Rock Band 2

"What Happened?"

Rock Band 1 was one of the most fun games I've played, and I was really excited about 2. Honestly, with all the hype surrounding it, I couldn't wait to be able to play some AC/DC, and more Allman Brothers.

For the most part, the game is still really fun; the controls have tightened up a bit, there's more customizability, and the animation is smoother. The campaign has gotten a lot more fun, too; you can now hire managers depending on where you are in the world, and every now and then, a special even will come up, like someone will want to film a music video of you, or you'll be asked to play extra well for a scout in the audience, or something like that. It's also really fun to look at the "pictures" people have taken of your band from all over the place.

Like I said, the animation is pretty smooth, and there seems to be a lot more "character" in the people onstage, but the format of actual gameplay hasn't changed much. There are new hammer-on chords, but they seem to be pretty tricky, as far as timing goes.

My issue is with the setlist. Don't get me wrong, I love the AC/DC, Bad Company, and Steve Miller, along with the rest of the classic rock. But why is there so much Metal in this game? That was my least favorite part about the Guitar Hero series, and I was really glad to be away from it with Rock Band.

In Number 1, the "god" song was "Green Grass & High Tides", or "Run For the Hills", both of which are fun, catchy songs, and even if you failed out, it was fun to try again. In this one, though, Judas Priest? Mastadon? Why??? Seriously, what sucked about Guitar Hero was that Difficult = Metal, and everything else was just fun. At least "Enter Sandman" in 1 was catchy, and fun to listen to.

Another thing I really liked about Rock Band 1 was the fun trivia you'd get before each song, like how the Who had to find a drummer in the middle of one of the shows because Keith Moon passed out, or how Boston's Tom Schultz taught himself the guitar in a ridiculously short time. Now, all you'll get is "Try our new no-fail mode!" or "Those little notes can be hammered on!"

Also, why did they change the setlist view? I liked how everything was separated as you scrolled down, but now it feels cramped and confusing. I like that it shows the album art and how many people were playing at the time of the high score, but it's just overall aesthetically much worse.

It feels like they reverted back to the Guitar Hero mentality, and I'm disappointed. I would buy the game for the new good songs, import the setlist from 1, and download some more, but it seems like the disk setlist has a lot fewer fun songs a lot more that you feel like you have to "wade through".

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/25/08

Game Release: Rock Band 2 (US, 09/14/08)