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ROCK BAND 2 REVIEW Posted by PlayDevil.com Staff on Nov 28, 2008 20:38 (Nov 28, 2008 20:38) |
Written by: Ian
 Still Rocking?
'Rock Band', when it was finally released in May, was clearly an awesome game. However, with only just over 40 proper songs, and limited online play; it was also questionable value for money. Now, less than six months after the release of the original, the sequel "Rock Band 2" has already arrived in Europe on Xbox at least.
Should gamers part with more of their cash so soon, or is this basically a few more songs and no new features?
Story:
N/A
Gameplay:
If nothing else, gamers cannot fault the value of the game. If you have Xbox Live you can download 20 new songs in addition to the 80+ that are sat on the disk, and for 400MS points you can import all but 3 of the tracks from RB1. This gives you in excess of 150 songs straight out the door, + all of your old DLC, and all new DLC is also compatible with both disk versions.
If you also have either track pack 1 or ac/dc live pack, these can also be transferred. All in all, I now have close to 250 songs available to play, which is a huge number.
 Ultimately, music games are all about the setlist, and Rock Band has really provided both in terms of the DLC available and also the on disk stuff. Whether it’s Linkin Park, Bon Jovi or some slightly more obscure bands, there are few songs I hated playing and a huge number I loved playing.
It was by no means a perfect list, but it was way more complete, and offers more to everybody than previous versions of any music game. In addition, the single player brilliantly uses all of your DLC (inc. RB1 songs) so you don’t just play the disk based tracks to death.
Whilst the overarching gameplay hasn’t changed from matching coloured notes that fall down the screen or matching the pitch of your voice to the on-screen prompts, more subtle changes have indeed been made to the gameplay experience.
The single player is now a much better experience. The single-player tour mode is now a collection of challenges, that reward you by playing a set of songs, and gets you to play all of the instruments, and use your DLC etc. The tour mode can now also be played solo, and you can just bring in band members as and when you want to, which is excellent.
Progression is slightly easier in a band, whilst some new songs are deliberately more challenging for the hardcore. In addition, a ‘no-fail’ option is also there for real beginners to the genre, which can be appreciated when you keep sucking at a particular song. Whilst the changes are generally subtle, they do keep the experience as fresh as possible, and are all generally for the better.
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