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Sound System Rhythm Game Brings Plastic Guitars Back This November
If you still have an old plastic guitar gathering dust somewhere at home, Echo Foundry Interactive may finally have a reason for you to dig it out. Sound System will launch into Steam Early Access on November 4, delivering a new guitar-driven rhythm game from a team with plenty of history in the genre.
Co-founder Marcus Henderson recorded guitar parts for more than 40 songs across the Guitar Hero games, while fellow co-founder Lennon Lange previously worked as an associate producer at RedOctane, publisher of the original Guitar Hero. Other team members have experience across Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and DJ Hero.
That pedigree shows clearly in Sound System. Players can tackle guitar, bass, or vocals, build combos and score multipliers, and use the whammy bar when a solo demands it.
Your Old Guitar Controller Should Still Work
One of the more appealing parts is that Sound System is designed to work with guitar controllers players already own, rather than demanding another new plastic instrument. Standard controllers and keyboards are supported too, while four difficulty levels range from Easy through to Legendary.
Classic mode removes failure altogether, letting inexperienced players finish a song no matter how badly things go. Pro mode goes the opposite way, limiting how many notes you can miss before the performance ends. Up to three people can also play together on the same PC through split-screen, either cooperatively as a band or competitively.
It arrives as plastic-instrument rhythm games are slowly finding their way back into the conversation, with Stage Tour and its own throwback to the band-focused rhythm games of the 2000s also on the way.
PulseMap Lets Players Build Their Own Charts
Sound System doesn’t rely entirely on its included music either. Its built-in PulseMap editor allows players to create custom note charts and modify the backgrounds and video accompanying a performance. Importantly for an existing rhythm-game community, PulseMap uses the same .chart format as Clone Hero.
Echo Foundry also plans to open music uploads during Early Access, eventually allowing players to use their own music collections. The Early Access period is expected to run for around six months, with the game launching at a lower price before increasing as additional content arrives.
Online Multiplayer Comes With the Full Release
At launch, multiplayer is limited to a local three-player setup. Online multiplayer for up to three players is planned for the full release, giving the team another major feature to build towards throughout Early Access.
Echo Foundry says the wider goal is to recapture some of the social appeal that made plastic-guitar rhythm games such a fixture of living rooms two decades ago.
Players can already wishlist Sound System on Steam ahead of its November 4 Early Access launch on PC.
