Rock Band
Being a music buff and guitarist myself, this game was a definite choice. I had borrowed Guitar Hero II off of my cousin for a while, mastering the intricacies of songs and button mashing. I purchased the entire Rock Band set, and used my weekend decimating the easy and medium solo guitar tours to get myself warmed back up.
Even at first glance, the set-list is much, much, much better than the one I had previously experienced in GH II. As is the guitar controller. I LOVE the solo frets. The buttons are much smoother, and much more precise. And in a fit of idiocy, I thought that my energy was automatically triggered at random intervals, only to realize the angle I had the neck of the guitar at was setting it off.
The drums, of course, imitate the actual skill of drum playing, which, I must say I suck severely at. It is a tad awkward getting the pedal and drums at the perfect height in certain chairs, but I found that our simple kitchen chairs work out amazingly as long as I have the pedal juxtaposed at an odd enough angle where I need only use my toes to tap the bass.
The microphone is one outstanding peripheral. I am not normally one for karaoke (nor should I be with my tone-deafness), but I really enjoyed myself with this one. I started myself with a surefire win with Nirvana's "In Bloom" while my wife stared at me with wonder at how I was actually maintaining crowd approval.
Onto the general review of the game; the graphics are very easy on the eyes, nothing noteworthy, but nothing horrible either. It's very fun watching the characters play the instruments and cavort about the stage. The sound quality is nothing less than outstanding, feeling every strike of the snare, every twang of a string, and every scratch and growl from the vocals. It puts you into the game. The game-play itself is something to be reckoned with. They've definitely done their homework on this title. All in all, it's a great party game, and one of the few offline multiplayer titles for the XBox 360 that merits tons of replayability.
I'm Kyle Ruppel, and I give Rock Band 4.5 Severed Heads out of 5.