A great way to unwind after a long week.
Written: Jun 16 '09 (Updated Jun 16 '09)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: High replay value, 4-player game
Cons: All of the songs are older rock songs.
The Bottom Line: Rock on.
|
|
|
| xyzwyatt's Full Review: Rock Band 2 for PlayStation 3 |
My teenage son has explained that I have what is commonly known as “video game addiction”. You see, the grown ups have traded vegging out in front of the TV for the more rewarding role of top performer on tour.
Rock Band is a game that you play with plastic instruments. The songs are real songs like you would hear on the radio. The screen has an animated video playing on the screen. It also has red yellow blue and green cords that scroll down the screen that represent notes for the user at home. The object is to hit the beat and notes correctly on your plastic instrument.
Most of the learning curve is conquered in Rock Band 1. Once you know how to play, adding more songs extends your desire to play it. If you were playing on expert, you may have to go back to hard on the new songs until you get a hang of it but you won't have to regress all the way back to easy. Rock Band 2 is the same as Rock Band 1 with some much needed improvements with the instruments and improved online experience.
A most appreciated improvement of Rock Band 2 is the ability to learn a song by breaking it down. You can slow the speed down on a song so you can learn the pattern and gradually bring it back up to speed. You can play one section of a song over and over, or the whole song with a no-fail option. There's also a practice mode where you'll be given patterns to practice.
Another new feature that Rock Band 2 has is a “no-fail” option for newcomers who haven't mastered their instrument yet. For instance, other players in the band can play on whatever level they want and the newcomer can play on “no-fail”. This will make it more fun for everyone because it's a real downer to fail out on a song, especially if you're the one who made the band fail. If you don't believe me, just watch the band on the screen shaking their head and throwing their guitars. The only drawback is the band doesn't gain points when a band member is playing with the no-fail option on.
One thing that makes the game interesting is being able to change the appearance of the band. You can change your clothes, add jewelry, tattoos, hair cuts, and other cool features. You can also pick your own name for your band, and make a logo for it.
You can check the score boards and see how well your band is doing in comparison to all other bands, or see your friend's score. You can even play together with friends online.
While one tour, your band will have the options to hire and fire staff. This is cool if you're after more money or more fans. This feature can boost your bragging rights. If you get 100% while playing on expert you'll also get a trophy.
Like most video games, you have to unlock the songs. This can be annoying, but works out well for the learning curve because unlocked games are a bit harder. It's like getting a sticker as a kid when you get an A on your spelling test. If you don't want to wait for the good songs you can go through the list on the easier level just to unlock them. Be warned, once they're unlocked you're going to find these impossible songs in your random set lists!
Another cool feature is “battle of the bands”. This is sometimes required for finishing set lists. You play other bands live on the PS3. This is kind of like really being on stage during a talent show because you have to show your stuff without the assistance of overdrive and you have no idea how good the other band is.
We found it disappointing to learn that we have reached the cap on our fan level. When you play for awhile, you will be expected to progress from easy, to medium, to hard. So it's hard to rack up the points if three of your band members are playing on expert and one is playing on easy. However, don't worry about being perfect on expert because if you pass the song you'll get the same amount of fans if you got 70% of the notes right, or 100%. I really don't like that because I feel like, why bother trying harder, all I have to do is pass. Likewise, I feel like if I've gotten 99% on expert, the crowd should go nuts! But, no one ever said life was fair.
One of things I don't like is the difference in difficulty on the drum or guitar is entirely different. You don't just add the foot petal to the song, the whole song is played differently. It's also difficult to switch from one level to a lower level because the beat is slower. It's like going 85 on the highway, then trying to drive 20 through the school zone. We've found it easier to just commit to a difficulty level throughout the night. For instance, if I want to have fun, I would play the drums on hard because you're really rocking out. Medium is great when you have guests over because you'll always have top scores and not wear yourself out.
Guitar
The guitar is plastic and has buttons instead of strings. The band can have 2 guitarist so you may want to purchase a second guitar for other family members ($70), or have your guests bring their own guitar with them. This version of the guitar is improved over the first version with a stronger whammy bar.
