Rock Band

9

Wanna be a rock star? Rock Band makes it all possible!
Reviewed By: GamePad

Rock Band is the spiritual successor to hugely popular Guitar Hero series. In these games, a series of buttons light up on the screen, and it is your duty to take your guitar-shaped game controller in hand like the hero you are, and push those buttons as they light up on-screen. The better you are at pushing the buttons in order and in time, the more awesome the rock music that comes out of your television. But where Guitar Hero only allows you to fake it as one member of the band, Rock Band adds the rest of the missing pieces to that equation, allowing you to pose as a lead guitarist, a bass guitarist, a drummer, or the lead singer – all with the accessories to match.

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Here’s the thing: Everyone, deep down, wants to be a rock star. Everyone. You know those people who don’t like dancing at the school dances? And those preppy guys you see at Starbucks? Them too. So you ask why do we love simple games with hefty price tags? Because they make us feel cool.

It’s hard to write a review of Rock Band without comparing it to Guitar Hero because really, Rock Band is just the mutant cousin of Guitar Hero. I say mutant cousin because while it definitely has the same idea behind it, the finished products just aren't the same thing. The thing is about Guitar Hero is that it rocks to be able to pretend that you can play incredible rock guitar like your favourite guitarists (and that you can riff the solo from Sweet Child of Mine perfectly, or at least get 97% with a 212 note streak on it, which will still earn you a "You Rock!") But that's the whole game right there. Score-mongering. And that's exactly where Rock Band picks up the slack.

The new instruments and gameplay styles are what really make this game shine. The included guitar feels great to hold and looks beautiful, although I found it slightly less responsive than the GH3 guitar. Playing lead guitar is pretty much the same thing as the GH games, but slightly more accessible to new players with the difficulty levels on a much more reasonable scale. Bass guitar varies from being pretty cool to a simplified version of the lead guitar. The drum kit is brilliant, with four perfectly responsive pads and a foot pedal that really make you feel like a drummer. I found that to play properly, I had to drum to the actual beat of the songs, as opposed to trying to hit the pads as they were highlighted on the screen, which was completely awesome once I got the hang of it. The microphone is a blast to sing into as well (even if you have a horrible voice – really!), and it doesn’t hurt that you can turn the mic volume way down, and the in-game track way up.

The song selection is great, with much more rounded songs than you might expect – don’t expect to be shredding the whole time, some songs are much more bass, vocal, or drum-focused.

I only really found a couple of issues with the game. First off is the hefty price tag. On top of that, you only get one guitar with the game, which means you or a friend had better have a GH guitar if you want to play guitar and bass together, or else start searching under those couch cushions (which you can justify as no longer necessary due to your extreme rockitude) for extra change. Also, the included guitar doesn’t “click” when you strum, which makes fast strumming near-impossible. And when it comes to single player, the game just doesn’t quite stack up to its formidably reliable counterpart.

While it's easy to think that Rock Band is just the little fish copycat compared to the big fish (now in their third installment) Guitar Hero, that's simply not true. In some cases, the little fish just has to move past the big fish and say, "Look, I know you gave me a great head-start here, Mom, but you need to let me go. You can't keep sneaking into my house and doing my laundry and leaving food in my freezer. I don't even LIKE your chicken shnitzel that much! There! I said it! Are you HAPPY now? Well neither am I- In FACT, I-"

Uh.. Sorry. You get the point, though.

If you’ve got friends, a passion for music, and money to burn (or just rich friends), you’ll easily find yourself playing through Rock Band’s career mode again and again, and inviting guests over to try it out just for the experience. If you’re all about the numbers, baby, you may want to pass and wait for the next version of Tetris or Super Brickout to arrive on store shelves.

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