Rock Band

"A game for true fans of Rock Music."

It's official, this game is one of the most ambitious projects in gaming ever conceived. Derived from Guitar Hero's success Harmonix set out to make, basically a band game, incorporating their experience from past Rhythm games like Singstar and of course Guitar Hero they created Rock Band. Rock Band is comprised of Guitar, Bass, Drums, and Microphone, meaning Guitarist, Singer, Bass Player, and Drummer, sorry no Rhythm Guitar this time. But why do I think this is one of the most ambitious games ever made, I'll explain.

Presentation

FINALLY there is surround sound support in these kinds of games. I always found it kind of lame that these music games didn't have Dolby Digital support or anything, I could understand other games but not this. There are a bunch of other options for changing the sensitivity of the Mic, Bass Boost if you think the Bass isn't strong enough, and stuff to change timing for notes if you're on an HDTV and you feel the timing is off.

There is no real story in this game but that's forgivable. On the other hand the stage presentation and presence is great, it feels like you are watching a live concert video or something with all the crazy lighting effects, fog, crowd surfing and camera angles on a guitar to see all the intricate hand movements. Overall Rock Band's look and feel will be more impressive than Guitar Hero.

Score – 9 Awesome

Gameplay

The gameplay in this rhythm game is nice and balanced, no over charting on this game at all. Now I know some people will find this lame or they'll be turned off by this and say “Rock Band is easy compared to Guitar Hero” or something, and in a way it's true. This game was meant to be more accessible than Guitar Hero but that doesn't mean there aren't any challenges in this game. Some of the Expert Guitar and Bass passages are pretty hard, especially with some of the Downloadable Tracks, and playing Drums can be very challenging at higher levels of play so really, the challenge is still there, it's just not as obvious or easy to find. In this game you can play four different parts, a Guitarist, Drummer, Bassist, or a Singer but there isn't too much innovation in any of these departments, that's not really a bad thing because each part plays like a dream. Only thing you can't do is play a Bass Solo career.

Anyway, it's only when you get a full band together or if you play with two or three people does the game really start to get fun and this is for multiple reasons. One of these reasons is the character creation. When you first want to start your band you have to create a character and it's fun to see what your friends will cook up with this mode. After that you create your band name and your logo if you want. Then you start going on tour to earn money, gain fans, and get a tour bus and plane. Also while you're playing with each other you all have to depend on each other's skills to pass the song. If someone is falling behind it's gonna be tough to get through the song, luckily though if someone fails you can bring them back if you have enough “Overdrive” the new word for “Star Power” from Guitar Hero.

Other than bringing people back from the brink, the game doesn't offer too much innovation, but that's not exactly bad as the formula is just now only beginning to show it's age.

Score: 9 – Awesome

Graphics

The graphics in this game are pretty good. The various lighting effects and other stuff look pretty slick and the character models look interesting, it reminds me of really good clay animation or something. All in all no complaints here at all, there aren't any strange clipping issues, glitches, and there are never times where your character is doing something when they should be doing something else, like the bass player waving at the crowd when clearly the bass is still being played in the song, ahem…Guitar Hero III.

Score: 9 – Awesome

Sound

This game has a great soundtrack, better than Guitar Hero III's by far. There is so much variation with each track. This game has Pop rock, Punk, Classic, Alternative, Metal, Folk, and even some Southern Rock. What's really great is when you start getting into Downloadable Content, your library will expand a lot depending on how much you want to get.

Score: 10 – Amazing

Replay

Whether playing by yourself or with friends you will get a lot of use out of this game. Between learning to play new instruments, learning new songs, and getting the band together to tour you will spend a lot of time on this game. It may get a little stale after playing so many songs so many times but that's where the DLC comes in.

Score: 9 – Awesome

Overview

Rock Band is easily much better than Guitar Hero in every aspect. Everyone can have fun with it, and everyone will have many songs they like on the game. Really though if there was one major flaw with the game I would have to say it depends on whether or not you are going to buy DLC. Personally I would not even bother buying the whole set unless you plan on buying more songs later, but luckily this is a subjective flaw. Still though it feels like the game has room for improvement and innovation, sometimes in the character customization you feel like there aren't enough items or guitars and such, not enough facial variations and other things. Hopefully with Rock Band 2 they will improve upon the game further, and it won't just be “Hey we have more songs” because it would be a shame if the formula wasn't further improved on. Rock Band is a must have for people who really enjoy their music, and for people who want to have fun with their friends.

Overall Score: 9.2 – Awesome

Modified to 9/10 for Gamefaqs.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/30/08

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