Guitar Rising - Reception

Reception

Rocksmith was released in the US on October 18, 2011 to mostly positive reviews. Aggregating review website Metacritic rated the PlayStation 3 version 80/100, the PC version 78/100, and the Xbox 360 version 77/100. Curtis Silver of Wired gave the game a 9/10, praising the intuitive nature of the note track and wrote that "Rocksmith is an amazing learning tool for the guitar. The eventual progression of rhythm games was to get to this point, where you are playing real instruments and actually learning how to play, rather than some sort of cartoonish emulation." Ania Kwak of GamingExcellence gave the game a 9.8, stating that "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." Adam Dulge of PlayStation Universe praised the game and gave it an 8.5: "Rocksmith is an absolute must buy for anyone slightly interested in learning how to truly rock." Amy Flower of Gamesblip was very impressed, rating the game 9/10: "Rocksmith’s adaptability to your particular chops kicks arse. If you’ve never touched a geetaw you’ll probably squonk like a Sonic Youth b-side, but patience and dedication brings reward."

However, Jordan Mallory of Joystiq gave the game a mediocre 2.5/5 on the day of its release, stating that "...Rocksmith fails as both an educational platform and as a rhythm title, despite its groundbreaking technological foundations." Ben Kuchera of Ars Technica said the game is "not terrible", but that it "fails as a way to learn guitar" due to lag, the automated difficulty adjustments, and the way the unlock system is implemented.