Xbox 360 Critic Reviews

It's rare to find a game that encompasses a teaching tool as effective as Rocksmith, with virtually no negatives to observe, while still being enjoyable to play. Though for the first day or two you'll feel some pain in the tips of your fingers as your new guitarist callous' begin to form, it's a small trade for the skills, abilities, and pride you'll feel as you level-up as a genuine musician. Nothing beats learning useful and fun real-life skills, especially when it's with something as cool as an electric guitar.

Rocksmith has set the next standard in music gaming, it's hard to envision bothering with fake push button guitars ever again really. Again, you still have to have that stick to it attitude to get anyplace here, but it's a spectacular jump off point for beginners and a blast once you really get going.

Rocksmith feels like a present from the rock gods themselves. This little slice of the future is the perfect tool/game to teach all skill levels a thing or two about rocking out on the six-strings.

In the end, making the decision to purchase Rocksmith comes down to what you're looking to get out of it. If you just want a music game to bust out at parties, stick with Rock Band or Guitar Hero. On the other hand, if you've always wanted to learn how to play the guitar, Rocksmith is a great way to do it.

This is a strong piece of learning software under the guise of a game.

For a guy like me who had to borrow a friends guitar to actually try the game – the fact that I'm now contemplating visiting a pawn shop to cash in on someone else's inability to make ends meet and buy my very own guitar should speak volumes to the titles power as a fun learning tool. Beginners, give this a shot – especially if you've already got a guitar collecting dust in the closet.

Is Rocksmith always a thrill a minute? No. However, few recent games offer so novel an experience as playing a guitar part, and hearing the notes you play flow out of your TV as part of a great rock song. It's the added incentive a lot of potential musicians might need to put in the time it takes to excel.

A very interesting novelty in the music games genre, very involving for guitar/bass newcomers even if quite challenging. The on-screen notes indicators are sometimes confusing and it could benefit from a more distinctive presentation, but if you always wanted to start playing guitar this is a very good tool for becoming acquainted with the instrument.

Rocksmith lifts the Guitar Hero formula to the next level. The game takes beginners by the hand and gives them tutorials, songs and exercises in a step-by-step manner, so you can really see a progress in your playing. The strongest element of Rocksmith is the dynamic difficulty, which adjusts to the players skills on the go during a song. But Rocksmith is not without its flaws. The graphics are faint, the loading times long and there is also a minimal sound-lag that bothers experienced musicians.

The recognition works well and with the added bass guitar mode (which can also be emulated with a six-string) as well as the coop-option you'll get a lot of content. Unfortunately the game part of Rocksmith still needs polishing while the guitar coach has its flaws.