
	Platform Xbox 360 Genre Music Publisher Seven45 Studios Developer Seven45 Studios ESRB T (Teen) Released October 19, 2010

- It's a real guitar - Great set list - Comes with a few replacement strings

- Still a "button" game, only with strings - A lot of the set list is locked behind an aggravating story mode - Many of the problems solved by other music games have been entirely ignored

Review: Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock (PS3) Review: Brutal Legend (360) Review: Dance on Broadway (Wii)
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Power Gig: Rise of the SixString

Score: 4.5 / 10

When a packed-in controller, in this case a plastic six-string guitar, actually gets in the way of me enjoying a game I know that something, somewhere went off the rails.

The guitar packed in with Rise of the SixString is a guitar in the academic sense. It's shaped like a guitar, it has strings. But when that guitar is put into play it quickly becomes obvious that it could have had its strings swapped with buttons with no

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change to the overall game. And actually might have been preferable since I managed to cut one of my fingers and create some ugly calluses on my left hand in my attempt to plow under the insipid story mode to unlock more of the great set list.

It definitely took me a lot of practice to get the hang of the guitar. More or less. Even now I don't feel very confident that

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I'll hit the right notes at the right time and creates more stress than relaxation. Other music games I've played, like Guitar Hero, have impressed me in the way it can get really difficult but still allow zen moments when I hit the "zone," hear only the music and react more on impulse than anything else. Rise of the SixString has none of that. I felt constantly on edge.

No doubt the way the on-screen "notes" descend might also have some part to play in this heightened tension. The other major titles in the category have figured out that depth is very important to providing clear tells as to what note or combination thereof is coming. Rise of the SixString throws this out. The notes travel on a narrow 2D path that doesn't want to make use of the entire real estate a big screen provides. On my TV, sometimes this meant I was flying completely blind. It meant re-trying songs until I had them mostly memorized before encountering success.

Power Gig: Rise of the SixString was a good stab at adding something unique to the music genre, alongside its great set list. It's unfortunate that the overall experience is left wanting and that the guitar -- the thing you dropped all that money on -- really does prevent enjoyment seeping into your gaming sessions. Clapton's "Layla" be damned!

- D.D. Nunavut

(December 3, 2010)