Great game for a trip!
Rock Band Unplugged, although lacking peripherals, is still in the Rock Band Style, but the track-switching gameplay is reminiscent of Frquency and Amplitude.
Gameplay: 10/10
As Mentioned above, the gameplay is similar to Amplitude. There are 4 tracks, (In Order Left to Right) Bass, Drums, Vocals, and Guitar The player plays notes in a phrase by pressing the up, left, triangle, and circle buttons (default controls) and by hitting notes in the phrase without messing up, the track plays itself for a while, prompting you to switch to a different track. The gameplay is fast paced and constantly keeps you moving, so no more boring dead space.
Graphics: 9/10
This game is graphically impressive and retains the Rock Band feel throughout. The only complaint I have is that the avatars don't actually play to the song and strum randomly or hit random pads. Although strangely, the singer actually mouths the words to the song...
Soundtrack: 8/10
You'll recognize most of the songs on the game if you've played Rock Band 2 (Ace of Spades '08 by Motorhead, Painkiller by Judas Priest, Come Out and Play (Keep 'em Separated) by The Offspring) or if you've collected lots of DLC (Buddy Holly by Weezer, Mr. Brightside by The Killers, The Perfect Drug by Nine Inch Nails). The game also includes songs that have never been in a Rock Band game or released as DLC (ABC by The Jackson Five, ((Rest In Peace Michael)) What's My Age Again? by blink-182, Would? by Alice In Chains). The only complaint is that there are too many familiar songs and not enough new songs. The Sound Quality of the game is good, but If you have headphones, use them. The game sounds a lot better, not to mention an easier-to-hear bassline.
Game modes: 4/10
Why the low score? Well, the World Tour mode has the same exact cities as Rock Band 2, which is bad for this game. The Tour mode is even more repetitive than the original Rock Band 2, due to the fact that Rock Band 2 has 84 songs and Rock Band Unplugged has 41 songs.
Quickplay still contains the make a setlist feature, which is good.
The Training mode tells you how to play the game, but there's no mode to practice songs.
Under the extras menu, you have Warmup mode, in which you can play one instrument that you want without switching, and Band Survival mode, which has every Instrument playing at the same time, with no phrases, making the game more chaotic.
There's also a Music Store where you can download songs.
But Rock Band Unplugged's biggest flaw? No online or local Multiplayer.
DLC: 6/10
The Music Store allows you to download more songs. Although there are good songs available for download, pretty much every song available has already been released for PS3 (Hysteria by Muse, Smooth Criminal by Alien Ant Farm, Constant Motion by Dream Theater). So if you own Rock Band/2 and Rock Band Unplugged and you want DLC for both games, you're going to spend a total of $3.98 for the same song.
The Final Verdict: 8/10
Rock Band Unplugged is a great game, and brings a lot to the table. Easily a competitor for PSP game of the year. Hopefully Harmonix improves on this game with a sequel, but in the meantime, grab some headphones and enjoy life on the road as a rock star. Bring Headphone trust me