Guitar Hero guitars are not compatible, but Rock Band 1 guitars are.
If you have more than one guitar, it can clutter your family room. We ended up getting a guitar stand made for the game instruments for around $20. We've also had to buy replacement guitar straps which are about $10.
Drums
The drums are really fun. You can purchase them individually for $90, or get them one with the set. You'll have to have your own chair from the kitchen table, or a folding chair to get the correct posture. The foot petal really adds challenge to the songs and makes it seem more authentic. A pair of sticks come with with package but I think everyone I know has ended up getting the replacement Rock Band sticks ($10) because they have a better feel to them.
Rock Band 1 drums are compatible with Rock Band 2. The foot pedal has been improved in the second version. I have beat the heck out of the drums and the foot pedal and they still work great.
Symbols do not come with the drum set, but can purchased for $30. They are only compatible with the Rock Band 2 version.
Playing the drum is simply wood sticks hitting plastic. If you're playing Rock Band you probably wouldn't mind the noise, and may even listen to the drummer to keep the beat. If you can't stand the noise, or your drummer is really bad, you can get drum silencer pads for $20.
Microphone
The microphone is the same one that was included with original Rock Band. The cord is long enough that it should reach wherever you wanted to stand in the TV room. I've used a traditional microphone with it, but prefer the Playstation version because it's easier on the hand when hitting they symbol notes. The singer sometimes has to tap the top of their microphone to replicate symbols. This earns more points for the song, and kills some time during guitar solos. You could even get a cordless microphone if you prefer. The Singstar microphone does not work with it.
One of the cool things is that you can play the drums or guitar while singing! A microphone stand can be purchased for $20. This adds more of challenge especially on the “impossible” songs.
Deciding what to purchase
Rock Band 2 is sold in a bundle ($189), or just the game by itself ($60) which means you already have the instruments from the first Rock Band, or you're buying instruments separately. Basically, you have three options to choose from:
Option 1: Buy the complete set and enjoy the new guitar and improved drum petal.
Option 2: Just buy the game and play it with the old Rock Band equipment
Option 3: Buy the game and equipment separately. For instance, if you're a band of one you may only need to purchase the game and a guitar.
One drawback of buying the bundle is having to store all the instruments. The guitar can be hidden easily, but the drums are big and ugly and do not fold down for storage.
Batteries
Be prepared to burn through a lot of AA batteries. You'll need to start out with 12 batteries (4 x 2 guitars and 4 more for the drums). If you feel like you're hitting the notes but you're failing, it's because your batteries are weak. Unlike the Wii, there's no warning on the screen that your batteries are weak. You can use rechargeable batteries, but we've found that the disposable batteries give us better game play. We usually just change out the batteries automatically after a certain length of game play rather than blowing a gig with the band by batteries dying.
List of 84 songs
Excuse the length, but here is the list of songs that comes with it. It's important to consider if you're going to want to hear and play these over and over and over again.
