Guitar Hero on crack
However, if you have a minimum of 3 friends, one of each who is decent at each instrument, finding somebody to sing is usually the hardest, then start counting your pennies (17000 + 1000-ish tax pennies depending on your place of residence). Welcome to the world of rock bands minus the groupies, human fans, and musical talent (unless your the singer. Good job, singer).
But before you start your on the journey to glory, fame, and heroin addictions, there are a couple things you need to take into consideration:
1) Do you have enough room to set up/play the game? Things can get tight.
2) Is your TV big enough? Most TVs are, but the smaller the TV, the closer you will all have to cram together to play the game. Just imagine the drummers drum stick stabbing the guitarist in the eye. Then the guitarist knocks out the singers teeth when he flails his guitar into overdrive. And the singer accidentally strangles the drummer with the microphone cord.
3) Do you have neighbors or elderly residence to care about the noise? The louder the better. At least until your ears are bleeding, then the louder the worse at that point.
4) Are any of the band members sissies? If you're not much of a singer, your throat will start hurting after a few songs. Just keep drinking water. Although drumming looks the coolest, the angle of the foot pedal is amazingly uncomfortable. Put something under it to angle it if you can. If you play one of the guitars, there are songs where your thumb or arm will actually hurt from the strumming. Suck it up. Hopefully this can eliminate some of the ergonomic hazards of the game. Otherwise, you might need to start looking for new band members.
Other things to consider:
1) There are a lot of wires with all of the instruments. If your in a tight area, be careful around the instruments. The mic especially manages to float around and get wrapped around people's necks. Perhaps buy a mic stand?
2) The drummer needs a chair. Just something to consider once again if your in a tight spot.
3) Is one of the band members affiliated with a legitimate business? See if he/she owns one of those $1000 projectors so you can play Rock Band on the wall. Another thing to consider when choosing band members.
4) Seriously, don't get the cops called on you for playing too loud at 4am. It's embarrassing.
Gameplay 10/10 - Highly Addictive
Sound 10/10 - Sound's great, especially with 5.1
Visual 9.5/10 - not too much cutting edge graphics necessary, but band members will occasionally move through each other on stage.
Hardware 9.0/10 There has been faulty equipment issues. You'll have to get it exchanged via mail.
Overall, given the context of the situation, this game is usually Two Scoops of Awesome. Don't forget to check out the track list on wikipedia before you buy, just to make sure you enjoy what you'll be playing. This especially pertains to those who listen solely to those New Age-Techno-Christian-Reggie.