SingStar Popworld PS2 Review

singstar-popworld-1

SingStar Popworld is one of those rare games that you’d probably enjoy a whole load better after a nights worth of drinking, when your mind is transmogrified with the intake of so much alcohol! After so much drink you probably won’t care how the games works, you will just sing and laugh hysterically at most features of the game (that aren’t really funny). Of course you don’t need to be drunk to enjoy SingStar, and if you really want to find out if SingStar is for you then read on. This review goes out to all the sober people!

SingStar Popworld plays exactly like its predecessors, although as the name would suggest almost all the songs now have a distinct ‘pop’ flare about them. Anyone that can sing (or thinks they can) can play SingStar. All you have to do is pick which song you want to sing, wait for it to load up, grab the microphone and sing your heart out as lyrics pop up on the screen. The game will gauge your pitch, tone and rhythm once the song has finished and you will be scored.

singstar-popworld-2

Songlist:

Annie – Heartbeat
Ashlee Simpson – Pieces Of Me
Avril Lavigne – Sk8er Boi
Beyonce – Crazy in Love
Black Eyed Peas – Shut Up
Girls Aloud – Love Machine
Good Charlotte – I Wanna Live
Hoobastank – The Reason
Jamelia – Stop
Jay Sean – Eyes on You
Keane – Somewhere only we Know
Manfred Man – Do Wah Diddy
McFly – Obviously
Natasha Bedingfield – These Words
Robbie Williams – Let Me Entertain You
Ronan Keating & Ysuf Islam – Father and Son
Sister Sledge – We are Family
Steppenwolf – Born to be Wild
The Clash – Should I Stay or Should I Go?
The Hives – Main Offender
Tom Jones – It’s not Unusual
Dandy Warhols – Bohemian Like You
Marilyn Manson – Personal Jesus
Joss Stone – Super Duper Love (Are You Digging On Me?)
Fountains of Wayne – Stacy’s Mom
Robbie Williams & Kylie Minogue – Kids
Erik B. and Rakim – Paid in Full
Kylie Minogue – In Your Eyes
Blink-182 – What’s My Age Again
Outkast – Roses

An option to use the EyeToy (to further your humiliation) is still available, as are some other game modes that were present in previous installments of the series. Duet and Pass The Mic are still available along with new additions such as Medley Mode (which allows you to sing small parts of numerous tracks) and Rap Meter (the game judges you on your rapping skill) making an appearance. There is also the addition of voice filter which lets you play around with your voice, distorting it in different ways!

singstar-popworld-3

There is no real career, or a long and involved single player mode available in Popworld. The carrier mode from the original has not made a comeback since it disappeared in SingStar Party, so you are still unable to win a contract, or sing in a selection of different venues. It seems that all work has gone into making this title the best ‘Party Game’ that it can be, and if you have a selection of mates that are up for a laugh then you are in for a treat.

When all’s said and done, SingStar is a party game at heart. Fun can be had while playing the game alone but the real meat of the title is playing it with a few friends. There’s no better fun to be had than mocking your friends failed attempts as they stumble through Tom Jones’s ‘It’s Not Unusual’, then laughing to yourself as you duet Robbie Williams & Kylie Minogue’s ‘Kids’. The only disappointment is that the game has not significantly evolved from Sony’s previous efforts, but for fans of the series there is still lots of fun to be had here.

8 out of 10