CMT Presents: Karaoke Revolution Country
Score: 89% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Konami Developer: Harmonix Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 - 8 Genre: Rhythm
Graphics & Sound: First, let me say that I am a huge fan of the Karaoke Revolution series and I am also a huge non-fan of country music. However, that being said, since I love the KR games so much and consider myself somewhat of an expert on them, I decided I was best suited to review this title. Besides, yes, I will admit, there were several songs on the song list that had me intrigued. Right off the bat, visually (and most other ways, actually), CMT Presents: Karaoke Revolution Country is as if Karaoke Revolution Party slapped on a cowboy hat and boots, a Western-styled shirt and some jeans, dropped off the dancing component of the game at the house, and jumped in the truck headed to a honky-tonk. This is the exact same game, less the dancing, with a Country Western veneer. Now, I must commend Konami for attempting to reach an entirely new audience with this title. I am all for innovation and I can only hope that this was merely a first step. My friends and I, all hard-core Karaoke Revolution players, have been dying for Konami to start releasing various genre packs, especially alternative. So we've crossed our fingers here. Now, what's here is definitely more of the Karaoke Revolution goodness that we have all come to know and love. However, I was really, really disappointed to see no new venues. What fun could have been had with a rowdy group of honky-tonks and hoe-downs, but alas, if you want that western vibe, you'll need to stick to the Pit Stop and Wagon Wheel, very old standards. There are some new clothes to choose from, so you can deck out your character to be the ultimate country star. Character creator is back, so I couldn't resist creating my own Dolly Parton so she could belt out "9 to 5" realistically. But the real stars of Karaoke Revolution have always been the music and Karaoke Revolution Country won't disappoint country music fans. Songs from country music greats such as Dolly Parton ("9 to 5"), Kenny Rogers ("The Gambler"), Waylon Jennings ("The Dukes of Hazzard Theme"), Patsy Cline ("Crazy") and the immortal Johnny Cash ("Walk the Line") are here. Modern hits include Dixie Chicks ("Wide Open Spaces" and "Goodbye Earl"), Martina McBride ("Independence Day"), Sara Evans ("Suds in a Bucket"), Big and Rich ("Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy") and Brad Paisley ("Celebrity"). All told, there are 35 songs on Karaoke Revolution Country, and while not as many as recent releases of Karaoke Revolution, its still a good mix for country fans. And with the blessing of CMT (Country Music Television), you know you'll find some songs on here that you know.
Gameplay: CMT Presents: Karaoke Revolution Country has a number of different modes to entertain anywhere from 1 player up to 8 and everywhere in between. You can select the rightly named Quickplay, which is basically just setting up your character, picking a song and venue and jumping right in. Between songs, your character, venue and difficulty can be changed on the fly. This is great if you really don't want to take the time to set up an actual game. If you are with a group and really want to get down to business, then give 1 or 2 Mic Party a try. In 1 Mic Party, you can select between Arcade, Medley, Mini-Games and KR Challenge. Arcade is singing a group of songs, usually 1-3 with the option of the all rounds or the last round being a random selection to increase the difficulty. Medley is the same set-up, only instead of one full song at a time, several portions of songs are strung together, again for increased challenge. Mini-Games seem more tacked on than anything else, as they did in Karaoke Revolution Party. There's Beach Volleyball, where your voice controls where the players are on the screen, and Yo! Dude! Rock! where you change pitch to determine where the stage divers jump. Neither are fun. Then there's KR Challenge, where the different types of gameplay are strung together for the most challenging gameplay type of all. You may sing medley, you may find that there are no notes tubes to indicate how well you are doing or no lyrics at all, or short songs - it's always a surprise. Select anywhere from 2-5 different round types. 2 Mic Party is similar, only with two mics, you open up the possibilities of Duets and Head-to-Head competition. You can chose Duets, where you can sing a song together or sing a true duet, where you harmonize. Duets Medley is the same thing, only with several portions of songs sung together. Knock Out and Knock Out Medley are where two singers battle and when one starts doing more poorly, a bar slides down, flashing red. If it hits bottom, that players is knocked out of the game. Sing-Off is where two players take turns singing different portions of the same song. Mini-Games and KR Challenge are the same as above, only with two mics. Of course, if all you want to do is relive your glory days in your local bar, you can simply select Karaoke and it'll just scroll the words across the screen with no scoring. There are also a number of unlockables like additional songs, extra outfits and accessories, as well as various trophies for your accomplishments. If you want to know how far you have to go, simply check your progress in the Extras section.
Difficulty: The difficulty in Karaoke Revolution Country is fairly configurable. You can select between easy, medium, hard and expert, as far as how harshly you will be judged and how long your note tube will be. You have to maintain the correct pitch, but you can pop between octaves to adjust, if a song isn't just right for you. As far as playing against friends, just bring over a bunch of friends with no pitch and rhythm and you'll be all set! :)
Game Mechanics: The goal of Karaoke Revolution Country is to have players mimic their favorite songs, holding the correct pitch. While the game truly doesn't care if you sing the right words, you need to be on pitch and have your timing right. As I mentioned above, if you find a song too high-pitched for your voice, drop an octave until you find a comfortable range. With the multitude of game modes present and the nice variety of country songs from both past and present, Karaoke Revolution Country is an interesting variant for the standard Karaoke Revolution player. Whether this game picks up some new KR fans is left to be seen. I can say this - I brought Karaoke Revolution Country to a party with most of the folks there being big fans of Karaoke Revolution. No one wanted to play. Perhaps it isn't for everybody, but I did enjoy the challenge of singing songs that were out of my comfort zone. It's not a must-have for the Karaoke Revolution fan, but it does bring something new to the table, so hopefully, this is only the beginning!
-Psibabe, GameVortex Communications AKA Ashley Perkins
Burnout Revenge Exit