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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Music Developer: Harmonix Publisher: Electronic Arts |
Don't mistake Rock Band for a Guitar Hero knock-off. This comes from Harmonix, the same folks who were behind the first two Guitar
Heroes (and even that silly 80s spinoff). Rock Band takes the Guitar Hero formula of rocking away on the guitar, and boosts the
experience by also allowing the player and his friends to control drums and/or vocals.
Playing guitar is nearly verbatim from Guitar Hero, with some minute differences. Star Power is now called "Overdrive" and while in
Overdrive more power can still be consumed to increase your current Overdrive. Additionally, on the harder difficulties there is a handy
little feature on the note scale which indicates which notes can be strung via hammer-ons and pull-offs. Singing on the microphone is
similar to Karaoke Revolution (another Harmonix created franchise), which does a solid job at recognizing pitch and tone like it always
has, and still randomly decides to completely ignore said pitch and tone which can result in completely throwing the timing off.
The drums are the star attraction in Rock Band. Personally, the learning curve took noticeably longer compared to learning with the first
Guitar Hero before feeling comfortable on the drums. Of course, I'm no professional drummer or guitarist, so those artists will likely
adapt in no time, for the rest of us, there are a nice series of tutorial videos that do a tremendous job of showing the ropes for each
instrument.
Instead of picking from the usual misfits from Guitar Hero past, Harmonix grants the user the ability to create their own rock star, and
trick them out with a diverse selection of rock and punk-inspired clothing. Rock Band offers up the same type of progressive career
mode as seen in Guitar Hero for each instrument (except bass, and now there are no encores, bummer). More cash is accrued for
better rated performances, which is cashed in for new visual gear and instruments to deck out your created rocker with.
The co-op career in Guitar Hero was received well, but Rock Band takes it up a notch and then some with the "Band World Tour" where
up to four people can rock across the globe at gigs all over the world. The Band World Tour is the way to play the career, as it is far more
fleshed out than the standard career mode where the band is tasked with goals to achieve more fans so they can upgrade their method
of transportation, hire agents, roadies and more in order to achieve ultimate fame. The only downsides to Band World Tour is early on,
songs tend to repeat a lot in selection, and there is a fan cap for each level of difficulty that encourages playing on a higher level which
may turn off some friends who can't shred it up as good as others.
Rock Band is all about playing with friends, and making a band and taking them on tour is spades better than the co-op career in Guitar
Hero. For those that wish to play competitively there is still the face off and pro face-off modes from Guitar Hero, but now re-dubbed "Tug-
of-War" and "Score Duel," respectively. Most importantly, both these modes are compatible with all the instruments in offline local and
online multiplayer! I found more people online in guitar and drums, but unfortunately a lot of people don't like to partake their mad
karaoke skills online as I found no one online to battle me in "Timmy!"
On top of the music that is provided in the game to begin with, there has been a released “Track Pack” that gives players an even larger
list of songs to play. Though there isn’t anything too exciting on the new “Track Pack,” but it does allow for players to play a few new
songs. Though this doesn’t necessarily add much to the overall game, some players will like to have the additional songs at their
disposal.
Visually, Rock Band takes a grown-up approach to stage and character designs when stacked up against the over-the-top, in-your-face
nature of Guitar Hero. During performances there are some spiffy foam-light and other special effects which deliver a cool vibe of the
band participating in a music video. The note scales and some of the stage sets look drab next to the crazy atmosphere presented in
Guitar Hero, but overall Rock Band is a refreshing, more serious graphical direction for the genre.
Rock Band is an amazing package all around. With the addition of the Rock Band “Track Pack,” there is nearly an infinite amount of
replay value with a wealth of single and multiplayer options, and a ton of downloadable content to boot. Yes, the $169 retail price is a
huge investment; but Rock Band is worth that experience because it is that damn good.
Heroes (and even that silly 80s spinoff). Rock Band takes the Guitar Hero formula of rocking away on the guitar, and boosts the
experience by also allowing the player and his friends to control drums and/or vocals.
Playing guitar is nearly verbatim from Guitar Hero, with some minute differences. Star Power is now called "Overdrive" and while in
Overdrive more power can still be consumed to increase your current Overdrive. Additionally, on the harder difficulties there is a handy
little feature on the note scale which indicates which notes can be strung via hammer-ons and pull-offs. Singing on the microphone is
similar to Karaoke Revolution (another Harmonix created franchise), which does a solid job at recognizing pitch and tone like it always
has, and still randomly decides to completely ignore said pitch and tone which can result in completely throwing the timing off.
The drums are the star attraction in Rock Band. Personally, the learning curve took noticeably longer compared to learning with the first
Guitar Hero before feeling comfortable on the drums. Of course, I'm no professional drummer or guitarist, so those artists will likely
adapt in no time, for the rest of us, there are a nice series of tutorial videos that do a tremendous job of showing the ropes for each
instrument.
Instead of picking from the usual misfits from Guitar Hero past, Harmonix grants the user the ability to create their own rock star, and
trick them out with a diverse selection of rock and punk-inspired clothing. Rock Band offers up the same type of progressive career
mode as seen in Guitar Hero for each instrument (except bass, and now there are no encores, bummer). More cash is accrued for
better rated performances, which is cashed in for new visual gear and instruments to deck out your created rocker with.
The co-op career in Guitar Hero was received well, but Rock Band takes it up a notch and then some with the "Band World Tour" where
up to four people can rock across the globe at gigs all over the world. The Band World Tour is the way to play the career, as it is far more
fleshed out than the standard career mode where the band is tasked with goals to achieve more fans so they can upgrade their method
of transportation, hire agents, roadies and more in order to achieve ultimate fame. The only downsides to Band World Tour is early on,
songs tend to repeat a lot in selection, and there is a fan cap for each level of difficulty that encourages playing on a higher level which
may turn off some friends who can't shred it up as good as others.
Rock Band is all about playing with friends, and making a band and taking them on tour is spades better than the co-op career in Guitar
Hero. For those that wish to play competitively there is still the face off and pro face-off modes from Guitar Hero, but now re-dubbed "Tug-
of-War" and "Score Duel," respectively. Most importantly, both these modes are compatible with all the instruments in offline local and
online multiplayer! I found more people online in guitar and drums, but unfortunately a lot of people don't like to partake their mad
karaoke skills online as I found no one online to battle me in "Timmy!"
On top of the music that is provided in the game to begin with, there has been a released “Track Pack” that gives players an even larger
list of songs to play. Though there isn’t anything too exciting on the new “Track Pack,” but it does allow for players to play a few new
songs. Though this doesn’t necessarily add much to the overall game, some players will like to have the additional songs at their
disposal.
Visually, Rock Band takes a grown-up approach to stage and character designs when stacked up against the over-the-top, in-your-face
nature of Guitar Hero. During performances there are some spiffy foam-light and other special effects which deliver a cool vibe of the
band participating in a music video. The note scales and some of the stage sets look drab next to the crazy atmosphere presented in
Guitar Hero, but overall Rock Band is a refreshing, more serious graphical direction for the genre.
Rock Band is an amazing package all around. With the addition of the Rock Band “Track Pack,” there is nearly an infinite amount of
replay value with a wealth of single and multiplayer options, and a ton of downloadable content to boot. Yes, the $169 retail price is a
huge investment; but Rock Band is worth that experience because it is that damn good.
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