Lips

7.0

Video Review: Microsoft's Lips Great for Parties

Review

Coop Thu, 15 January 2009 03:49PM

Game: Lips

/ Platform: Xbox 360

Genre(s): Music

Name: Lips
Genre: Karaoke
Platform: Xbox 360

Check out the video review.

While guitarists and drummers have their fair share of music games on the market, no position in the band has as many different simulators as vocals. With games like Singstar, Karaoke Revolution, Boogie, and several others, singers have no shortage of different microphones to scream in to. Microsoft’s announcement of Lips seemed strange; embracing the casual market they had ignored entirely last generation. It looked solid enough, and came with hands-down the best microphone peripherals on the market, but does Microsoft’s foray into the music genre stand out, or are these lips best left sealed?

To be honest, Lips is better described as a glorified Karaoke machine than it is an actual Karaoke game. The idea of a “game” means there is a sense of competition, but there’s very little of that to be found here. In fact, it’s easier to compare it to Wii Music in that most of the focus is put on the presentation and how much fun the player is having as opposed to breaking a score or challenging a friend to a battle of timing and rhythm. As expected, words follow the song on screen with a pitch indicator showing the singer’s current voice as the wireless microphone’s lights pulse and blink to the beat of the song. Points are awarded for accuracy, and when enough are earned a “Star Scream” is unlocked, and the singer is asked to strike an oftentimes hilarious pose to get more points for a short period of time. A little icon shows the pose, which can be anything from holding the microphone up in the air to swinging it around and jumping in the air.

There are a few problems with the gameplay, and most stem from the developers hoping that no one really cares about the points. They seem to be awarded almost randomly, and there’s no punishment for a bad performance. It feels, at times, like the game is just rewarding volume, and screaming into the microphone seems to give more points than trying to ride the pitch meter and perform vocally, which might be enough to end the fun factor for anyone looking for a Singstar killer.

However, for someone looking for a fun social experience, Lips is definitely a star. It’s incredibly casual, right down to the slick, easy to navigate menus, and the lack of focus on “points” and “winning” creates a game that should be accessible to anyone. By shaking the second microphone a player can jump in mid-song, and since there’s no penalty for failing they can simply drop it back down when they’re done. In a party environment, where the attendees might be too inebriated to gather their coordination for Rock Band, Lips is a great alternative.

Aside from the microphones, Jukebox mode might be the largest innovation in the game, and is something that could be easily added to any music title and improve it dramatically. The game cycles through every song on the soundtrack, playing a minute or so and going on to the next. At any given time players can enter in by shaking the microphone, allowing for the game to both play the role of party DJ and videogame, inviting players to come and go as they please. Again, Microsoft had a specific goal in mind with Lips, and hit every possible party game element they could.

There are only forty songs in the soundtrack, which is lacking when compared to its competition. They span the decades, ranging from Ben E. King’s Stand By Me to Peter, Bjorn And John’s Young Folks, and there are likely a few songs that might pique your interest, but forty is simply too few. Luckily, the option to plug in MP3 players or stream music from your Xbox 360’s hard drive is available, turning any song into a playable track in Lips. The songs aren’t given lyrics, and the point allocation is even more random than it is normally, so its usability is lacking. There’s little difference in singing into the Lips microphone to your MP3 player than there is a hairbrush while listening to the radio.

It needs to be said again, and again, and again that Lips is a Karaoke machine and not really a karaoke game. It has different modes, like Song Battle and Bomb, but they aren’t really that engrossing, and odds are most of the time spent with it will be in duets or versus matches. There are only 40 songs to sing through before downloading DLC or plugging in an MP3 player becomes a necessity, which lowers the replay value significantly, but that doesn’t mean Lips isn’t worth a purchase for parties or social gatherings.

The microphones themselves are worth commending for their sensitivity and overall appeal, and even if karaoke isn’t your cup of tea it might be worth splitting the game with a friend in hopes that Rock Band and Guitar Hero might have a compatibility patch with the microphones down the road. It might not be the best game in the genre, but as far as a casual singing experience on the system you’d be hard pressed to find one better than Lips.