Video Game Review: Rock Band 2 for XBOX 360

Game Rating: T
Game Publisher: MTV Games – Harmonix
Platform: XBOX 360
Release Date: September 14, 2008
Available at: Amazon for $59.99

I’ve been a gamer since the days of the Atari. While I was very little back then, I was more into the Nintendo when it came out and when I was finally old enough to really become an active gamer. Initially, my doctor recommended gaming because I have a muscle disease and amazingly, using the controller was increasing the movement and dexterity in my fingers and wrists. It was also helping the strength in my hands, fingers and arms. Who knew gaming could have so many positive benefits?

By the time Nintendo was no longer the only hot console out there, I was hooked. While I tried to remain loyal to Nintendo, purchasing the Game Cube, the Nintendo Gameboy, Gameboy Advance and finally the Wii, I tried to avoid the temptation of buying other consoles. When the XBOX came out, I refused to buy it. However, I couldn’t avoid purchasing a Playstation 2. With the new generation of consoles released, I have my Wii, my Playstation 3, and I admit it. I’ve been dying to get an XBOX 360. I am happy to report I now own every gaming system excluding the PSP. Maybe that makes me crazy or maybe it’s feeding my gaming need!

I purchased my XBOX 360 just so I could review Rock Band 2. I have Rock Band for the Wii and now the XBOX 360. There are some definite differences between Rock Band for both systems and while there are differences between Rock Band and Rock Band 2 for XBOX 360, I pretty much view Rock Band 2 more as an upgrade. As opposed to being the next step in the Rock Band series, Rock Band 2 takes the Rock Band formula and improves upon it. This is more of an addition not a flat out new game. That’s the difference between Rock Band and most of the other video games that carry a 2 after their names.

The Rock Band 2 Story:
Rock Band 2 is pretty much just like the first Rock Band. You and your friends play as a band. You have drums, a guitar and a microphone. You have the chance to sing a variety of songs by some of the top selling artists in the world. While Rock Band 2 does pretty much everything the original Rock Band for XBOX 360 does, there are also some new options fans of the original Rock Band have been waiting for in a future release.

The entire Rock Band community can connect and play together online. There is the ability to go on a World Tour throughout the community. With the new Rock Band you also have new set challenges and can record your own albums. Best of all, Rock Band 2 features the new “Battle of the Bands” mode. You can take on other bands from around the world in this leaderboard challenge to try and reign supreme as the best rock band in the world!

While this should scream fun, there are downsides to purchasing Rock Band 2. Right now, the game is only available for XBOX 360. It’s also not available in a game bundle. That being said, it’s going to be a pain to have to buy the game, the instruments and any additional equipment needed to play Rock Band 2. On the other hand, the equipment has been upgraded, making it easier to play, so for some, the upgrades and added hassle in purchasing things separately will be worth it. For all the rest, the bundle is reportedly going to be available in October (the 19th?), so it’ll be worth the wait.

Enjoyment/Fun Factor:

Features:
I already mentioned all of the cool things you can do with Rock Band 2. Here is a breakdown of the new game playing modes:

-Battle of the Bands Mode – Battle other Bands (head to head) through the XBOX 360 Rock Band 2 Community. You can actually replay the battles posted by Harmonix over and over to get the best score. Your name will be placed on a leaderboard if you get a high enough score. This could prove to be quite a competition.

-Local/Global Online Community Access – Play with friends in different locations as your own band or take on others both nearby and around the world!

-World Tour Mode – Allows for both solo touring and Band World touring – go to different cities, take on challenges, play at a variety of band gigs, hire a staff and more!

-Tour Challenge Mode – Play through mini-challenges to improve your skills, all while rocking out to some of the best music ever made.

-Quickplay Mode – Get right into playing with your own prefab or customizable characters who can play any instruments you choose. This mode also allows for you to organize both your songs and set lists in a variety of ways for easy retrieval later on.

-Drum Trainer Mode – Learn how to really play the drums in this new and inventive mode of play! All you have to do is make sure the drums are hooked up. You will have to match a variety of beats, as you train on the drums. This is also said to help you learn to play better, on the drums, when you are playing the actual games. You can adjust how fast/slow you play.

-Freestyle Drum Mode – Jam on the drums any way you want!

All of these modes are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to new features for Rock Band 2. There are several other features available. When it comes to these features, there are both pros and cons to Rock Band 2. Let’s start with the pros.

Pros:

-As listed above – multiple modes of play – this includes all modes of play available in the original Rock Band (excluding Career Mode, which has been improved and merged into World Tour Mode)

-Rock Band 2 has backward compatibility with all past Rock Band downloaded content. It also has forward compatibility in this area. You can use every single song you downloaded for Rock Band with Rock Band 2.

-You can customize your set lists (as mentioned above) in Quickplay mode.

-Create your own unique character – pick out clothes, hairstyles, any accessories (including tattoos) and instruments. Your avatar is unique to you!

-Export your Rock Band disc tracks and upgrade them so they can be used in Rock Band 2, thanks to the disc export feature. Only three tracks cannot be exported from Rock Band.

