We Sing
We get drunk first.
At least all the songs are by the original artists (unlike in the Boogie games) and have the proper videos - with four mysterious exceptions. Instead of Kylie's video for Loco-Motion you get footage of actual trains speeding down tracks, while Don't Go Breakin' My Heart is accompanied by images of couples holding hands in parks. One Way or Another plays along to a picture of some flashing disco lights and Take Me Home, Country Roads is sung to footage of snowy mountains. You wonder why they couldn't get the original videos, or pick songs where licensing wasn't an issue, but it's not a big enough deal to spoil your enjoyment of the game.
No, the spoiling will be down to the fact it doesn't really work properly. Just as with SingStar, the We Sing game-screen features pitch bars which fill up with colour as you sing notes. But in We Sing, you don't need any skill to fill them up and score huge amounts of points. Within minutes you realise simply blowing into the mic or rubbing it on the sofa can earn "Perfect" rankings. Better still, just say "AAAA" in a monotone voice - doing this, I managed to beat someone trying to sing Our House properly by almost 2000 points.
That was during a Versus battle, one of several Party Mode options which are all variations on a theme. Pass the Mic is pretty much the same as the Pass the Mic mode in SingStar, to the extent that it involves passing the mic between players and is called Pass the Mic. Group Battles require you to team up in groups of three max and compete to score the most points. In We Sing mode players sing different parts of the song - or duet, in other words. The most innovative mode is First to 5000. Here you fight to reach the 5000-point mark, and the first player to do so is the winner. This is pretty good fun with four players, at least until you all just start going "AAAA".
The bottom line is We Sing doesn't really work as a videogame. The pitch recognition isn't even as good as that in Lips and it's super-easy to cheat. But not all of us care about scoring points, so putting that to one side - when considered as a device for turning your Wii into a karaoke machine, how does We Sing measure up?
Not brilliantly. The song selection is decent but it's limited. The standalone disc has an RRP of £29.99. Compared to, say, SingStar: Take That, which costs 20 quid and comes with 25 songs, that's not great value. The cost of the game and mics bundle is £59.99 and the double-mic pack is £29.99. So if you want the full four-player We Sing experience, you're looking at a total price of 90 quid.
Of course you'll be able to cut that cost if you shop around and opt for cheapo eBay mics rather than the official Logitech jobs. But even then you're looking at a significant investment for a game with 30 tracks, no video recording options, no online features, wired mics and a poorly designed gameplay mechanic.
With all that said, We Sing is still fun. It involves public humiliation, showing off, silly pop songs and (chances are) vast quantities of alcohol. That combination is always great as long as you've got some suitable songs to sing along to and We Sing does all right on that front. Plus the four-player feature does enhance the karaoke experience - shy types are more likely to join in, extroverts become even more competitive and it's altogether more chaotic, stupid and hilarious. Just think carefully before you stump up all that cash and consider whether you wouldn't be better off waiting for the first four-player SingStar game.