It has been in the works for awhile, but Ubisoft has finally given a release date for the Bass add-on for Rocksmith. This is one of my most played games of the last five years, and I cannot wait.
For those who are not familiar with Rocksmith, I understand, it is not a game for everyone. Rocksmith is an instructional video game (you don’t see many of those anymore, especially not on consoles) that teaches you how to play a real guitar. Unlike Guitar Hero or Rock Band, there is no selectable difficulty level. The game matches difficulty to your skill level as you play, so you never feel overwhelmed. There are many tutorials and challenges that help beginner guitarists find their footing, as well as offering veteran guitar virtuosos a fun and engaging way to practice. Ubisoft has actually found a way to make learning scales interesting (if only I had this when I first started playing guitar, I would have saved so much time).
Ubisoft doesn’t exactly call this piece of content DLC, they specifically use the word “expansion”, which you can take to mean it will be significantly more expensive than other add-ons. It will be released on August 14 for $29.99. It may seem a little steep, but there is a lot of new content being added.
When the bass expansion hits, every song on the disc will have a playable bass arrangement, as well as all DLC songs. Outside of playing songs, there are also bass exclusive tutorials and challenges included.
The sole sticking out point of this expansion is that there is only support for four-string basses. The game will certainly recognize basses with more strings, but the interface is designed with a four-string bass in mind.
Guitar owners are not left in the dust with this expansion either; while this is a bass expansion, a bass guitar is not required. Any electric guitar is able to play the new bass additions (and the game actually drops the guitar’s octave to simulate the sound of a bass).
There will be no bass guitar bundle available in stores, but an updated disc with the bass expansion included will be available on October 16, the same time the PC version is released. Now I finally have a reason to bust out my Hofner Violin Bass. Well, a reason that doesn’t involve cosplaying as Sir Paul McCartney again. Not after last time…
