As a big Guitar Hero and Rock Band fan, Unplugged - Air Guitar was pretty high up the game list I wanted to try once I get my PSVR2. The game pretty much borrows the gameplay of the aforementioned franchises and repurposes it for a VR experience.

If you know how Guitar Hero played you can just about imagine how this game runs as well, just instead of using an external plastic controller, the game will materialize a virtual guitar for you to strum on. Other than that it's just the familiar chords coming down your guitar fretboard which you need to hit accurately to keep the song playing on.

While it is a cool new game (or newer, the game was available on other systems before, as I understand), it is a 30€ experience, meaning it's not as big on presentation as some bigger titles - for example the beautiful Horizon - Call of the Mountain which came bundled with my VR headset. Instead of large venues with fireworks and technical attractions which spiced up your experience in GH or RB, you just play some bar-like virtual space where the menu buttons will appear, you don't see large colourful crowds of fans cheering you on (though they will throw underwear at you if you play well) and your only customization options boil down to picking a different guitar or pick to strum with.

In spite of that the game still comes with a bit of a celebrity endorsement with Russ "Satchel" Parrish from the band Steel Panther coming to teach you the basics of playing virtual guitar. If that name doesn't ring a bell, that's perfectly understandable. Steel Panther have never made it into the mainstream, but they are a relatively household name in the current rock and metal scene. They are more or less a comedy rock act, which both lampoons but also celebrates the hair metal scene of the late 80's and early 90's. Personally, I like some of their stuff, but found their latest two albums to be kind of creatively played out and their gimmick not exactly living up to the potential we have seen from other bands (like Ghost, who incorporate a similar fictitious approach to their song writing).

Anyway enough real music talk. Let's talk about virtual music. The setlist is not bad, but kinda small. I guess there's something for everyone who enjoys guitar music: the punk of the Clash and Offspring, there's some metal with Ozzy Osbourne, more alternative fans might appreaciate the inclusion of Weezer and the Dandy Warhols and then there's quite a bit of old school rock like Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird or Rush's Tom Sawyer. There's not much extreme metal unfortunately just 80's traditional stuff and Steel Panther's glam, but appearently there is a DLC including Slayer and Pantera, which I haven't figured out how to get yet.

Gameplay is fine and runs well. As mentioned it's Guitar Hero's rhythm gameplay, but with some additional upgrades like shredding sections through which you just button mash. Perhaps not as accurate in terms of notes as GH and RB, but oh well the game's called Air Guitar, we can forgive the inaccuracy if it makes us feel good like actual air guitaring.

One issue I did encounter with this game more than with Horizon - Call of the Mountain is that the angle keeps getting messed up in-game. Like, the fretboard keeps moving in an uncomfortable position over time of a song being played, which is partly my fault, cause the game reacts to me "lifting the guitar" up and down, but I find it a bit over-sensitive. One time it got so bad, the fretboard bent in a near perfect 90° at the area where I'm supposed to strum notes. I failed the song and got booed off-stage, cause I just couldn't hit the notes anymore. When I took off the goggles I found myself staring to the left of my designated play area, even though the game insisted I was facing forward. I assume I triggered some bug and to be fair it only happened like this once.

Final verdict: It's pretty good. Plays mostly well. If you are a fan of rock and metal music you might like yourself a play session of some of your favorite songs from the setlist. But at the end of the day, this is a 30€ release, the campaign and rewards are bare-boned and you will play through the 20+ song list rather quickly. The main appeal which will decide how many hours you are willing to put into this game will probably be how much you like being challenged and increasing the difficulty over time as well as your love for the songs featured on the setlist.

As a big Guitar Hero and Rock Band fan, Unplugged - Air Guitar was pretty high up the game list I wanted to try once I get my PSVR2. The game pretty much borrows the gameplay of the aforementioned franchises and repurposes it for a VR experience. If you know how Guitar Hero played you can just about imagine how this game runs as well, just instead of using an external plastic controller, the game will materialize a virtual guitar for you to strum on. Other than that it's just the familiar chords coming down your guitar fretboard which you need to hit accurately to keep the song playing on.While it is a cool new game (or newer, the game was available on other systems before, as I understand), it is a 30€ experience, meaning it's not as big on presentation as some bigger titles - for example the beautiful Horizon - Call of the Mountain which came bundled with my VR headset. Instead of large venues with fireworks and technical attractions which spiced up your experience in GH or RB, you just play some bar-like virtual space where the menu buttons will appear, you don't see large colourful crowds of fans cheering you on (though they will throw underwear at you if you play well) and your only customization options boil down to picking a different guitar or pick to strum with.In spite of that the game still comes with a bit of a celebrity endorsement with Russ "Satchel" Parrish from the band Steel Panther coming to teach you the basics of playing virtual guitar. If that name doesn't ring a bell, that's perfectly understandable. Steel Panther have never made it into the mainstream, but they are a relatively household name in the current rock and metal scene. They are more or less a comedy rock act, which both lampoons but also celebrates the hair metal scene of the late 80's and early 90's. Personally, I like some of their stuff, but found their latest two albums to be kind of creatively played out and their gimmick not exactly living up to the potential we have seen from other bands (like Ghost, who incorporate a similar fictitious approach to their song writing).Anyway enough real music talk. Let's talk about virtual music. The setlist is not bad, but kinda small. I guess there's something for everyone who enjoys guitar music: the punk of the Clash and Offspring, there's some metal with Ozzy Osbourne, more alternative fans might appreaciate the inclusion of Weezer and the Dandy Warhols and then there's quite a bit of old school rock like Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird or Rush's Tom Sawyer. There's not much extreme metal unfortunately just 80's traditional stuff and Steel Panther's glam, but appearently there is a DLC including Slayer and Pantera, which I haven't figured out how to get yet.Gameplay is fine and runs well. As mentioned it's Guitar Hero's rhythm gameplay, but with some additional upgrades like shredding sections through which you just button mash. Perhaps not as accurate in terms of notes as GH and RB, but oh well the game's called Air Guitar, we can forgive the inaccuracy if it makes us feel good like actual air guitaring.One issue I did encounter with this game more than with Horizon - Call of the Mountain is that the angle keeps getting messed up in-game. Like, the fretboard keeps moving in an uncomfortable position over time of a song being played, which is partly my fault, cause the game reacts to me "lifting the guitar" up and down, but I find it a bit over-sensitive. One time it got so bad, the fretboard bent in a near perfect 90° at the area where I'm supposed to strum notes. I failed the song and got booed off-stage, cause I just couldn't hit the notes anymore. When I took off the goggles I found myself staring to the left of my designated play area, even though the game insisted I was facing forward. I assume I triggered some bug and to be fair it only happened like this once.Final verdict: It's pretty good. Plays mostly well. If you are a fan of rock and metal music you might like yourself a play session of some of your favorite songs from the setlist. But at the end of the day, this is a 30€ release, the campaign and rewards are bare-boned and you will play through the 20+ song list rather quickly. The main appeal which will decide how many hours you are willing to put into this game will probably be how much you like being challenged and increasing the difficulty over time as well as your love for the songs featured on the setlist.

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VR music game Unplugged lets you play air guitar and write rock history, fully powered by finger-tracking technology. No peripherals required, just you rocking out hard to some of the biggest and loudest songs by world-famous rock bands including The Offspring and many more to be announced.

Playscore of Unplugged, based on critic and gamer review scores.

Unplugged

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