Frets on Fire

2008/02/06

I shouldn’t have installed it. Actually, the installation isn’t the problem. Of course I should have played it, but most certainly not right in front of my co-workers. No one comes up with the idea of installing this game on their own computer. After all, the install routine is located on the network server. “Can I have a go”, “I want to try”. I honestly had to fight to be allowed back on my computer. Wait a minute? A game that everyone wants to play on several computers? Multi-licence? Is this a game editing advantage or plainly a bootleg? All wrong. We’re talking about the open source project “Frets on Fire” which is really giving its fee required big brother “Guitar Hero” a tough time.

The main idea behind Frets on Fire is the same as the one behind Guitar Hero. The notes to be played by the musician appear as dots on a to a beat parallel running fingerboard. The keys F1 to F5 serve as “strings”. You merely have to choose the right string and generate the note via the enter key. This may sound rather simple, but by having the “right” songs in your library this turns out to be a tricky task. The right songs? Can you still remember our News? “Your own songs on Guitar Hero 3”? The dream of every rock freak. What Guitar Hero might be able to do someday in the future has already been done by Frets on Fire. The huge community of the Activision-Clone is devotedly working on song transformations that can be downloaded. This way, everybody can definitely get their share. From funk to sixties or black-metal. All types of music can be found in Frets on Fire. There’s only one thing left to say: Rock on!