Darkmatters - SingStar: Guitar

SingStar: Guitar – PS3

Developed by Sony London Studio

Published by Sony

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

“The fire in your eyes, keeps me alive...”

Ah can there be anything better than rocking on guitar out to ‘She Sells Sanctuary’ by The Cult – a vocalist beside you giving it their all – people watching, jaws agape at the profound awesomeness that they are witnessing? Well, there’s more where that came from and it’s yours for the bargain price of just over a tenner.

I was a bit skeptical about SingStar Guitar – I mean it’s not like we haven’t got Guitar Hero and Rock Band etc for virtual strumming amusement is it… But SingStar is a quality brand – unmatched in the realm of videogame karaoke and so I gave it a go with an open mind (using my trusty old plastic guitar from Guitar Hero III – in fact it seems pretty friendly with most existing guitar add ons).

First impressions are that SingStar Guitar is a super slick addition to the much loved Sony sing-em-up franchise and for once the first impressions are right… This doesn’t seem to be going after the core Rock Band market, more SingStar Guitar offers a perfect way to add to guitar action to your SingStar system without having to splash too much cash.
The gameplay adds a note path on one side of the screen (or two note paths if you wanna rock with 2 guitars) – whilst the main singing area is as before showing the words over either the officially licenced video or the feed from your PS Eye.

"sing and strum - a perfect combination!"

SingStar Guitar packs 30 songs on the disc and has already started adding ‘Guitar Enhanced’ tracks to the impressive online SingStore which is unrivalled in offering not just additional music tracks for your gaming pleasure but also themes and extras – all seamlessly integrated in the thriving SingStar community. Music choices of note on the disc (in addition to the fantastic Cult track) include: The Love Cats by The Cure, Song 2 by Blur, Ever Fallen In Love With Someone by The Buzzcocks, Kiss With a Fist by Florence and the Machine, I predict a riot by Kaiser Chiefs, Fire by Kasabian, Supermassive Black Hole by Muse, Debaser by The Pixies and Under Pressure by Queen & David Bowie.

You can sing and play guitar if you’re so minded – but will need a mike stand. The real joy however comes from rocking with friends and family. I kicked off a solo burst of Pixies and pretty soon had the whole family singing and playing along (wife on duet vocals, sons on guitars) on ‘Under Pressure’…

Setting up is simple and the load times for each track pleasingly quick. Your performance is scored out of 10,000 points total with players contributing their share. Also you can’t actually ‘fail’ a song which pleased my younger son who gets frustrated with Guitar Hero when he only makes it half way through a track… There are even some new guitar trophies which are pretty easy to nail so you’ll add a bit of kudos to your online PSN profile.

SingStar is the AAA music game to beat and adding guitars to the already winning formula just makes it even better. This is the perfect addition for any PS3 owners (and if you don’t own a PS3 by now – why the hell not!!??) who already has some sort of guitar controller – now if you’ll excuse me I have to shred U2’s Beautiful Day!?

Overall: Darkmatters rating: öööööööö (8 powerchord solos out of 10)