell yes, let’s kill bad guys.
There’s even a well-designed multi-player mode, where I can rock the bass while someone else plays lead/rhythm guitar. The screen splits horizontally and shows each player their part, adjusted individually for song and mastery level. Rocking out with my friends has been even more fun than playing the guitarcade mini-games (duh).
This is my last week of funemployment; I start my new job next Monday. I’m making it count by playing a few hours every day.
Practice makes awesome.
punkrockpolly 
Ha. I actually bought Rocksmith 2 months ago to learn to play guitar. I took some lessons on my acoustic last year and didn’t stick to it as didn’t feel like commuting to my friend’s place in Jersey for the lessons. I ended up hearing about the game and it peeked my interest. Bought it along with a cheap but good electric guitar.
Good to hear it does help in the learning process.