This Christmas Choose Guitar Praise for a Christian Alternative to the Rock Star Gaming Phenomenon!

Every kid wants to be a rockstar this Christmas season. Between Guitar Hero, released by Activision, and Rock Band, released by MTV Games, the phenomenon of rock music video games is sweeping the nation. However, some parents are uncomfortable buying either of these games, as both are rated T for Teens by the ESRB for “Lyrics, Mild Suggestive Themes”. Enter GuitarPraise, the Christian-themed, family friendly guitar music simulation counterpart produced by DigitalPraise!

GuitarPraise is a computer-based game that features a huge song list of current Christian rock artists and even comes with its own wireless USB guitar. Here at UrbanMinistry headquarters, we were able to review a copy of the game ourselves. Here, we present to you, our review of Guitar Praise.

Guitar Praise is a fun game. Its target audience is obviously gamers between the ages 4-14. I only say this because the game is missing some of the edginess that draws older audiences to games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band. One of the biggest differences between GuitarPraise and its secular counterparts is the lyrics feature. When you are rocking out in solo mode, the lyrics scroll on the other half of the screen, allowing everyone to join in. I also found the simplicity of the game very non-distracting, which is a good thing when you don’t want to be bogged down by features when you just want to get to the game.

Now to the cons: I did find the interface a little confusing. This may have been due more to the fact that my computer is not made for gaming (I ran this game on a well-used Mac G4 PowerBook and your standard office PC running Windows XP), therefore the load time was slow and staggered. My biggest complaint though, was the lack of diversity in the playlist. While games like Guitar Hero attempt to draw audiences of different backgrounds with a variety of songs from different genres, GuitarPraise makes it known who its true audience is with a homogenous songlist whose only diversity is the song “All Around” by Israel and the New Breed. Electric guitar is an integral part of praise music in all cultures. I just wish that this song list reflected that.

One the whole, I give Guitar Praise two thumbs up. The game is a wonderful idea, and I know that lots of parents are thankful for its existence. It’s not Rock Band, or any of its other secular counterparts, and that’s ok. What it lacks in finesse, it makes up for with “family-friendly”-ness. I do hope that DigitalPraise decides to come out with another installment of this game in the future. My only suggestion is to broaden their target audience to embrace Christian rock stars of all backgrounds and cultures. For more information on GuitarPraise, and to order your copy, please visit http://www.guitarpraise.com.