Not for the Rhythmically Challenged
Rock Band (PS3/Xbox 360)
9.5/10
by Jason Polansky
Those who have taken the effort to read the Pulse section as of late may have noticed that in my previous review for Guitar Hero III, I also recommended Rock Band—an unreleased game at the time, but one that showed a lot of promise in advancing the music genre of gaming as a whole. Well, now that the title is finally released, I can say that my prediction was dead on and Rock Band delivers on nearly every front.
First of all, let me say this flat out: Rock Band is not Guitar Hero! It knows it’s not Guitar Hero and it is not trying to be Guitar Hero on any level. What developer Harmonix has crafted is a full-blown band experience that goes beyond what any other rhythm game has done in the past. Just look at the box if you need proof of this; for $169.99, you get a Fender Stratocaster guitar replica, a drum set with four practice pads, and a microphone. The drums are amazingly durable and the microphone responds with great precision, picking up actual words during rap verses in the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage,” or Faith No More’s “Epic.”
On the other hand, the guitar bundled with the game is a piece of art from a pure cosmetic standpoint, but when it comes to performance, that depends more on personal preference. The strum bar lacks the click found in other guitar controllers on the market which can cause you to lose track of the rhythm without notice until it’s too late. The one benefit of the new guitar is the extra set of fret buttons found further down the neck which can be used strumming-free during select designated solo sections.
That, however, is the only real downside to what is otherwise a phenomenal gaming experience. If you are playing alone, the developers have thrown in three campaigns (one for guitar, drums, and singing) that will take you through each of the title’s 58 songs with adjusting orders for each to accommodate for varying difficulty. For example, Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive” would show up on the first set for the drum career, but near the end of the guitar career due to the increased challenge of the guitar riffs over the drum beats. Though they all have their increasing difficulty, I should again warn those looking for the next Guitar Hero game here. The hardest song in Rock Band could be considered as challenging as a mid-level, expert song in Guitar Hero.
The vocal campaign offers a nice distraction for those looking to test their vocal range. Anyone familiar with Karaoke Revolution (another Harmonix effort) should be right at home as the interface is nearly identical; lyrics scroll across the screen with a bar above at different heights to indicate the proper pitch. As you turn the difficulty up, your pitch will be more harshly judged and perfection is absolutely necessary. Your one savior will most likely be the fact that proper pitch is preferred over lyrical accuracy, so ad-libbing could be forgiven at times assuming you’re nailing that high note at the time.
The biggest part of the package (figuratively and literally) has to be the drums and they will kick your ass if you don’t prepare yourself physically and mentally. The drums appear to play out the same as the guitar; the notes come down the screen and you have to hit them in time on each respective practice pad or pedal. The challenge is keeping the rhythm at all times as the beats get faster and you have to manage to keep your hands and foot working together and independently at the same time. I’ve always had respect for good drummers, but when actually playing these songs on the hardest difficulty I can respect them a hundred times more for what they do. Harmonix previously stated that if you could play drums on hard in Rock Band, you could play drums in real life. Whether this is true or not is beyond me, but when you nail that perfect beat on a challenging song, you get a feeling that can’t quite be described as a gaming experience.
With its standalone single-player careers, Rock Band is a good game, but it’s the multiplayer that elevates it beyond the sum of its parts to introduce what is one of the best co-op experiences on the market today. World Tour mode is a way to get three of your friends together and go on a virtual tour, rocking various cities and venues throughout the world. Each of the players creates a character and chooses a different instrument (the fourth being bass guitar) to create a virtual band. As you progress, you must make important decisions that will affect the amount of cash you make and the fans you acquire. More cash can be used to buy more flair such as new instruments, clothing, hair styles, and even piercings that can be applied to each individual member to show off during following performances. More fans will open up those new countries and larger venues that even allow you to create your own set list to rock them with. Newcomers are also welcome to join the tour as difficulty can be adjusted individually. If you’re without local friends, online co-op, in addition to versus and face offs for every instrument, also provide enough content for months or even years to come.
What we have here is one of the most complete packages you will find this holiday season: three complete campaigns, a complete co-op career mode, online play, both cooperative and adversarial, and I haven’t even mentioned the current downloadable content and the planned weekly releases of more songs. This is as close to a perfect rhythm game as you could get. For those about to get Rock Band, we salute you!
