The PlayStation VR2 launch lineup has a nice variety of games across many genres with one of those being the music/rhythm genre. I took quite a few of these games for a spin to review including Ragnarock, Drums Rock, and the one I’ll be talking about here: Unplugged: Air Guitar. Vertigo Games and Anotherway previously released this on Oculus and Vive but the PlayStation VR2 version was my first crack out it. Here’s whether I think this one should be on your playlist or not.
Unplugged: Air Guitar is a lot like the classic Harmonix series Guitar Hero except you won’t have to actually hold a plastic guitar to play it. There is a nice setlist of 45+ songs here to jam out to including songs from Jet, Rush, Ozzy Osbourne, Steel Panther, The Offspring, and many more and you can play all of them on one of four difficulties. Speaking of Steel Panther, Satchel from the band acts as your mentor in this game guiding you along and teaching you the ropes of playing.
You’ll be strumming your air guitar using the two Sense controllers and you can choose to either play sitting, standing, or with room scale. For the most part I didn’t have any tracking issues but getting the hang of strumming does take some time and I’m still far from being able to play these songs on the highest difficulties. You’ll use the Sense controller buttons to place your fingers on the fretboard while the other Sense controller is your pick to strum. Hitting the notes at just the right time rewards you with more points and there are leaderboards so you can aim to beat others across the world. Doing well also fires up the audience which in turn will allow you to unlock new guitars, venues, and songs. As you get further and increase the difficulty you’ll encounter more than the normal notes as vibratos, pull-offs, and solos get introduced. As I said, I’m still not able to play on the hardest difficulty but nailing the various notes feels good when you do.
Visually the game looks OK but the environments aren’t as bombastic as I’d like and could be improved to make you feel like more of a rockstar. The audio mixing is good though whether it be the songs themselves, the crowd reacting, or other various sound effects. Trophy hunters will find 18 trophies here but sadly there is no Platinum to earn. I also want to mention that while the game has a good number of songs for the price, there is no DLC currently or word on whether there will be any.
Unplugged: Air Guitar lets you strum away and feel like a rockstar without having to actually hold an instrument. Anyone should be able to pick up and enjoy this while also being challenged should they want to take on the higher difficulties. I personally hope the team brings out post-launch support for it as I could see myself going back to this if they do.
*Unplugged: Air Guitar is available now on PlayStation VR2, Oculus, and HTC Vive. PlayStation VR2 version reviewed. Review copy provided by the publisher for this review.
Unplugged: Air Guitar
$24.99
Pros
- Easy to play rhythm game with plenty of challenge for those who seek it
- Really good list of songs to play
- Global leaderboards to climb and plenty of things to unlock
Cons
- Visual atmosphere could be improved
- Could use more content