-Over 100 new songs are available. There are 84 different master tracks on the disc. You can also download an additional 20 songs for free thanks to the code in your Rock Band 2 manual.

-New Rock Band instruments are wireless (excluding the microphone)

-New drums work excellent – easier to use – sound better – the best instrument upgrade

-The new guitar offers both manual and auto calibration

-Features Axl Roses infamous band, Guns N’ Roses latest song release, “Shackler’s Revenge”. This is GnR’s first official music release in 14 years!

-Offers Bob Dylan tracks for the first time in video game history

-There is said to be over 500 songs that will be made available for download through track packs, full albums, and individual tracks through the downloadable Rock Band music library.

-Actual game play (the core foundation of Rock Band) is exactly the same making this a welcome release for fans of the original game!

-Better song selection (at least in my opinion)

-Ability to move your character from one instrument to the other (do vocals on one song and drums on another without having to create another character), though you do have to go back to the song list for this to work.

-Guitar has a much better strum bar

-Degree of difficulty per instrument is listed on each song

-Single players can now play in World Tour Mode

Cons

-Headset jack for the guitar requires an adapter not found in the new guitar package

-The instruments/game bundle won’t be available until sometime in October meaning you’ll have to pay more and buy the instruments and game separately. This means you’ll be spending close to $30 more to buy all of these things separately.

-While you have the ability to export songs from Rock Band to Rock Band 2, it’s going to cost you. Expect to pay 400 Microsoft Points to do this.

-The auto calibration feature is not as good as it seems. It’s sensitive and not as willing to accept certain game play sounds if done in a different time than the calibration is set.

-You’re going to have to wait for the 20 tracks you’ll be able to download. Harmonix has said they’ll be available sometime this Fall though an official release date is not certain.

-Graphics have improved, but still don’t show what XBOX 360 is capable of displaying.

-Pitch issues when singing are still likely to arise

-Still kind of hard to change between characters/instruments though much easier than in the original Rock Band. For now, you might just have to log out of a set or out of an online session to switch instruments. That’s a bummer, but the fact that you don’t need multiple characters for multiple instruments is a vast improvement.

-Online play still has problems with lag though not as bad as before.

With endless amounts of gameplay and a an awesome selection of songs, it seems only natural to want to purchase Rock Band 2. Honestly, who doesn’t like this game?

The Track List for Rock Band 2 includes:

* 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 “

While the benefits far outweigh the negatives, Rock Band 2 is still a work in progress for the series. While this release isn’t going to accomplish everything fans and the creators of the game want, it is a step up from the original Rock Band. If you’re a fan of the first game, you’ll definitely want to upgrade.

Of course, the question then becomes…should you upgrade now or wait until the Rock Band 2 Bundle is released?

Features:
Replayability:

Controls:
The auto calibration feature makes the controls on the guitar even easier to use. Just for reference, the guitar was modeled after the Fender Stratocaster. With the drum and the guitar being wireless, it’s only a matter of time before the microphone is made that way, as well. Not having the mic wireless is a bit of a disappointment, but the other instruments are wireless, meaning it is only a matter of time before the mic is, too.

The strum bar on the guitar is a lot easier to use because it isn’t as flimsy as the last strum bar. This is a major improvement as far as the guitar goes. As for the drums, this is the most improved instrument in the entire set. The pads are more durable on the drum set, and they are also more responsive with more sensitivity to the pressure inflicted from the drum sticks. The drum pedal is also sturdier than what is available in the previous release.

Note: You’ll need several AA batteries for both the wireless drums and the guitar.

Ease of Use:

Visual Quality:
This is the area that could use the most improvement. Fans wanted more control over the look, but the overall graphic appearance is too cartoonish to appreciate. The graphics are okay, but they aren’t going to blow you away like the graphics for some of the other games coming out for XBOX 360 such as the spectacular graphics of Fallout 3 or Armored Core for Answer. XBOX 360 is capable of so much more!

It is nice that character creation avatars provide a more individualized feel. The options for look, accessories, and the like were one of the things that fans of Rock Band asked for the most and they’ve got what they wanted now that Rock Band 2 has been released! Still, with improved graphics overall, the avatars will look a lot better!

Visual:

Audio Quality:
Audio quality is important for a game like Rock Band 2. The goal is to have a high quality sound. While I can guarantee, if played and sung right, the music is going to sound awesome, not everyone is coordinated enough to play this game the right way. That being said, Rock Band 2 has the potential to really rock things out. I’m highly impressed in this area.

Audio:

Bottom Line:
Sure, Rock Band 2 isn’t the perfect game. There is definitely room for improvement, but there was room for improvement on Rock Band. This is just the first release of those improvements. While not everything could be fixed or upgraded in this release, there are so many additional options, the new game play modes are a lot more fun than those available in Rock Band, and this is a great way to jam it out with friends, whether you’re in the same room or not!

While I recommend (personally) waiting until the Rock Band 2 bundle comes out, you definitely shouldn’t hesitate to upgrade to this video game. It takes everything that made Rock Band a great game and improves it tenfold. Now I can’t wait for Rock Band 3!

Overall Rating:

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