Rock Revolution

"You know, it's actually not that bad. Not great, either."

Rock Revolution is in the interesting situation of being a ripoff of Guitar Hero World Tour which is a ripoff of Rock Band, which is a ripoff of Guitar Hero, which is a ripoff of Konami's own Guitar Freaks. In some very creepy way, Rock Revolution has come full-circle and has ripped itself off. With that silliness resolved, Rock Revolution is essentially a cross between GHWT (complete with song editor) and Guitar Freaks, with a bit of Konami's arcade-y drumming as well. This is the crux of Rock Revolution's problem; it can't quite decide whether it wants the insane difficulty and non-friendliness of Guitar Freaks or the more casual gaming entertainment of Rock Band and Guitar Hero. As hard as it is to believe, Rock Revolution very nearly captures the look, feel, and enjoyability of Rock Band. The tracklist, while disappointingly short, is still extremely fun to play. The guitar charting is entertaining though much more focus is put on chords than in GH/RB. Graphically, the game looks good and the animation is actually on par with Guitar Hero (though that isn't necessarily saying much). Overall, the game would've benefited from focusing more heavily on either the Guitar Freaks arcade-style gameplay or classic Guitar Hero. The blend of the two only hurts the experience.

Graphics

Rock Revolution looks good. Surprisingly good. Character models, while generic, are animated well and look great. Lighting is really impressive, though the abundance of bloom will likely drive your eyes mad. Konami's choice of Guitar Freaks' fret design is ultimately inferior to that of Guitar Hero or Rock Band, but it is still easy enough to follow. The poorly positioned "star power" section at the top of the screen makes it hard to know when you can use it without taking your eyes off the fret screen.

Overall, Rock Revolution looks surprisingly good.

Sound

Rock Revolution's developers must have ignored all games past Guitar Hero 1, because the setlist of 41 tracks (all covers) is a throwback to the days when there was no competition. Fortunately, there are three ways to play each song (bass, guitar, and drums) and all seem fairly intuitive and react well with the music.

The covers, however, range from quite good to laughably bad. There's a cheeky "crappiness" to the game that extends to the cover quality and, in a way, makes it more entertaining to play.

Gameplay

If you've played Rock Band, you'll know generally what to expect. That said, the game swings hard into the "arcade" category in charting. On Expert, nearly every "note" is a chord and you'll have a grand time learning to make three-note chords that split across the frets. You'll have to change these chords constantly, and there's often no specific reason why the chords are so advanced. In a way, though, this makes Rock Revolution feel like classic Guitar Freaks and may actually resonate with Konami's loyal Bemani crowd. There's a certain cheeky "DDR" quality to the game that makes it entertaining in a "what were they thinking?" sort of way. It's not the kind of layout and design that makes Guitar Hero and Rock Band so accessible.

On the same token, anyone expecting a similar game to RB/GH will be sorely disappointed in the wily charting.

Overall

For as much jokes as Rock Revolution has earned since it was announced, it's actually a pretty good game, and even better if you're a fan of Konami's Bemani series. Think of it as Guitar Freaks without J-rock. That alone may be a deal-breaker for some, but in all honesty it's a solid game that's better compared with other Konami games than with RB/GH.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 10/20/08

Game Release: Rock Revolution (US, 10/15/08)