ake That and shove it up your dartford, Robbie! Q: What do you call a dog with 5 dicks?
A: Lulu and Take That, B'boom! Seriously though, it would be all too easy to sit down and write an extremely cynical piss-taking review of Singstar: Take That. For starters, I've steadfastly avoided Singstar on the PS3 because it feels like an extremely stripped down experience padded around the cash-cow-of-a-song-store. Secondly, my only experience of Take That, their music and their comeback is through my missus, who's a bit of a fan.
But, every other games site that covers the game will probably go down the "I'm too cool for this shit" route so instead I'll go for the rather more controversial path of saying that I've enjoyed playing Singstar: Take That more than I've enjoyed my time with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 this week.
To elaborate, Singstar is purely designed for people to make complete arses of themselves with a group of friends. My time with the game was spent with my missus and as it's rare enough to find videogames that we can both play simultaneously and that both of us can get some enjoyment out of. Singstar: Take That fits the bill though.
As you'd expect from the game, presentation is extremely slick. This is the first time I've had anything to do with Singstar since someone bought me the original PS2 version for Christmas a few years back. The original microphones still work with this version (with a bit of pre-game patching, thankfully a tiny 20mb update) and the game takes you through the basics of browsing the song catalogue (by joypad or by voice - and the voice control stuff works astonishingly well).
For those of you who have spent your gaming career blissfully ignorant of Singstar games, the idea is to try and match the pitch and tone of a song's original vocal lines. Think Karaoke with clever socks on.
Of course you could cheat by just humming the tune or mumbling your way through, but no group of mates worth spit would let you get away with that for long so man up, strap a couple of elastic bands around your bollocks and try and match the vocal range of Take That's main warblers, Barlow, Williams and Owen.
The Singstar mics are nice and chunky and solid feeling, and there really is no way to slouch in a chair and do this. You need to get up, get your EyeCam set up and make as much of a spectacle of yourself as you can, because if you surrender yourself to it, you'll get a lot more out of the whole experience. Standing alongside your other half trying to remember exactly how "Could it be Magic" goes, and also trying to keep a straight face is more of a challenge than storming a building filled with terrorists, and you'll smile a lot more while you're doing it too.
Quite a substantial chunk of Take That's back catalogue is included in the game, and certainly most of the songs you'll instantly recognise as theirs. I was mildly amused to see stuff from their first album, replete with accompanying videos back when Gary Barlow hadn't succumbed to the delights of several Gregg's Steak and Mushroom pasties before breakfast. Nope, back then he was a muscle-bound Billy-Idol-Haired force to be reckoned with, and the early vids are a hoot to watch (Robbie Williams must've been about, what, 12 when the band started out?)
Cruising through the numbers in the various modes on offer in the game, there's a multitude of different ways to utterly humiliate yourself (and your partners in crime). Straight up practise mode lets you preview each song without the actual pitch-bar being present, so you can see just how many of the high notes you can hit before engaging with the game itself.
Single player modes are played for score, the more accurately you match the pitch bar's notes, the more points you get and the more applause and credit you get at the end of the song. Each song gives you the chance to sing through the full-length version or a nice bite-sized chunk. Scores (and an embarrassing video or snapshot) can be uploaded to the web for comparison against your friends list or other Singstar players (some of the photos on there make a random Google Image search for "ladyboys" look tame in comparison).
Singstar comes into its own in multiplayer modes like Pass the Microphone or Duet. Teaming up with another singer is a hell of a lot of fun, and particularly in Duet mode you can get a serious vocal battle on as each player struggles to sing through passages of the song as accurately as possible. If you're in need of a new way of determining who goes on top tonight, or who does the washing up - then Singstar: Take That could do the job nicely.
All in all, it's impossible to be cynical and harsh about the way the game plays. It's superbly done, and compatible with other versions of the game so you can go and buy in extra tracks if required.
Price wise you can pick the game up for under 20 quid sans microphones, and with 25 tracks included, it's certainly cheaper than buying the songs individually from the Singstar Store.
If you're a Take That fan, this'll be a no brainer. If you're a cynical old git who thinks they're a bunch of washed-up old has-beens with no place in your music collection you'll probably still be pleasantly surprised at how many of their songs you know and can bluff your way through.
Full track list
A Million Love Songs
Babe
Back For Good
Beautiful World
Could It Be Magic
Do What U Like
Everything Changes
Greatest Day
Hold Up A Light
I'd Wait For Life
It Only Takes A Minute
Love Ain't Here Anymore
Never Forget
Once You've Tasted Love
Patience
Pray
Promises
Reach Out
Relight My Fire
Rule The World
Said It All
Shine
Sure
Up All Night
Why Can't I Wake Up With You
http://allaboutthegames.co.uk/feature....id=9813
