Rock Band

"You're gonna rock like you've never rocked in your life!"

Rock Band is simply the best music game for 2007, better yet, one of the best music games ever. Take control of the vocals, bass, guitar, or drums. Have a bunch of friends over to have the greatest multiplayer experience for a music video game. Or simply just go online and have a blast with other players. I think it's safe to say that Harmonix took a simple concept, and made it their best game, ever.

GRAPHICS - Simply, the graphics are pretty. However, it's not even close to the graphics of Guitar Hero 3. I mean, the note chart is very crisp, very simple, and nicely done. But, the outside art isn't the best looking graphics. Guitar Hero 3 finely tuned the character models as well as the venues. Those things actually looked amazing. The venues in Rock Band are good, don't get me wrong, it's just not the best thing about the game, obviously.

One thing is great about Rock Band though, character creation. Rock Band actually allowed you to create a character that looked like you and acted like you. The basic features weren't that many, but the shop made up for it. The shop had a lot of stuff for you to customize your character with. You can go metal, punk, or just plain rock. Those small additions made the video of your character playing the songs easily tolerable.

9/10

SOUND - Ah, no silly ugly string sound when you miss a note. Fabulous. Now, this is where Rock Band shines. Harmonix took songs that were extremely fun and added them into a set-list. Oh yeah, when you sang, your voice actually was blended into the song, and it sounded like you actually were singing the song in the venue you are at. Simple, yet great.

You had songs like "Blitzkrieg Bop", "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", "Are You Gonna Be My Girl", "Enter Sandman", and even "Timmy and the Lord of the Undergrounds". It's a smaller set-list, granted, but it still has the replayability of a game that has more songs. Why you ask? Downloadable Contents. They lowered the price of albums, single song downloads, and even three-song downloads to help promote Rock Band and expand the game. What can I say, it worked.

When you play the instruments in Rock Band, it sounds like you are really playing the song. Of course, the guitar and vocals, are obvious. However, when you would drum, it actually sounded like drumming. Yeah, it sounds stupid, but when you played the fills, it really did sound like you were playing the drums. What can I say, the sounds from this impressed me more than the game itself.

10/10

GAMEPLAY - Let's assume that Rock Band had a near perfect gameplay engine. The timing was much stricter than Guitar Hero 3, and acted like Guitar Hero 2, which is a good thing. All the instruments were extremely smooth, and all the songs had a fairly great note chart. Everything was on task when it came to the gameplay. I haven't found myself scratching my head at things, or pounding my guitar on the ground for songs that I couldn't pass. Rock Band gave you a challenge without the hardest challenge. You get it? All I'm pretty much saying is that if you play enough, you should be able to pass any song.

A "new" addition to the gameplay would be Overdrive. Overdrive is pretty much the same thing as Star Power in any Guitar Hero game. The only difference is, is that you can overlap an Overdrive section and it will be added to your current meter. For example, if you are in Overdrive and you hit a series of notes that are Overdrive notes, it will be added to your meter and it will continue your Overdrive session. It's a nice change if you ask me. I enjoy the rush of Overdrive.

Band World Tour. Oh yeah. Go around the world with three other buddies of yours and become global superstars. It's a whole new mode to any Harmonix game, and it's pretty fun. Start small, then grow larger. You play to win over fans, to get modes of transportation, and to get exposure. The better you do, the more money you get and the more fans you attract. It's really fun when you unlock all the songs. It gets really fun once everyone is locked and ready to go.

10/10

INSTRUMENTS - Ah, fresh instruments. If you got the bundle, you should've gotten a Fender guitar, a drum set, and a microphone. The Fender guitar is different. It didn't have a clicking strum bar, and the frets were all flat, vulnerable to careless mistakes. But, it did have an effects switch and solo frets. The effects switch was unnecessary, but it's a cool addition. The solo frets however are extremely enjoyable. It takes a while to get used to, but it's fun once you are used to it. When you hit a solo section, you can slide your hands down to the solo frets and start hitting those solo notes without strumming. It's pretty cool when you face those quick hammer-on and pull-off notes, or even when you face a lot of consecutive notes.

The microphone is a nice tool. Very basic, nothing special really. It's confusing to get it to work if you didn't read the manual. All you need is a controller to get the handy tool to work. You can also use a Xbox 360 headset if you wanna try playing guitar or playing the drums too.

The drums. THE DRUMS! Pretty much everybody's wish. They're easy to set-up, but hard to play. When you first play this thing, you're discombobulated. Much how everyone was when they picked up Guitar Hero 1 for the first time. All of us were struggling, pulling our hair out, and bashing the TV when you messed up. It's really hard, I know. However, once you get the hang of it, it's the best thing about Rock Band. I extremely enjoyed it right now, and it's pretty addicting too. Oh yeah, be careful. You'll get tired hitting the bass drums over and over again. DAMN YOU EXPERT!

I keep hearing about issues with the instruments. If your lucky like me, you'll get a fine set of materials that'll work perfectly. If you didn't, like many, you're gonna have to send it back and hope it doesn't get lost in the mail. The weird thing is, it seems like a lot of people keep having the same problems. If it weren't for these problems, I would've given the instruments a 10.

9/10

CLOSING - No doubt in my mind Rock Band is the music game of 2007. I wouldn't be surprised if it's in the running for Game of the Year. This game has everything from fun factors to just rock factors. I have yet to find a time where I can't wait to play this game. Once you play this thing, you're never gonna wanna stop. Better yet, you'll never stop until you are ROCK STARS!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/28/07

Game Release: Rock Band (US, 11/20/07)