Rocksmith - learn the guitar by shooting zombies

It's easy to assume that an "Authentic Guitar Game" would be unashamedly po-faced - the equivalent of the middle-aged tutor whose idea of an end-of-year exam is "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", rather than "Smoke on the Water". Rocksmith definitely isn't that, but it isn't the rowdy beer swilling party of Guitar Hero either. Actually, it's sort of hard to say what it is.

What Rocksmith does is easier to pin down: it'll teach you to play the guitar. We had a hands on session with the project's "note tracker lead" Brian McCune, who explained that Rocksmith is "definitely a step beyond" rhythm game stalwarts like Guitar Hero and Rockband. "The game teaches you to use this new controller - and the controller is, actually, the guitar."

Instead of walking the player through scales, Rocksmith offers a "Guitarcade" of bizarre mini-games that trick you into learning. Firm favourite is "Dawn of the Chordead" which teaches you to play chords by linking them to onscreen Gatling guns shooting zombies. There are also games that teach you sliding, bending, harmonics, and tremolo techniques. There's an impressive degree of variety.

"What we're doing is game-ifying those things that people can find frustrating," McCune told us, switching the game to song practise mode. Rocksmith uses the familiar scrolling fret board, but the difference this time is that you're actually learning to play the song. "The game adjusts to your skill level as you play. So you can see as you do better more notes come up," McCune explained, as a handful of notes sailed towards us. You don't have to play alone - another guitar can be jacked in, so you and your buddies can learn together and start a band.

Rocksmith has had a cautious start in life - it's coming late to the European market, having been out in America for a year now. "I don't know what I'm allowed to say," said McCune of the delay, "But I think they were kind of unsure if there was really a market for something like this, there was a lot of talk of 'Oh rhythm games are dead' that kind of thing."

McCune actually has a background in teaching music, and says he loves watching people on Rocksmith "go from zero to actually playing", adding "we think it's really aimed at everybody." But is this game suitable for already established musicians? And even more crucially, is it really of interest to game enthusiasts? Zombie carnage notwithstanding, Rocksmith is more of a "How To" DVD than a game. It's hard to imagine people who queue outside on Call of Duty launch night rushing out to buy a copy. Ubisoft's aspirations are, in this regard, oddly limiting.

That's not to say that it won't be fantastic in its way. Anyone who bought a guitar when they were a teen but gave up, any parents whose kids won't stick to their lessons, and anybody who's exhausted Guitar Hero should probably pick up a copy of Rocksmith. Just remember to save a bit of extra cash for the guitar.