A highly addictive music game that doesn't make you lose your social life!
Also, I'm sure while listening to music of your favourite band you imagine yourself and your friends playing the music as that band. Well don't worry. Rock Band allows you to do just that!
EA/Harmonix's Rock Band allows to play Guitar, Bass, Drums, and also allows you to provide the vocals.
This all works in a very similar way to the GH series, as you hit a series of notes as they appear on the chart on the screen. You do this using the help of some fantastic new peripherals. Probably the most impressive of the new peripherals is the Drum kit, which we will talk about in a little while. With Rock Band, you also get a brand-spanking new guitar modelled after the Fender Stratocaster, which looks and feels superb when compared to the GH guitars.
The guitar features two sets of five fret buttons. The first set are at the top of the guitar neck, and are similar to the GH guitar's frets. The second lot of frets are new 'Solo Frets', which are supposed to help you rock out during those impressive solos. This second set appears at the bottom of the guitar neck, and the buttons are much thinner and narrower than the other set. The guitar also features an effect switch and whammy bar. It all seems to work as you'd expect after playing the Guitar Hero series.
The microphone provided is a standard RB USB mic, which you are required to use for the vocals. But ultimately, its the drums where most of the weight of this heft product lie. The drums feature four pads and a bass pedal, which are all fantastic and innovative. The drums are easily the most attractive area of Rock Band if you can afford them, but they aren't always that great in fairness.
While the drums may seem to be doing exactly what they should be doing at first (when you're not particularly good), a lot of the time you will hit a note on the pads which don't seem to register. This can be very frustrating as you get further on in the game, when this issue breaks note streaks, and prevents you getting high scores. The bass pedal also seems to need a good deal of pressure applied to really work properly, which can also get frustrating for the same reasons.
The actual game feature various modes. But the mode where the game really excels is 'Band World Tour', where a group of 2-4 people get together and play in a virtual band, simulating the songs on the game. You each create a unique character which is then locked to a specific instrument, and then begin a complete World Tour, gaining fans along the way. As you progress in 'Band World Tour', you will unlock more gigs and venues, as well as being able to hire roadies and such.
This mode is the real base of the game, but can only be done if you have friends or family that can regularly play the game with you. The only way to play this mode solo is to sing using the mic or Xbox Live Headset and play either the drums or guitar at the same time. But this really takes away from the fun, and the fact that this is a multiplayer game.
But don't worry, if you are only able to play solo you won't miss out. Though the extremely entertaining BWT mode cannot be played solo, you can progress through a 'Solo Tour', which basically uses the same mechanics and structure of the GH series, where you would play different songs in different tiers. While this is still fairly entertaining, its best just to be used as a practice base when you're unable to play the BWT mode, as it features no real depth or storyline.
The Solo Tour features support for lead guitar, drums, and vocals, each with difficulties ranging from easy to expert. Songs will appear in different tiers depending on which instrument you are playing.
The gameplay is very similar to the GH series. In fact, playing the guitar is just like playing GH, but the charts seem much better and more in to the music itself. The drums require you hit each pad as a note as it travels towards you. You are also required to push down the bass pedal as a wide orange line appears on the chart. The vocals require you to sing in-pitch with the song, and use the mic as a tamberine in different stages of a track.
As you get a longer streak of notes, you will gain a higher multiplier, which will go up to 4x, unless in overdrive. The game also features 'big rock endings', which allow you to finish the song in any way you see fit.
The soundtrack on the game is fantastic, featuring songs ranging from various ages on rock music. The game features songs from older bands such as Metallica, The Rolling Stones and Iron Maiden, and much newer music from the likes of Muse, The Killers and Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
Don't worry, though, as the soundtrack will never get boring. Featuring over 60 songs on the disc alone, theres plenty of DLC available via the Xbox Live Marketplace, which is updated weekly to keep the Rock Band experience alive longer and longer.
The game also supports online modes, allowing you to play with three others players across Xbox Live in a random band, or the Tug of War game, where play a ToW match while playing the music. Unfortunately, theres no Band World Tour online support, which may be disappointing to discover for some, though Harmonix have said that they are trying to fix this issue, but with talks of Rock Band 2 already, its unlikely that this will be a supported feature in this game.
Overall, while it does feature very few minor issues, Rock Band is a fantastic and innovate music rhythm game using some great new peripherals. Its fantastic Band World Tour mode will make sure you don't lose your social life, and the amount of DLC available will keep this game going for a very long time. Get ready to rock!