Review written by Playstation4.net staff member Aaron Randolph
You open the Rock Band box, and you half expect everything to be glowing with green energy. The hype has been massive, promoting Rock Band as the be-all and end-all. In truth, the Fender controller did seem to sparkle, but that could’ve been just a trick of the light. All the same, you lovingly unwrap the pieces like a brand new toy on Christmas morning, almost in awe at the wonders before you. You insert batteries where they are needed, plug everything in, insert the Rock Band disc, and wait for glory.
The glory does come, and despite everything, you’re never really ready for it.
This game looks and feels fantastic. It’s sometimes easy, depending on the situation, to completely forget that you’re playing a game. The guitar controller is thinner at the neck than you might be used to, but that same thin neck allows people with small hands (or just small people) to rock out with their bad selves more easily. The solo buttons at the bottom, however, take some getting used to, as those buttons are slimmer. I tend to use the normal buttons for the solo and save those special buttons for the Big Rock Finish. The effects switch is a nice gimmick, though it should be noted that the effects only seem to work while Overdrive is on.
The microphone works as intended, though I’m not 100% sure that phoneme detection was implemented correctly. As it turns out, you can sing whatever you want during the sung sections of the song and it won’t count against you, probably due to the sheer fun of making up your own lyrics. I’d have a story here, but this document could fall into the hands of children. The clapping/tambourine sections are equally fun, and definitely help to keep the singer engaged in the song. For the sections where you’re not singing or clapping, instead just talking or ‘rapping’, you’re forced to stick to the script, and even then sometimes, I found myself penalized when I was pretty sure I’d said exactly what had appeared on the screen, and I don’t stutter or have any other speech impediment. But this is only a minor flaw, and doesn’t detract from the experience as a whole.
And now, onto the drum kit. This is the piece of equipment I’d had the most concerns about, and those concerns appear to be justified at the moment. On the one hand, it’s only fair to admit that this is probably the most fun instrument to play, period. Be warned, however, that your legs should be in good condition. If you’ve never worked a drum set before, you’ll be sore after a few songs on even medium difficulty. And most certainly do NOT jump up difficulties until you’ve trained your arms and legs to work independently of one another, unless you’re looking to be thrashed. That having been said, a lot of fun can be had….if you’re lucky. As it turned out, I was one of the unfortunates whose bass pedal was broken after three days and perhaps a grand total of ten hours of use. And I wasn’t exactly jumping up and down on it, though I was certainly tempted to do so AFTER it broke. It took EA support over a week to send a new one — and the new one was for the Xbox 360. A little bit of constructive yelling fixed that problem in a hurry.
The gameplay itself is nearly flawless, with a ton of arenas to play at in 17 different cities, and each one has something unique to enjoy. My absolute favorite remains the one where your band’s name (or your player’s in Solo Tour) shows up in lights behind the drummer. THAT was unexpected, and incredible. Band play is fast and furious, and filled with choices. Where do you want to play? What do you want to play when you get there? Do you want to play a set where you choose the songs, or one where the audience chooses what they want to hear? Do you want to record this particular set for the Band’s DVD, knowing that if you don’t absolutely nail it you could lose twice as many fans? Being able to make these choices amongst your friends is one of the simple joys provided here.
Customization is a buzzword in the game industry, and Rock Band delivers in spades. Make your own band members however you want to make them. And while you can’t exactly mold their heads and bodies any old way you might want, there are enough clothes and accessories to deck them out in any style you choose. There are some fairly hilarious accessories available to unlock while you’re at it. Making your own band logo is more fun than I thought it would be, since you’re given a bunch of seemingly random graphics, and are allowed to modify them in almost any way you desire. Though I don’t think they intended it to be possible, my band, Barrage, has the one-finger salute as our logo. True, it’s in bad taste, but nothing’s funnier than seeing your band’s jet with that salute on it.
Songs, glorious songs. Brilliant song list. Covers old favorites and modern genius. Rush, Stone Temple Pilots, Coheed and Cambria (finally!), METALLICA. It’s a veritable cornucopia of music, and with a few minor exceptions, everything’s a blast to play. And those exceptions could just be personal bias on my part. There might be people out there who enjoy playing The Electric Version by The New Pornographers, I just don’t. But the note charts are phenomenally done. It’s hard to find any real inaccuracies or problems with the note structures for each song on Expert. The downloadable content is alright, I guess. Three songs for just under $6 after taxes isn’t bad, but so far, with the exception of the Metallica pack and Synchronicity II from the Police pack, everything else they’ve provided so far hasn’t really been my cup of tea. Once again, that’s probably just personal bias at work, so I won’t hold it against them.
I only have a few complaints and minor gripes. First of all, if you want to play Band World Tour, and your band’s designated leader isn’t available to play, you have to make a new band. Which makes sense from a realism standpoint, I guess, but in the game it’s annoying. Also, if you’ve made a character who can play the guitar, congratulations. You’ll never be able to use that character to play anything else. I ended up making three different versions of myself just so I could play whatever I darn well pleased, thank you very much. It’s like Harmonix never heard of band members playing different instruments. And since GHIII Les Paul controllers don’t work, and won’t work until Activision gets their collective heads removed from their backsides, if you want to play with four band members, you’ll likely need to buy an extra guitar.
That doesn’t stop Rock Band from being one of the most fun experiences available. So get some people together, plug in your instruments, and immerse yourselves in the spectacle, the experience, and the rich world that is rock and roll.
9.2 out of 10 overall
Pros: Rock out on all instruments
Great song list
Phenomenal Band World Tour mode
Cons: Some technical issues with instruments possible
Some technical issues with band/member structure
Some technical issues with EA support staff
