Rock Band 2 Review – New Online Modes Are Fun, But Most of the Gameplay is Unchanged

Rock Band 2

Score: 8.6

Systems: Xbox 360, PS3, Wii

Genre: Rhythm Music
Difficulty: 7
Developer: Harmonix
Publisher: MTV Games
Relief Date: 9/15/08

Pros
- Online co-op band ensures all can play with friends
- Weekly challenge updates grant endless gameplay and value
- Very large and diverse song library

Cons
- Core gameplay hasn't changed
- Online band duels noticeably omitted

In the beginning, Harmonix produced Guitar Hero and the rhythm gaming craze and it was excellent. Then, they left Activision upped the ante by adding Rock Band's drums and vocals and it was better. Now they've unrestricted Rock Band 2 with a number of multiplayer additions to keep us jamming for at least a further year. While it isn't a huge leap forwards, it is the best the genre has to offer to date.

The game's online modes and interface are the most noteworthy improvements to this sequel. After much clamoring, band members can irrevocably meet online to go on tour together, meet up with groupies and ultimately let drug addictions end their promising futures. Well one of those gameplay elements is doable at least. If you are gone a specific instrument, you can go online and the game will search for someone to fill that role. You can join someone else's band or have others join your band.

The Challenges mode is a further new addition to the game. Each challenge is increasingly more trying than the last with varying equipment to keep the encounter fresh. Some levels require the entire band or just one instrument. Some require specific instruments. Often there is a theme for songs from a certain band, genre, artist, album or decade.

Band Battles is a further new mode with events akin to the Challenge's varying equipment. The main difference is these stages are only unfilled for a restricted amount of time to play and see where you rank compared to the world's best rockers. Reckon you can play the guitar better than Hendrix? Well, get out there and show the world! By constantly adding new challenges to keep the encounter fresh, Harmonix ensures that gamer musicians won't run out of gameplay until the next Rock Band game is unrestricted.

The online score duel and tug of war competitive modes also return and can be played in a custom or ranked match. Score duel involves two players vying for the best score on the same song. In Tug of War, players vie for the peak score by alternating playing different sections of the same song.

The first Rock Band had a solo game where you progressed owing to break instrument tours playing increasingly more trying songs. It also built-in a local multiplayer Tour game required at least two members who could play together to tour the world, gain fans and money, and open up new arenas by the theater well at each venue. Rock Band 2 streamlines the game by eliminating the solo instrument modes and allows players to go on solo tours with the pad huge the other 3 band member vacancies. Later, you can add friends to your band and continue forwards in the battle from where you left off. If you want several bands, don't worry. You can lead up to 24 different bands under a single gamertag.

A further notable change to the Tour mode is that you no longer are stuck with the same leader or lead instrument after at the start starting a band. The first Rock Band was frustrating because if you ongoing a band with a lead drummer, you couldn't later change and play lacking that drummer. You were stuck and had to start over a new band with a lead guitarist or singer.

In Rock Band 2, you can also play any instrument with the same character. Last year if you wanted to switch between all the instruments for a single band, you had to make a different character for each instrument. This increased flexibility also means that if you can't get past a song's pulse sections you can switch to playing the guitar to pass the song.

If you liked customizing your character in the original, then you'll be glad to hear your options have returned with even more options at your disposal. In addition, to the rock, punk, goth and metal clothing, there is now the thrift shop clothing category. You can also buy masks, capes, piercings, and some new haircuts. Unfortunately, you can't modify yourself into the lizard man, but the wide array of options will let you make nearly any character style you can presume. The band logo, motto, and photo foundation options are also prolonged.

The most noteworthy aspect of rhythm games is the songs built-in on the disc. If you don't recognize the songs you are playing, then you aren't likely to delight in the game very much. Harmonix surely didn't pull any punches by including a robust 84 songs on the Rock Band 2 disc from a wide variety of genres. There will also be a further 20 free songs unfilled for download later this fall bringing the donation to an impressive 104 total songs. You may not like every song, but you will likely recognize most of them and will probably learn to like many of the others you haven't heard before. For the low, low price of $5, you can greatly increase your song library by transferring the original Rock Band's songs to your hard drive to play on this year's translation. The entire administer takes a mere 10 synopsis. If you don't have the original game, I recommend renting the game from Blockbuster, conveying the songs to your hard drive, and then returning the game. In addition, Harmonix has been vigilant in as long as new content at about $2 per jam every week. To prove they plot to keep this up, they have promised to have at least 500 songs unfilled by the end of this year.

The game's core gameplay has not changed. You still try to hit as many notes in a row as doable. Harder difficulties present more complex and quicker note progressions. If you miss too many notes in a row, you will get booed off stage like a sorry warm-up band. In multiplayer jam sessions, if a team member is booed off stage, he stops the theater. If this lasts long enough, the entire band is given the hook. If any band mate enters overdrive, the slacker will be saved and the song continues. This figure is really cool because it makes all feel like a real band out there the theater and selection each other out.

As with all music games, striking more notes in a row earns a higher score multiplier that is useful to all successive notes. Striking a series of white notes in key parts of songs helps to access the overdrive mode, which provides double points. The higher you score earn you higher star ratings. Your star rating provides an overview for your overall routine and also is used for some random challenges to earn double or nothing money or fans for your band's standing. Some songs also allow for a freestyle huge end and solos that give score boosts.

I find Rock Band's difficulty to be much more balanced than Guitar Hero. Guitar Hero seems to be much more focused towards to people who could really play for Metallica. I consider myself an average rocker and find most Rock Band songs on medium guitar and drums to be slightly challenging. So I go up to hard and find I can still make it owing to about half of the songs. I prefer this format because it enables more people to encounter the game's more challenging modes and get the chance to attempt more varied guitar and drum rhythms. It enables people to have a broader encounter rather than having no chance at the harder difficulties. The peak difficulty can then be modest for the truly talented, which is what it should be used for.

A couple of extra features are also built-in to change the gameplay's difficulty. If you just want to let people try the game out lacking getting frustrated by the crowd's boos, then use the "No Fail" option. There's also an option to speed up the notes if you want more of a challenge.

One option I wish they would include is the skill to remove certain songs when you are playing with friends. While many gamers like the challenge of Iron Maiden songs, it can be a real bummer for other less avid band members when those songs come up and all gets booed off stage. It only happens on the random set performances, which means many bands with less veteran gamers won't try those random sets. As a result, they never get enough stars to progress further in their tours. There is the "No Fail" option, but it's not that people don't want a challenge. They just don't want certain songs to show up as the last song on a 4-song set.

Lastly, many people have been begging for online versus band matches, such as the quick play's tug of war or score duel. Well, they'll have to keep begging because that option is still noticeably omitted.

The 84 songs built-in on the disc are all master versions of the songs. Band performances are very well done including synchronized jumps as song tempos change and guitarist solos highlighted with spotlights. There are a wide variety of venues including high school gyms and holes in the wall rats wouldn't venture into all the way to full blown 100,000 capacity stadiums for when you hit it huge. If you are taking a breather and let others play, the presentation of the light shows and different filters help make the performances quite entertaining.

Make sure to visit our site to also view the game's video review, gameplay videos and images.

Roger Riley (aka Rabid Rabbit)

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