Want to be a rock star? Well, there’s now an official app for that, if you’ll forgive the hackneyed phrase. Announced yesterday, the Guitar Hero app sees Activision’s much-loved console game translate to the iPhone, where you and your rockstar avatar can rock out to a smorgasbord of rock hits.
If you’ve ever played Guitar Hero (or, indeed Tap Tap Revenge) you’ll find it pretty straightforward to get to grips with. By tapping the screen and swiping in place of strumming, wannabe bedroom rockstars can thrum their way through, working from easy to expert level – with perhaps a touch of RSI along the way.
I found the tapping and strumming a little uncomfortable but perhaps that’s because I take these things too seriously and just needed to relax the tension in my shoulders. It is quite stressful though, especially as the songs get faster and the icons more plentiful.
The game comes with six ditties to get you started – songs from Vampire Weekend, Rise Against, Queen and more all put in an appearance as part of the app. It’s nice to see lesser-known (and, presumably, cheaper) artists getting a look in – take a bow, Rise Against.
When you’ve mastered these six, you can top up your repertoire with just a visit to the in-app store and your credit card details. Currently there are only a few more Queen and Vampire Weekend songs at £1.19 a pop. But it’s only day one, so we’re pretty sure this library is going to grow and, cleverly, the app will mooch around your iPod library and let you know when artists you like put in an appearance.
Customising your rockstar look is a barrel of laughs – if you’re a girl you can choose between rock bitch and, well, rock bitchier (the likeness between me and my avatar is uncanny – see above). Boys have a choice of clean-cut Busted imitators – not exactly the rock gods we’d envisaged, but we suppose that’s not really the point.
It’s all good clean fun – clean until you get so annoyed with that missed note on expert level that you chuck your phone through a window in lieu of a TV, at least.
Guitar Hero is available in the App Store now for £1.79.
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