Vibes

GAME REVIEW:12 cert, Laughing Jackal, Limited PS3 (also PSP)

Budget music games are a strange animal. There’s a lot of fumbling and guesswork – you peruse the list of unrecognisable songs by artists you haven’t heard of, and settle on a genre or a song title that might be fun. But the playing experience is abstract, even slightly clinical.

As the track plays, you control a circle in the centre of the screen. Moving the left analogue stick, you tap the action buttons to match the notes that move to the centre of the screen. The song selection

is paltry, but you can unlock additional ones, and at least the music styles are varied, from pop to rockabilly to hip-hop.

This reviewer found that the difficulty level began at challenging and progressed almost instantly to near- impossible. Music game fanatics in search of some budget thrills might enjoy it, but Vibeswill unlikely appeal beyond that core audience.