Rocksmith is a music game that uses a guitar as a controller to play songs popularized by the Guitar Freaks, Guitar Hero, and Rock Band series. In contrast to previous games, a genuine guitar is used. Almost any electric guitar can be connected to a USB connector using a custom standard 14 in (6.35 mm) output jack to convert the signal from analog to digital. The Real Tone cable is included with every game copy, but it may also be purchased separately because it supports split-screen multiplayer. The guitar-playing method is not simplified because the goal is to teach players how to learn and improve genuine guitar skills. Instead, it has an adaptive difficulty level that starts with single notes and rapidly becomes more sophisticated, eventually leading to whole riffs if the player can keep up.
It takes the typical view from the previous games, in which a song is represented as a stream of notes coming toward the player on a board. To be effective, they must be appropriately timed. A horizontal overlay near the bottom of the screen reveals the precise fingerboard position. The lyrics scroll across the top of the screen, along with the overall score based on accuracy and difficulty. An overall rating tracks your progress throughout the game. It includes over 50 classic and modern rock songs, with several unlockables by completing a double encore in a journey mode set.
The guitar sounds can be tuned with various pedals and amplifiers when in amp mode. They can be assigned to three places and activated throughout songs. Preset settings are used by default for each piece to make it sound authentic, and custom ones are unlocked after a bit has been correctly played. A riff repeater option provides specific difficulty levels by dividing songs into sections such as the intro, outro, solo, and verse, and it has three settings. Every note must be performed in Free Play. The Accelerator identifies the skill level and changes based on speed, with the ability to specify a custom speed throughout the song. The Leveler starts at the lowest level and gives you 30 chances to do it correctly. Performance in the latter increases percentages until a riff is mastered.
Various minigames are available to practice 12 different guitar skills, such as chords, sustains, shifting, tremolo, etc. There are Galaga variations, a slider puzzle, a baseball game, a “Simon says” game, a game in which zombies are shot through chords and other games. In addition to the solo version, a guitar bundle includes a genuine Epiphone guitar, picks, and a strap.
