While the band-based rhythm action game might offer a good simulation of playing the actual instruments, none of them have ever really been able to teach the player to actually play the guitar.
Enter Power Gig: Rise of the SixString, featuring a unique controller that actually doubles as a fully functioning electric guitar. With six strings, working tuning pegs, an electric pickup, and of course frets marked out in the traditional button colours, the small guitar can be connected to the Xbox, or to an amplifier, depending on what you want to do.
The controller certainly looks the part, and features everything that a real guitar needs.
The game itself offers two different modes to play the guitar: a standard mode, which has you simply holding down the correct fret on any string and strumming the note to play, much like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, or "Chord Play", which sees you having to actually form and strum powerchords on the correct frets/strings to match the song you're playing. And as power chords are the staple of most modern rock tracks (the majority of American Idiot by Green Day can be played with just four powerchords), the "Chord Play" mode will lay the foundations for further training in the art of Rock, and actually teach the player the basics of each song on the guitar.
When you're not in Chord Mode, the game plays like a typical rhythm action game
But it's not all about the guitar, as Power Gig also comes with an interesting drum kit. Instead of the traditional video game drum kit, the clunky plastic creations that we know and... live with, the Power Gig drumkit is a whole different beast. The main unit for the drumkit sits on the floor, and instead of seperate cymbals and pads and whatnot for each seperate drum, the unit instead creates several zones in the air above it, allowing it to sense what drum you're hitting and with which hand. In essence, you simply air drum above the box, and it knows which drums you're playing. This sounds like it could be a bit awkward compared to the ION kit that we're used to - especially as we can see it all too easily leading to us playing the notes too quick, as the "zone" above the pad will have to be fairly large - but we'll wait and see how it plays before making any harsh judgements.
Each pad creates a drum zone above it, so waving the drumstick around in it will register a hit. While it might take some getting used to, the space-strapped gamers are sure to love it.
And there's no need to worry about the other rhythm action games getting all the good song licenses, either. Power Gig already has the backing of Eric Clapton, Kid Rock, and the Dave Matthews Band, meaning that we'll finally be able to play Layla on the Xbox! We're wondering if a lot of the recording artists who've slated the button-pushing rhythm action games are going to pledge allegiance to Power Gig now (we're looking at you, Led Zepplin). It could give them quite a strong setlist if they do.
Due out in October, Power Gig: Rise of the Sixstring looks like it could become a major player in the rhythm action genre, especially with the likes of Eric Clapton's Layla on board. Check back in a few months for our full review.
