The songs don't appear to correlate particularly well to the rhythm-action gameplay, and the lack of any kind of volume control means you'll not be playing this game in public (at least, I hope not, in case I find myself sat behind you on the bus and wind up in jail for murder). This is just as well, since the shrill, barely recognisable midi files that shoot knitting needles into your ears simply don't do the franchise justice. It stops the game being just about the music, and leads you through the turbulent life of a struggling musician. This career system really helps bring Backstage Pass to life. When at home, you continue to practise to build up your repertoire and further impress the audience, which leads on to busking mini-games, schmoozing with industry types and moving on to bigger and better gigs. Giving them to old ladies with zimmer frames, for instance, doesn't help your credibility (which is another vital factor in a rock star's life, of course).īack in the club, a successful leafleting campaign packs the crowds in, and it's back to thrashing the strings using the '1', '2' and '3' keys as the notes fly past. This involves shooting leaflets at certain types of passersby who are most likely to respond to the thrash metal advert.
More bodies equal more money, so you take to the streets to administer flyers. Your first gig leads to a few easy bucks and, more importantly, advice from your landlord that a bit of leafleting might help bring in the crowds for the next show. Rehearsing in your ramshackle pad initially gets your guitar skills up to the very low standard required to play in a grief-hole of a rock club, which is where your ghost-written autobiography will begin. Your job is to help them claw their way from five-stringed poverty to the heights of drug-abusing stardom (it doesn't make specific mention of drug use, you understand, but these are rock stars after all). Taking on the familiar roles of Axel or Judy, you begin life as a washed out wannabe living it down at 93 Slum Lane.
This new angle adds a far more recognisable style of gameplay to the mix, and brings the franchise in line with other mobile titles while still offering a core element of virtual shredding. Where this latest Guitar Hero offering seems to justify itself isn't in the music, however, but in building the musician's career. In this respect, it's enough to say that Backstage Pass has learned from its predecessors and works extremely well within the severe confines of its platform.
We've also waxed lyrical about how well, surprisingly, the game works without it, so, again, we won't waste too many words going back over that old ground. We've looked at our share of pocket sized Guitar Hero games here at Pocket Gamer, so we'll bypass the usual chat about the lack of the console controller - the one thing most gamers would consider essential to the enjoyment of this game.
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