When it comes to music-based video games, the gaming community’s options are fairly limited nowadays. Believe it or not, there was once a time when gamers had a wide variety of options for Music-based games; in fact, during the late 2000s and early 2010s, certain music games were a much sought-after holiday, Christmas, or birthday present. Almost, a decade has passed since the release of the last Guitar Hero and Rockband.
As someone who used to love playing Rockband 2 and Guitar Hero 3/ World Tour, the idea of bringing back the Music Rythem game genre is highly appealing. In 2020, Harmonix attempted to revitalize the music game genre with Fuser but ultimately failed despite having an amazing soundtrack. So what can the gaming industry do to revitalize the genre?
Over the last decade, Voxler has continued to release a music Karaoke game annually. The Let’s Sing franchise gives players the chance to sing some Karaoke songs with their friends or against other players online. With the next iteration of the game releasing on November 7th, we review Voxler’s Let’s Sing 2024 and decide if it is worth picking up.
Let’s Sing 2024
Developer: Voxler
Publisher: Plaion
Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S (Reviewed), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch
Release Date: November 7th, 2023
Players: 1 to 4
Price: $39.99 Digital, $59.99 Physical (Comes with two Mics)
Gameplay
Game Modes
When we first started up Let’s Sing 2024, we were tasked with creating a singer. The game gives the player a variety of customizable options but a ton of accessories for the avatar are locked behind a progress bar. Once the character has been created, the player can choose to play either story mode, free play, or competitively online. In free play, the player can choose to sing alone or with a group of friends. The physical game comes with two mics; for those who buy the game online, you will need to purchase/ use a USB mic or the companion app.
In free play, you can choose to sing together or against one another. The game allows players to team up to sing or fight it out. At the start of each session, you will need to calibrate the microphone and register who is singing. Once calibration has been completed, players can choose what songs they want to sing. When a song is hovered over or selected, the song shows a recommended skill level, song time, and previous scores on it. The skill level is fairly inaccurate since humming or keeping the vocal range of the song will count as hitting the notes.
Within Story mode, you will sing your way from vocal school to international singing sensation. During the campaign, the player must make difficult choices on who to align with. The player’s choices determine different aspects such as songs, overarching narrative, and who you become friends with. While you are in the classroom, players are tasked with achieving a certain level of vocal perfection; while performing, the player must win over the crowd through accuracy, vocal perfection, and combos. There are instances where the player will team up with other singers to win the hearts of the crowd and the competition.
Negative Aspects
At the time of reviewing the game, the companion app does not work. We attempted to connect it since we had only one microphone available. Since the companion app would not register, we attempted to use a regular headset to no avail. The biggest downside to Let’s Sing 2024 is the game’s soundtrack and the way it breaks up its songs. The song lists are divided into three categories: Base, International Hits, and VIP songs.
Base songs are in the game no matter what; in total there are twenty (20) base songs. The International song list is obtained by downloading the playlist using a redemption code (Physical) or it comes with the digital. If you purchase a used copy of the game, you will need to purchase the international song pack to enjoy it. The international song playlist comes with fifteen songs (15) that are mostly popular songs from the United States.
When attempting to connect to the store to access the VIP content, the store would not connect. If you want to access the VIP content you will need a VIP pass that is similar to a rental system. With the game costing $40, a rental pass does give players more than the base 35 songs, but if you do not continue the pass you lose the songs. Honestly, 35 songs for $40 is not really worth the price. Most of the songs get boring after you sing them once and there is a lack of variety in the soundtrack.
In addition to the limited soundtrack and the companion app not working, playing the game can become boring fairly easily. If you don’t feel like actually singing, you can easily hum the tun in order to hit the notes correctly; this takes some of the joy of Karaoke right out of the game and can be unfair when playing in competitive.
Update
Since the game was released earlier today, we were able to check out some of the features that we could not before. Although the companion app allows you to use your phone as a mic, it does not register as accurately and makes it easier to miss notes. While trying out the companion app, we noticed that the connection would drop. Additionally, you can use the same mic for two players but the game will have trouble differentiating the two. If the music is too loud in the game it will try to register it as another player.
The second thing that we went to test was the VIP content. For purchasing the game, you get a 30-day trial to try out the additional 50 songs; honestly, it did not feel like there were 50 other songs added. Our biggest complaint with the VIP pass is these songs were already available and could have easily been put into the game. Let’s Sing as a whole has one of the smallest set lists of any music game franchise. The fact that you can choose how long you want to rent the songs rather than owning them outright is also appalling; yes, it is cheaper to get the longer VIP pass but is it worth it? When looking at the VIP menu, it did not appear that there were going to be additional songs added throughout the year.
Now this could have been something we might have missed but seems like a missed opportunity. Upon trying to play some of the VIP songs, we came across a few issues. The first issue occurred with Billie Eilish’s Bad Guy where the song started but the game wasn’t registering any notes being sung. The second issue we came across was some songs failing to start entirely; these songs would boot up and then just go straight to the scoring menu.
Verdict
At the end of the day, Let’s Sing 2024 is a gimmicky game that can be fun for hardcore Karaoke fans who do not have room for a Karaoke machine or cannot afford one. Before we jumped into the game, we were excited about the aspect of singing our hearts out but by the end of each session, we felt tired and almost defeated. Defeated not because the game is difficult; instead, defeated because it lacks the overall excitement and passion that the real experience provides. Maybe our views on the game will change once the companion app works or the VIP pass is accessible, but for now, Let’s Sing 2024 is definitely one game you can skip this holiday season unless you love to sing.
If you are a fan of singing, picking up an earlier addition with a better soundtrack might be worth more than buying the latest edition. In fact, Let’s Sing 2024 should only be a discount holiday pick-up or something you buy when it’s on sale. Upon revisiting the game, it can still be fun, but it comes down to how much you want to invest in the latest version.
After trying the game with its missing features, we are raising the score from a 5 to a 6 but the game still has a long way to go before it is worth running out to grab.
Let’s Sing 2024 was reviewed on an Xbox Series X using a copy provided by Plain. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here. Let’s Sing 2024 is launching on November 7th, 2023, on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X (Review), and Nintendo Switch.
