Hit me with your best shot.
I finally got my third chance to check out Bandfuse: Rock Legends firsthand and it continues to impress me. Although my experience was limited due to pre-launch availability of certain songs I was able to play a wider array of the setlist than I‘ve been able to on previous occasions. I was also able to play around with a few of the multiplayer aspects of the game.
The feature of multiplayer that surprised me the most was the implementation of vocals as one of the instruments in the game. Up until now, I had only heard people talk about it so getting a chance to actually see how well it worked within the game was a treat. Sure, in Rock Band you could connect a microphone and sing along, and in Rocksmith you could do the same but there were significant lag issues. With Bandfuse: Rock Legends you can plug in a microphone and alter the reverb, the pitch, and other effects in order to make the vocal performance more custom. I’m not a lead vocalist type myself, but the Karaoke factor is going to have a lot of mass appeal.
Although Bandfuse: Rock Legends and other games like it have a great party game appeal, there is always the issue of the learning curve. If someone can’t play guitar, then they will be very unlikely to want to play an authentic guitar game over a game where you press plastic buttons. One way Bandfuse: Rock Legends may be able to act as an effective gateway drug, so to speak, for people like this would be it’s “no fail” approach to gameplay. No matter how many notes you may miss or how off mark you may be at playing something, you are never prevented from playing through a song in its entirety. You don’t have to play each single note directly on the fret and you don’t have to be perfect; you just have to get through the songs and have a good time.
The only portion of the game where there is a bit of a challenge is Tour Mode. You can earn money in tour mode by completing short concerts/festivals, where you can alter the setlists or participate in challenges. Some of the challenges include playing specific songs at a certain level and getting a 5-star rating or participating in Battle of the Band competitions. You earn fans and money as you go along and can unlock other tours by paying for them. It’s a nice touch, even if it only provides a minimal bit of realism. Aside from all of the game modes and the ways in which Bandfuse: Rock Legends promises to turn the authentic guitar video game into a more party-friendly learning tool, one of the greatest benefits is what it will provide gamers upon release.
There will be three bundles available after the game launches on November 19, 2013. The Artist Pack priced at $69.99 will include a guitar cable and on the Xbox 360 will also include an additional audio adapter and headphone extension cable. The Band Pack is my personal favorite. For $79.99 you get two guitar cables, a Bandfuse microphone, multi-port instrument hub, and an acoustic guitar adapter for non-electric guitars. That’s right, folks, you don’t have to have an electric guitar to play this game. I haven’t been able to test it out for myself, so I’ll have to wait to see how effective it is. If you don’t already own a guitar, you can shell out some extra dough and get The Guitar Bundle for $199.99 $179.99, which will include an authentic Fender Squire guitar. This bundle’s release date is November 19, 2013.