Abnormality - "Visions"
AC/DC - "Let There Be Rock"
AFI - "Girl's Not Grey"
Alanis Morissette - "You Oughta Know"
Alice in Chains - "Man in the Box"
Allman Brothers - "Ramblin' Man"
Anarchy Club - "Get Clean"
Avenged Sevenfold - "Almost Easy"
Bad Company - "Shooting Star"
Bang Camaro - "Night Lies"
Beastie Boys - "So Watcha Want"
Beck - "E-pro"
Bikini Kill - "Rebel Girl"
Billy Idol - "White Wedding Pt. I "
Blondie - "One Way or Another"
Bob Dylan - "Tangled Up in Blue"
Bon Jovi - "Livin' on a Prayer"
Breaking Wheel - "Shoulder to the Plow"
Cheap Trick - "Hello There"
Devo - "Uncontrollable Urge"
Dinosaur Jr. - "Feel the Pain"
Disturbed - "Down with the Sickness"
Dream Theater - "Panic Attack "
Duran Duran - "Hungry Like the Wolf"
Elvis Costello - "Pump it Up"
Fleetwood Mac - "Go Your Own Way"
Foo Fighters - "Everlong "
Guns N' Roses - "Shackler's Revenge"
Interpol - "PDA"
Jane's Addiction - "Mountain Song"
Jethro Tull - "Aqualung"
Jimmy Eat World - "The Middle"
Joan Jett - "Bad Reputation"
Journey - "Anyway You Want It"
Judas Priest - "Painkiller"
Kansas - "Carry On Wayward Son"
L7 - "Pretend We're Dead"
Lacuna Coil - "Our Truth"
Libyans - "Neighborhood"
Linkin Park - "One Step Closer"
Lit - "My Own Worst Enemy"
Lush - "De-Luxe"
Mastodon - "Colony of Birchmen"
Megadeth - "Peace Sells"
Metallica - "Battery"
Mighty Mighty Bosstones - "Where'd You Go"
Modest Mouse - "Float On"
Motorhead - "Ace of Spades "
Nirvana - "Drain You"
Norman Greenbaum - "Spirit in the Sky "
Panic at the Disco - "Nine in the Afternoon"
Paramore - "That's What You Get"
Pearl Jam - "Alive"
Presidents of the United States of America - "Lump"
Rage Against the Machine - "Testify"
Ratt - "Round & Round"
Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Give it Away "
Rise Against - "Give it All"
Rush - "The Trees"
Silversun Pickups - "Lazy Eye"
Smashing Pumpkins - "Today"
Social Distortion - "I Was Wrong"
Sonic Youth - "Teenage Riot"
Soundgarden - "Spoonman"
Speck - "Conventional Lover"
Squeeze - "Cool for Cats"
Steely Dan - "Bodhitsattva"
Steve Miller Band - "Rock'n Me"
Survivor - "Eye of the Tiger"
System of a Down - "Chop Suey "
Talking Heads - "Psycho Killer"
Tenacious D - "Master Exploder"
Testament - "Souls of Black"
That Handsome Devil - "Rob the Prez-o-Dent"
The Donnas - "New Kid in School"
The Go-Go's - "We Got the Beat"
The Grateful Dead - "Alabama Getaway"
The Guess Who - "American Woman"
The Main Drag - "A Jagged Gorgeous Winter"
The Muffs - "Kids in America "
The Offspring - "Come Out & Play"
The Replacements - "Alex Chilton"
The Sterns - "Supreme Girl"
The Who - "Pinball Wizard "
About the songs
There are 84 songs on the Rock Band 2 CD. But wait, there's more! If you purchased Rock Band 1 you can transfer the majority of those songs over for just $5.00. This is awesome because you have access to all the songs without changing the games out. Plus, once you play Rock Band 2, you will never want to go back to the first one because the graphics and ability of Rock Band 2 is so much better. The only drawback is a couple of songs, like Metallica, wasn't part of the transfer due to some legalities.
I have found that songs that I hated on the radio, I love playing and visa versa. Some songs are super easy to sing, and killer on the guitar.
I would like to point out that this game is rated teen. On easy mode, the game is simple enough for most kids to play. However, not all the songs are appropriate for them to sing. When you hear it on the radio you may not think much of it, but on Rock Band 2, the words scroll across the screen so it's kind of awkward hearing your little princess singing “Souls of Black”. There are lots of songs to pick from that are suitable too so you could just make your own set list and have fun with the kids.
You can add more songs by purchasing single songs or whole albums through the PS3. There are a lot to choose from, but they're not exactly current songs. Once you download these songs they become part of your set lists. You can't take these songs with you when you go over to a friend's house.
Rock Band Track Pack for $30 can be purchased separately for extra songs.
Overall
We love this game and have logged more hours playing it than any other game. We've also spent tons of money on this game with added accessories and more songs. We've also had the game since the day it was released and still play it on a weekly basis. It is starting to get boring now that we've pretty much mastered the songs and have maxed out the fans. It's still a great game to play as a family and for entertainment when people visit.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
xyzwyatt
|
 - Top 50 |
|
Location: Nashville, TN
Reviews written: 542
Trusted by: 171 members
About Me:
Be a coffee-drinking individual - espresso yourself!
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.