Rock Band

"(Guitar Hero) You could have been all I wanted, but you weren't cool like Rock Band"

Guitar Hero has long been the king of simulated rock experiences on the consoles. Or, perhaps I should say that it has been the monopolist of simulated rock experiences; it's hard to say.

Either way you cut it, Harmonix's spearhead project was the only place to go if you loved video games and rock music and desperately wished to fill the void of your life with an orgasmic combination of the two. Harmonix left Red Octane about a year ago and went ahead with other pursuits, apparently tired of whoring out the Guitar Hero franchise. Those “other pursuits” turned out to be Rock Band, a joyous promise of the land of milk and honey. Rock Band promised on having incredible multiplayer sessions in which a lead guitarist, vocalist, bassist, and drummer all played the same song at once in cooperation.

Now, some of you may be hoping this review is purely unbiased and free of any outside influence. You might as well pack up and go somewhere else, because the point of a review is to display a single person's opinion, thus it is impossible to arbitrarily judge anything, aside from Uwe Boll movies, being the massive piles of regurgitated slime they are. Another reason is that it is impossible to really talk about Rock Band without comparing it to Guitar Hero, significantly the third installment that appears to be competing with its former masters.

Let me assure you that Rock Band completely blows Guitar Hero out of the water, or at least Guitar Hero III. Rock Band is about as much, if not more fun to play on single mode as Guitar Hero. However, there are two aspects that elevate it above Guitar Hero.

The first would be the track list. Never mind that Rock Band has (Don't Fear) The Reaper, Welcome Home, and Highway Star among others, Guitar Hero only has about two unquestionably good songs (Welcome to the Jungle and Through the Fire and the Flames). Rock Band has Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld, one of the funniest songs to sing along to. And believe me, it is extremely difficult to sing through laughing at your own idiocy for singing a song where you mimic South Park's infamous, mentally-deificient child's catch phrase (Tim-maaaaaay!)

Another big reason is the multiplayer. Normally, I don't care about multiplayer because the only people around me don't give two craps about the games I play (Shadow of the Colossus anyone? Craven douches…), but this is a game even my mother was interested in, which is really weird she neither likes rock music or video games. Playing a song with even just two other people adds a sense of bravado Guitar Hero has strived for but ultimately failed in achieving. It's certainly a step up from GH III's pointless battle mode.

Guitar Hero only let you play with customizable set characters, and while this led to some pretty cool characters, it didn't let you feel like YOU were rocking as much as it could have. Rock Band actually lets you create your own character with an entire wardrobe of unique clothing and accessories. The face creation is deep, but it's only a little deeper than Oblivion's character creation, which means you can't make a short porker of a rocker if you want. Still, it is better that than that stupid J-Pop girl and weird Zeus fanatic from GH III.

You can't have a genuine discussion on this new frontier of rhythm/action music games without piping in about the hardware. I've heard reports of faulty guitars, but I never had that problem, so I won't bash the guitar. It works even better than the GH guitar in several ways. For one, it gets rid of that stupid click noise the old guitars made while strumming, which is greatly appreciated, and it is curved in a way that makes it easier to hold onto.

Harmonix also finally acknowledged that not everyone has long enough arms to reach the frets and added a second, smaller set closer to the strum bar. This new fret set is also really useful in the new song sections where you're allowed to go nuts on your faux Fender Stratocaster.

The vocals also work rather well, being played with a standard USB microphone packed with the game. They certainly are more challenging than EA's last, miserable attempt at a karaoke game, Boogie. Also, the chance to sing out Welcome Home by Coheed and Cambria and with more purpose than self-entertainment in the shower is like ambrosia from the gods.

What may be the most curiosity-piquing point of Rock Band are the new drums. The drums are the hardest instruments in the game. Even on easy, this game is going to kick your ass. While disheartening, it is not without reward. While playing frets and strums bars doesn't lead to real guitar skills, these drums actually accrue real life experience towards actual drumming abilities. The same could be said of the vocals, but it's a lot harder to bang something repeatedly than it is to sing. The only major beef I have with the drums is that they replace the old strum click in terms of annoyance. Your given real drumsticks with the game and they make a racket of taps and cracks when you're smacking the rubber pads. You have to take the bad with the good, I suppose.

In conclusion, Rock Band is the music game to get, if you have the dough for it. It feels closer to a real band experience than what Guitar Hero does and the multiplayer will keep you and your friends entertained for as many times as you can play Enter Sandman.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/08/08

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