AMN’s Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don’t waste your time. This is why we’ve split our reviews into four sections: What the Game’s About, What’s Hot, What’s Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.
What the Game’s About
Rock Band is one of the more ambitious projects that the gaming industry has seen for quite some time. Taking rhythm games to the extreme, Rock Band incorporates guitar play (both lead and bass), drumming, and vocals all into a single package. The game also aims to offer varying modes of play for both single and multiple players, both online and off. Developed by Harmonix, the guys behind the first two Guitar Hero games, Rock Band is hoping to prove itself as the next leap in evolution for music/rhythm games.
When you first fire up Rock Band, you can either play solo or go at it with up to three more band members. If you choose to jump into the action by yourself as either a guitarist or bassist, your experience will largely resemble what we’ve all seen before in Guitar Hero games. It all changes, however, once you add more players to the mix, or you try out another role in the game, things change dramatically. The game really shines when you feel like you’re a big part of a real rock band rather than a lone shredder, and that is what Harmonix was shooting for here. After countless hours of play, we’ve narrowed down exactly what is propelling Rock Band to its award-winning status.
What’s Hot
There’s a lot to rave about with Rock Band. After the initial unboxing, we were lucky enough to have enough people on hand (and an extra guitar controller) to get a full four man band going. We got went through the process of creating rockers, a fun feature, naming our band, and deciding who would be on drums, guitar, bass, and the mic (though you can change it around at any point later). Band World Tour mode is the primary multiplayer mode, so we jumped right in. At the outset your band is given limited options of where it can play and even what songs it can perform. Like any upstart band, you have to earn some respect first. With each song you complete, your band will receive money, the chances to play in new venues, new gigs, and most importantly, new fans. If you should fail, you can lose fans and even have previously open venues and gigs taken from your grasp. Band World Tour is meant to act as an emulator of sorts for a real band. If you play well, you’ll get new fans and you’ll well for yourself. Should you stink up a few gigs, you’re going to have to deal with the consequence of poor play and learn to practice up on songs before performing them in front of people. This mode is extremely non-linear in its progression and is great fun whether you’ve got a pair, a trio, or a full band.
Band Quickplay allows you to practice songs without fear of failure. This is also the mode you’ll hop into when you’re introducing the game to newcomers or you just want to play some multiplayer with people who aren’t part of the band you’ve created. After all, Pearl Jam wouldn’t engage in a World Tour without Eddie Vedder, right? This is nice option because you have full access to the songs available in World Tour, but the srubs won’t interfere with your progress. You can also play in this mode online with friends or strangers. The Solo Tour can be played with the guitar, drum set, or microphone. Sorry bassists, but you’re out. This mode progresses more like the familiar Guitar Hero format as you play down the list of songs one by one with the occasional change of venue. What really is great, however, is that each way you play changes the overall experience drastically. Simply put, playing through the game on the drum set or microphone is completely different than jamming on the guitar. Mastering each instrument and achievement top ratings is going to take quite some time, so the game definitely earns high marks for its replay factor.
Whatever mode you’re playing in, or whatever instrument you’re using, Rock Band is at its best when you have a full four man band all together in a single room. As the four of you get into a song and really start hitting your notes, there’s a sense of satisfaction in the air that easily surpasses anything you’ve experienced before in a music rhythm game. Before you know it both guitar (lead and bass) players are tapping their feet and bobbing their heads while the drummer begins to pound those pads with increased accuracy and enthusiasm. You’ll notice that the vocalist abandons all feelings of shyness and their voice, for better or worse, grows bold and powerful. You can’t help but catch a glimpse of just how awesome it must be to be in a real rock band. The true magic of Rock Band is addictive, and we’ve spent more hours than we dare admit crammed into a basement staring down scrolling note charts and keeping time with one another. We really can’t deny that Rock Band has lived up to everything Harmonix promised it would be.
There really is plenty to gush about when it comes to Rock Band, but suffice it to say that with the various game modes, a great soundtrack, downloadable content, replay factor, and just overall addictive quality beg more description than we can fit into the space we’re allotted here.
What’s Not
Despite the fact that Rock Band met nearly all our expectations, there are still some issues that are worth noting. First of all, there is a valid concern about the reliability of the guitar controller. Our guitar lasted about ten hours before reliability issues began to crop up and maybe another five before it became almost entirely unplayable. To EA and Harmonix’s credit, however, we were given a replacement guitar in about two days. As of the time of writing, we haven’t had any problems with the replacement guitar, which has seen another fifteen hours of play time. Yeah, we’ve played the game that much. Thankfully there haven’t been any problems with either the microphone or the drums.
Another issue is with the fact that on the 360 version of the game you need a powered USB hub in able to connect all four controllers. The hub comes with the game, but it would be nice to have fully wireless instruments or not to have a free outlet for the hub itself. This may be a total non-issue for some, but we had to unplug something else to make room for the hub when it was being used.
From a gameplay standpoint there aren’t many red flags, but at times it’s obvious that certain songs cater quite heavily to one instrument while sacrificing the experience to be had with another. Songs like Coheed and Cambria’s track on the game are heavily geared toward the guitar while the bassist is doomed to repetition for a solid five minutes. This problem is kind of rare, but it does get noticed from time to time. Across the entirety of either the Solo or World Tours, however, each member of the band will be given their opportunity to shine.
Final Word
Rock Band may not be the type of game that defines a generation, but it’s definitely the kind of game that raises the bar in its respective genre. After spending some quality time in Rock Band’s multiplayer modes, it’s tough to deny the greatness of the game and the fact that a new pinnacle in rhythm gaming has been reached. For those a little apprehensive about the drumming or singing portions of the game, you really owe to yourselves to check your inhibitions at the door and give Rock Band a complete effort. We don’t hesitate to give Rock Band a very strong and confident recommendation for any fan of music/rhythm gameplay.
