Score: 10/13
Written by Drunken Gamer (and wife)
The first thing that’s different is the game boasts the capability for up to four singers at the same time. While only two microphones are provided with the pack, they are standard Logitech USB microphones, so finding an extra two shouldn’t be too difficult. In fact, the USB microphone bundled with Rock Band worked perfectly.
As a result of this feature the game itself is strongly built around multiplayer. There are several gameplay modes to choose, from the co-op Pass the Mic &We Sing modes, to competitive Versus, Group Battle & First to 5000 modes.
In Pass the Mic, players take it in turn to sing a section of a song. Once their section is up they literally pass the mic on to the next player, with all the sections eventually added together to decide the outcome for the group. We Sing sees everyone singing at the same time, with all the points scored grouped up at the end. Versus battles are simply what you would expect, with players singing off against each other, in song, to score the most points. Group battles are similar and split the players into groups, either 2v2 or 3v1, most points wins (this is the mode we will be using to take on Mrs DrunkenGamer, who can actually sing). Finally, First to 5000 is as simple as the title suggests – players sing off against each other to score 5000 points, with the song ending the moment a singer does. If the song finishes first, the person with the highest points wins.
Alongside these is a simple karaoke mode that can be played single or multiplayer, no scoring involved, just enjoyable singing.
The singing itself follows a very similar mould to most karaoke games. The words of the song are displayed at the bottom of the screen, and if there are more players the top as well, with a timing bar showing you where in the lyrics you are. This is matched by pitch bars in the centre of the screen, that fill if you sing in a similar pitch to the original tune of the song. The closer you are, the more points you score.
To help you improve as you practice the songs, the game draws a line above or below the normal pitch bar when you miss, to show you how you have to tweak what your singing. This is great on long bars, but in some of the songs the bars are quite short, making it hard to see the guide.
Read More in Issue 21
About the game
Karaoke. Lord only knows why people enjoy it, but they do. On a regular basis people crowd around a microphone and absolutely butcher any song they happen to like. Ever heard your dad sing Queen’s “We Will Rock You”? I have..*shudders*
Even I’m not immune to it. One of the pubs the T1 team are known to frequent on a Friday has added a karaoke device. Once a few beers have been enjoyed, something in my brain wants me to join in, and sure enough, up I get. Strangely, that is about the same time most people leave the bar….they couldn’t be leaving because of my awesome singing, could they?…naa, must be a coincidence!
For the terminally tone-deaf, the last few years has seen an effort made to bring them out of the public view and into their homes, with a small selection of Karaoke games for the major consoles.
Disney’s Sing it range, The Singstar series, Lips and even Rock Band & Guitar Hero added microphones in recent incarnations. However, over the years the variations of these games for the Wii have always been somewhat lacklustre, something Nordic Games is looking to change with their latest title – We Sing.
So what makes We Sing stand out from the crowd?
It seems like every month I start at least one of my reviews by pointing out how the gaming industry has gone back to its roots, putting me firmly in retro heaven. 
While I have made no effort to hide the fact that, in the age-old ‘Sonic or Mario’ debate, my fanboyism falls squarely in the slipstream of the speedy blue one, it doesn’t mean I would ever miss out on any of the podgy Italian plumber’s titles.
