Very addictive game with exceptional graphics and short learning curve.
User Rating: 9.5 | Rock Band X360
It takes about 10 min to open the box, set everything up, and get playing. The game is based on rock bands, of course, and the object is to use your instrument-controllers and play notes that come toward you like DDR. All of the songs you get to play are REAL songs like Welcome to the Jungle, Creep, and Gimme Shelter. There are four instruments you can play: guitar, drums, bass guitar, and singing. In this review I'll explain all four instruments, the different game types, and give my overall score. The guitar and bass guitar play with the same controller and in the same way; it is the same as Guitar Hero: there are 5 tracks in front of you, with notes coming down towards you. When the colored notes hit the slots at the bottom of the tracks, press the corresponding fret button on the neck of the guitar and pluck the strum bar simultaneously like you would pick the string on a guitar. The drums are similar: when the notes come to the bottom of the tracks, hit the corresponding drum. The only difference is that there are orange bars that are 4 notes long (all the drum tracks) which you have to push the foot pedal to hit. The singing is like karaoke: sing the words as they go by. If you buy the full $129 bundle, you get one guitar, one drum set, and one microphone. BEFORE YOU BUY, READ THIS: any Xbox 360 guitar will work, and you can use the headset for the 360 for singing, the only thing that isn't otherwise compatible is the drum set, which you can also buy separately for about $80. Also, unlike Guitar Hero, you cannot play guitar or bass or drums with the regular Xbox controller, you must use the instruments. You can also use any USB microphone or the headset for singing. Now for the game types. Rock Band features a single player game type where you can play through the songs in World Tour, Quickplay, or Xbox Live mode. In World Tour, you play in many different venues around the world, such as Tokyo, LA, and Berlin. You create your own character, and with money you earn by playing songs, you can customize his clothes, tattoos, instruments, and hair. World Tour is how you unlock songs. In Quickplay, you can quickly play any song you have unlocked, but it picks a random character, outfit, and venue for you to play in. Xbox Live features online matchmaking, where you can duel a random other person from Live on the same instrument, or you can set up your own match with one of your Live friend and duel or play together in a band. Now for multiplayer. You can only play with one person on the same Xbox over Live, but you can play with up to 4 people on the same Xbox through local multiplayer. You basically have the same options as single player local: Tour and Quick. You can also practice songs in single player: you pick your song, difficulty and speed, which is Full Speed, 90%, 80%, and so on down to 50%. In practice mode you cannot fail a song but you gain no points for practicing it. There are 4 difficulty modes: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Expert. If you have never played before, go with Easy and work your way up. My favorite thing about Rock Band is the short, 30-minute learning curve. Once you get the hang of it, Rock Band is a fun, addictive game that will keep you going for weeks. It's also a GREAT party game! My scores are as follows:
Gameplay: 9.5 / 10
Graphics: 8 / 10
Music: 10 / 10
Time to Fully Beat: 144 hours
Overall: 9.5 / 10
