Alert! This version is a full version of Rock Band – for the most part.
The gameplay is basically identical to the original Rock Band so if you're looking for something that's jaw-dropping different, you're not going to find it here. Instead, this game is another step in the right direction showcasing various improvements.
Some improvements include the ability to go online on the tour mode. Though this may seem insignificant for some, it really is a big boon as it is now possible to go online and rock with friends while advancing the tour mode. For the Wii version of the game, the tour mode was completely absent from the original game so it's a big boost for Wii owners.
The tour mode has expanded with more clothes to buy, more staff and many more different venues.
All of the old clothes are in but the line of tattoos, drum sets and earrings. It would have been nice to be rewarded with special items and clothes for high scores or download more content but maybe the next version will include this. Every week, there are also challenges and contests with other online players to try to get the best score and it's very easy to see where you rank compared to others so the competition is much more in your face if you want to see how you fare compared to others in the world.
Playing multiplayer for this game is basically the meat and potatoes. Without it, the game would be just another good game that could have done so much better. Rock Band 2 shines in multiplayer but in the original, there was nothing worse than people failing a song and then causing the whole song to be interrupted. The game has a such steep learning curve, that even on the easiest difficulty, it was possible for people playing the game for the first time. Rock Band 2 alleviates this problem by introducing no fail mode. Players can now play as horrible as they want, on purpose or not, and not fail meaning that everyone can enjoy the whole song in it's entirety. This one addition makes Rock Band 2 a noteworthy purchase.
One of the big complaints with the original Rock Band for the Wii, was that it was basically the Playstation 2 version so it lacked, tour mode and anything to do with online. So players couldn't download new songs or check scores or anything of the sort. This version feels like a full version comparable to it's Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 brethren but it still falls short compared to the other versions slightly.
The other systems are obviously graphically more capable and although the game doesn't use intense graphics, it can be easily seen that the Wii version is a little less pretty but still fairly good. One area where the Wii version is still lacking compared to the other consoles is the downloadable content. Initially, Harmonix said they would keep the downloadable library available at the same time for all systems and by the time of this review, this has not occurred. Over half of the songs available for the other systems are still not available on the Wii. To their credit, over 70% of the songs over the past three weeks are available at the same time for all consoles but it's annoying not be able to play songs your friends are playing simply because it's not a Xbox 360 or Playstation 3. Another annoying thing is the music packs. You can download songs in a package to save money but on the Wii, this option is not possible so they charge the full price all the time. This is just another annoying difference between the versions where the Wii gets hurt.
Music in the game is diverse and everyone should be able to find a few songs they like and recognize. The difficulty of the game is even more punishing than the original featuring many songs that will take forever to master for many while others may never be able to. Downloadable content further allows more replayability of the game as they are constantly adding new songs weekly.
The main kit comes with one mic, guitar and drum set so if you want to play bass and guitar at the same time, a friend has to bring their own or you'll have to purchase another one and they're about 70 dollars each. The drum set makes a little bit less noise than the original version and the kick pedal won't break nearly as much but if you're a hardcore player looking to score 99 and 100% on songs, you'll have to get a better kit as double hits and mis-hits can be common occurrences.
Overall, Rock Band 2 is a solid game that showcases how fun a music video game can be. Though it's not a large leap from the predecessor, it's a sound step forward. If you liked the original, this one is the worth the purchase and if you haven't played it before, it might still be worth a purchase but the hefty price of over 170 dollars might dissuade many.