Rocksmith

 PlayStation 3
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 27 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 27
  3. Negative: 1 out of 27
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  1. Eurogamer Sweden
    Oct 25, 2012
    70
    Those of you who put in the time and effort needed will have a lot to gain from Rocksmith. Not just high scores, but the feeling of actually learning to play an instrument.
  2. games(TM)
    Sep 28, 2012
    70
    Rock Band and Guitar Hero already have the party attitude, but Rocksmith needs to try harder to master this untapped school music teacher approach.
  3. Gamereactor Sweden
    Sep 27, 2012
    70
    Despite some really good ideas, Rock Smith still has this unpolished overall feel to it.
  5. Playstation: The Official Magazine (US)
    Oct 29, 2011
    60
    The technology driving Rocksmith is awesome. Unfortunately, the software just doesn't compare. [Dec 2011, p.81]
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Awards & Rankings

65
#65 Best PS3 Game of 2011
60
#60 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2011
95
#95 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2011

User Reviews

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User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 60 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 43 out of 60
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 60
  3. Negative: 12 out of 60
  1. buddashak
    Oct 19, 2011
    10
    I've spent roughly 10 of the last 30 hours playing Rocksmith , have over 10 songs with over 85% mastery, mostly songs I'd never heard before,I've spent roughly 10 of the last 30 hours playing Rocksmith , have over 10 songs with over 85% mastery, mostly songs I'd never heard before, and can now say that this game is the bee's knees for anyone that plays guitar for fun regularly. Don't listen to all the people that say this is more of a tutorial than a game... at higher levels of play it's really just like playing guitar hero with your actual guitar. Regarding the auto-difficulty: At first I didn't feel like the difficulty was amping up fast enough, but then I realized after listening to some replays that this was because of my sloppy technique. For me this usually comes from missed palm mutes, missed harmonics, half-pressed barre chords, and brain farts. Once I got dialed in and actually started playing with precision the game would ramp up the difficulty and mastery level pretty fast. To all the reviewers complaining about the difficulty not going up fast enough (*cough* joystiq *cough*) I'm pretty sure its because you're not as good of a guitar player as you think you are. Rocksmith only gives you what you've earned. You wouldn't expect a mario game to give you access to world 8 just because you can half-a$$ your way through world 4, why should Rocksmith be any different? The lag when the ps3 audio is hooked straight to your stereo is equal to a good latency midi setup, meaning you can sense it if you're really trying hard but it's not enough to effect your playing. The interface is nice and easy to read when not cluttered... when you get to the higher levels of mastery it's another story, but if you're capable of getting to the higher levels then you're no doubt relying on your ear and memory more than what's on the screen, so it doesn't really matter The one thing that sucks is the total lack of streamlining. For example, I prefer to have my songs sorted by artist, but every time you go to the song list it resets to being sorted by title. This wouldn't bug me if you could change the sorting with a button press, but it's not. Also, whenever a song finishes the game automatically loads up the replay, thereby unloading the song. This means if you want to play the song again you have to wait for the replay to load, and then pick "play again", and then wait for the song to load up again. In other words, you end up doing a lot of waiting. Also, the two rap-rock songs are really bad.… Full Review »
  2. icarus1080
    Oct 18, 2011
    10
    After just a few minutes of playing Rocksmith, you'll find that you don't even want to describe it as a game. Rocksmith is an amazing pieceAfter just a few minutes of playing Rocksmith, you'll find that you don't even want to describe it as a game. Rocksmith is an amazing piece of guitar teaching software. It will literally hold your hand, and walk you through step by step how to perform the basics, enhance your techniques, and ultimately play every song in it's library with style and precision. The career mode isn't the most flashy that we've seen in a guitar game, but all the elements that make it enjoyable are there, and doing well is extremely gratifying. Messing up is a unique learning experience, as you see the upcoming notes simplify before your eyes when the game's dynamic difficulty adjusts to your apparant skill, and something inside you musters even more determination to succeed next time. Aside from the career mode, you can browse almost the entire song library from the start, accessing different play options for each, such as the option to practice specific parts of a song that might be giving you trouble in performance. There are also challenges to complete relating to a vast array of guitar playing techniques, which you can also find in the individual song options, showing you what you need to be proficient in to perform it with mastery. Then there is the Guitarcade, a section of mini games that further test both your basic and advanced technique with puzzles, skill games and other creative and entertaining activities, all using the guitar as your controller. In amp editing mode, you can customize a rack of guitar pedals based on what you've unlocked in career mode, save multiple presets, and assign them to the face buttons of your Dualshock for quick effects changes during your rehearsal or performance. The only imperfection about Rocksmith is the minuscule latency in the sound of your guitar through the speakers, but even with more complex arrangements of notes at faster speeds we experienced no problem enjoying the game, feeling like things were in sync, or missing notes due to the barely noticeable lag. It's hardly worth mentioning at all, considering what amazing benefits this software offers to anyone who owns it. Rocksmith is a masterwork of educational software like nothing the world has ever seen. It is the Rosetta stone of guitar lessons. For $79 (plus your guitar), this is the best thing money can buy for an aspiring guitarist, or an experienced player looking to perfect their technique. If you spend time with Rocksmith, you WILL learn to play the guitar well, period.… Full Review »
  3. derrickg
    Oct 19, 2011
    10
    This game does everything that it advertised to do and more! We will start by saying I am a decent guitarist. I was in a band as a teenager,This game does everything that it advertised to do and more! We will start by saying I am a decent guitarist. I was in a band as a teenager, but I laid down my guitar for more than fourteen years, just recently picking it up when I heard this game was about to be released. Though I used to know a lot, not playing for fourteen years took a toll on my ability and I was struggling to remember some of the more advanced chord placements, etc.

    This game eases you into the guitar environment. I found that some of my memory started coming back to me after I played through the first four or five songs. I got to a song that I didn't exactly dog, so I went to the song list in the options manager and started hammering away at some Free Bird by Lynard Skynard. I was quickly able to hit 100% speed and notes by going through the "leveler" options for the different parts of the song. This takes the chorus, bridge, intro, solo, etc and breaks it down into a manageable chunk that you can play progressively harder until you get the whole thing. I spent hours going through this and didn't find myself getting bored. I think within a week or two, I could nail Free Bird with 100% since the software does such an excellent job at teaching you songs.

    I haven't had a chance to play any of the guitarcade games because I only have one unlocked. I think this weekend, I will play all the way through career mode (easy) and see if it unlocks all those games, so I can play some of them.

    The interface is easy to understand. There is no noticeable lag when hooked up through an external source and not through the TV.

    My only small gripe with the game is that when you are doing a guitar riff and trying to hone that particular riff, you will have to go back to that section, retune your guitar, and load that section. Loading takes a long time with this game (20 seconds or so, at a guess.) I wish if you were in a riff repeater exercise, you did not have to reload that section in order to try it again. Even with this, I am giving this a 10. This game is what I think more games should aspire to. I had guitar hero. I felt like I was wasting so much time playing it. It left me with no skill. And this is completely different from the pro mode on GH3. I would like to see somebody that can do this game at 100% and somebody that can do GH3 at 100% compete in a guitar playoff. The GH3 guy will quickly see that his game did not really teach him how to play the guitar.    … Full Review »
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