Rock Band 2

"Rock out with your xbox out!"

Note: This review is based on the Xbox 360 version of Rock Band 2. While very similar to the Playstation 3 version, there may be differences this review is not aware of.

It has been about one year since Rock Band first hit consoles nationwide. The game, made by Guitar Hero 1 & 2 developers Harmonix, expanded on the concept of the Guitar Hero series by letting players play with drums and sing along to tracks as well. The game was an instant hit, with a set list varying from 60s classic rock to modern day metal. Harmonix provided gamers with an entertaining mode called Band World Tour, in which players could form bands and tour a virtual world, with various venues in each city. To progress in the tour, one had to play various ‘gigs' which ranged from a single song to 8 song set lists. As you gained more fans (based on good performance) as well as stars, you unlocked more venues and cities. In addition, Harmonix has provided a steady stream of downloadable content (or DLC). This DLC is in the form of new songs to play in the game. Songs can be bought as singles, or in packs ranging from 3 songs to full albums. Harmonix has managed to release new songs once a week, every week, since the release of the game and there are no signs of this stopping soon.

The game was not without its flaws, however. Possibly the most glaring issue had to do with Band World Tour. The problem with BWT was that when you created a band, you had to select a ‘band leader' tied to a specific instrument. This band leader had to be present in order to use the band, meaning that if you wanted to play drums and vocals but your leader was a guitarist, you had to start a new band. Not only that, but one could not play BWT alone, nor could it be played over Xbox LIVE or the PlayStation Network.

Rock Band 2 fixes this issue with a very modular BWT mode. One simply gives the band a name, creates a logo if they want, then goes to town with it. Characters are no longer tied to one instrument, and there are no band leaders. This lets someone do a solo world tour (as the actual solo tour present in Rock Band 1 has been removed). Also available is the ability to play BWT over the internet via XBL or PSN. You can have people join your band, or you can join other bands. The experience online is essentially the same as on local world tour. The only real issue I have with it is that there is still no ‘song request' option where other players can ask the host to play a song. There are also the occasional struggles over who gets to play guitar (or bass, although usually the argument is over guitar!). Other than that, the BWT mode is much improved over Rock Band's. The mechanics are essentially the same otherwise. In terms of gameplay not much has changed. The only major new things are hammer-on and pull-off chords for guitar, and easier “talkie” parts for vocals. By easier, I mean you can rub your microphone on the couch for 3 minutes and get 100% on the Beastie Boys' So What'cha Want.

The same game modes such as Tug of War are still present. There is also “Battle of the Bands”, which are various challenges that appear in the World Tour where bands play certain songs (with certain instruments) to see which band is the best.

The new instruments are a much appreciated improvement over the originals. The microphone is the same as the old, nothing special and still wired. However, Logitech is working on a wireless microphone that will be compatible with the game. The new guitar is great; the fret buttons are much more silent than the first guitar, and the strum bar is great. It's still somewhat ‘mushy' as many people complained about for the original guitar, but the range of motion is shorter which makes it easier to know where the limits are. I can FC fast strumming parts that I otherwise could never keep a streak on with the new guitar. The new drums are, in my opinion, sexier than the old and much sturdier. They aren't as loud, and are velocity-sensitive. Crosstalk has been reduced so that hitting one pad does not activate the other. Mad Catz is working with Harmonix to release a cymbal add-on set for the drums, to make the drum playing a bit more realistic. Also available for $300 is the ION Drum Rocker. While a steep price, the drum rocker is reportedly extremely sturdy and much more realistic-feeling than the Harmonix drums. For an extra investment, one can buy a so-called ‘drum brain' for the Drum Rocker which enables it to be used as a real-life electronic drum.

Visually, the game hasn't really changed. The new menus are a bit slicker, and I notice a lot less jaggies. Other than that, it's no Crysis.

The song selection is, once again, spectacular. You get 84 songs on the disc, which go from oddities such as Squeeze's disco hit Cool For Cats to Dream Theater's Panic Attack to the experimental That Handsome Devil's Rob the Prez-O-Dent. Almost all of the songs are enjoyable, even the bonus songs (which have sometimes carried negative connotations as being bad compared to the main set list). While you can unlock the songs relatively quickly by playing challenges in band mode, I found it best to just play through the world tour and unlock songs the slow way. It takes longer, but it lets you appreciate songs that you otherwise might have glanced over while you went straight to test your mettle on Painkiller.

And of course, there's the DLC. In the past couple of months, Harmonix has released three full length albums (Blood Sugar Sex Magik by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Moving Pictures by Rush, and Peace Sells… But Who's Buying? by Megadeth) and plenty of other song packs and singles. In addition, for a $5 fee you can transfer over almost all of the songs from Rock Band onto Rock Band 2. All you need is the disc and enough hard drive space. The three songs that are missing are Enter Sandman, Run to the Hills, and Paranoid. It is assumed they were not transferred due to licensing issues. With all of these songs added up, the total number of songs available for Rock Band 2 is around 400. That is a lot of game time. There are 20 songs that will be up for download on November 4 2008 for free if you register on a website listed on the back of the game manual.

If you already own the original Rock Band as well as the instruments, I'd probably recommend getting just the game. If you want a better guitar, the stand-alone guitar is available for sale. If you don't own the original, definitely get the Rock Band 2 bundle. You get the game, a guitar, a drum set, and a microphone as well as the previously mentioned 20 free songs. If you haven't already gotten into the Guitar Hero/Rock Band craze, now would not be a bad time to start.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/27/08

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