The makers of Music and Music 2000 for the PlayStation are at it again, this 
time hoping to make mini maestros out of next-generation console owners. 
Codemasters' new game, the sequel to Music 2000 (called MTV Music Generator in 
the US), allows you to construct your own tune, and sample tracks by featured 
artists including, among others, Gorillaz, Apollo 440 and Funkmaster Flex. With 
a host of video extras, literally thousands of riffs and samples to choose from, 
and a multiplayer jamming option, Music Generator 2 certainly aims to impress. 
But what we really wanted to know was, can we make our own music with it? 


The first thing we realised was that this is a title where you really do have to 
read the instructions. After watching a rousing introduction by DJ David Morales 
himself, you are then plunged in at the deep end with a blank composition 
screen, from which you will build your masterpieces. The screen is composed of a 
grid of blocks, onto which you place riffs selected from one of the genre menus. 
You can choose from rhythm, bass, melody and vocal riffs, and are allowed to use 
a large number of each to build up a fully rounded tune. On the menus you can 
scroll through and play the various sounds on offer, and then import them to 
your blank grid, to be placed in the area corresponding to the point at which 
you want them to be heard. 


The controls are fairly straightforward, with the face buttons used to select 
items and open edit screens, the left analogue to move the cursor around the 
screen like a mouse, and the directional button to move through the vertically 
scrolling grid of your composition. It will, however, take you a good hour to 
have even the beginnings of your own song, simply because selecting and 
organising samples and beats is as painstaking a business as it sounds. Despite 
this, once we had become used to the copy-and-paste process we found it a very 
effective way to build and organise our own tune. 


The selection of riffs on offer is fairly broad and sounds wonderful, with eight 
music genre groups to choose from - breakbeat, garage, house, indie, pop, R 'n' 
B, rock and trance. Some of the genres, particularly garage, trance and R 'n' B, 
sound disappointingly unlike they should. As such there is scant variety between 
some of the groups and samples, particularly since the vocal riffs are sung by 
the same voices in each category. While we found this a bit of a let down, there 
is still an impressive range on offer, and the ability to attach a separately 
purchased USB Sampler means there are near endless possibilities for the riffs 
and recordings you can import. 


You are able to mix and match at your whim, but a few minutes play will soon 
reveal that some riffs are meant to be played together and some clearly aren't. 
If you don't want to import samples and data using a USB Sampler, you can use 
the edit option, and this is where things get complicated. Every aspect of a 
riff you can think of can be edited in the game, from speed and effects to riff 
tone and duration. It is possible to make your own imagined composition come to 
full sound on your PS2, however, it's not an easy task. The edit screens are 
necessarily detailed and therefore complex to understand at first, and though in 
theory this allows a great amount of freedom, in practice it is slow and 
frustrating. Additionally, if you edit a sample from the game's collection, you 
can alter it at your will, but it will still be limited by the constraints of 
its original sound. 


With MTV Music Generator 2, graphics are obviously not at all about impressive 
realism or elaborate CG sequences. What is important is clarity, and in this 
respect the game is very good. Everything is colour-coded and shaded so that 
just looking at it can let you know what kind of riff it is, how long it will 
last, and so on. The keyboard displayed at the top of the edit screens is a 
great help to the musically educated and the riff palette - where you can store 
samples for reuse - and the command icons at the edge of the screen mean you 
have easy cursor access to the most frequently used game options. The game 
includes a video editor option, and though not anywhere near as extensive as the 
audio option, does enable you to create some pleasing (if psychedelic) shapes 
and abstract effects to accompany your music, as well as different skins. 


For a console composer, there is an admirable amount of freedom and variety in 
MTV Music Generator 2 and in the end, yes, you can make your own music, but this 
is a game that is really as challenging and rewarding as you make it. Skim the 
surface and you will find it fairly easy to cope with, but will get less out of 
the experience as a whole. Those hoping to fully explore their underdeveloped 
musical side will face far more of a challenge, but if they are will to commit, 
will probably find themselves well rewarded. In the end this means that though 
MTV Music Generator 2 is well-designed and expansive title, it will not allow 
any but the most dedicated gamer access to all the abilities it has on offer. If 
you are patient, creative and have a good ear, you may find this a very 
satisfying title. 


7.9

Good