Rock Band 2 (Xbox 360) Review

Posted by Ramon Aranda on 09.26.2008

To those who are about to rock, we salute you!



Title: Rock Band 2
Publisher: MTV Games
Type: Music
Players: 1-4

Ahh Rock Band, how we love thee. When the original RB came out, gamers went nuts over the full band experience along with a kick ass soundtrack. So when Rock Band 2 was announced, we all let out a collective “f_ck yeah!” Now that the game has been released into the wild, it's time to give our final thoughts one of the most anticipated sequels of the year.

There's nothing more exciting that obliterating a box in which its contents include a game that you've been looking forward to playing with and its peripherals. Of course the game can be played with the instruments included in the original Rock Band so those looking to save a buck can simply get the software. Luckily for us, we also got a chance to play around with the brand new drum set and guitar which we'll get to later on. For starters lets look at what the game offers this time around.

Gameplay

Rock Band 2 comes with all of the features that gamers loved the first time around but also with some tweaks and new additions. One of the newer features is the Drum Trainer which not only lets you practice drum beats and try to top your high scores but it also helps you improves you drumming on a real drum kit. You can practice playing harder drum beats progressively and you can use various drum samples to help you pull off tough sets in-game. The trainer also has a pretty sweet Freestyle mode that allows you to smash the drums with your own beats including your own music which can be accessed through the Xbox Music Player – good stuff! The rest of the training mode is still there in case you're a little rusty or you've got a noob looking to try it out for the first time.

Now let's get into the real meat of the game starting with the improved World Tour mode. First, you can customize your character, adjusting his/her physical attributes including their gear, tattoos, name and hometown. You also choose a hometown for your band which then shows up during the game which is a nice touch. Want to make a band logo? Well you can do that too!With your character all setup and ready to go, you'll be allowed this time around to play any instrument and you'll no longer have to deal with a band leader. The tour mode can be played either locally or with other friends online as well as solo if you don't want to deal with other primadonnas aside from yourself. As you go through the tour, you'll encounter 59 different venues through 24 cities and you can even hire a staff to help you on your journey. You can hire a Merch girl to assist you in pulling in more cash during your gigs or a Promoter to help you get access to new venues. Not happy with their work? Then fire their asses though the World Map screen. You can only have one staff member at a time though.



You can also take part in the new Battle of the Bands mode which lets you compete against other bands online. Unfortunately this doesn't mean that you can get the band together and go head to head with another band at the same time, but rather there will be daily and weekly challenges put forth by the development team and every band can take those challenges to earn a score. You can be notified via email or Xbox Live when your friends trounce your record and you can retake the challenges to reclaim your spot as the top band. The cool thing is that these challenges will come and go frequently so you can bet on having something to do pretty much every day. You can also go through Tour Challenges mode to create your own playlists with friends or solo.

So clearly the game has quite a few additions to the game, but I'm sure you're all wondering; how does it play? Well as good as you remember it but with a more balanced level of difficulty. The game also includes over 80 songs to begin with but we'll get into that a little later. I have to admit that I marked out from the get go when I got to jam out to Eye of the Tiger. There are enough easier songs to help you get started but the difficulty starts to ramp up – luckily there's plenty of songs for starters or veterans. I mentioned before that Rock Band (1) instruments work for the sequel but how do the new ones handle? Keep in mind first that there is no bundle with the game and the instruments so you'll either have to dish out for the instruments separately or go with the instrument bundle. The microphone hasn't changed so you can just use your existing one. Now let's start with the new wireless drum kit. The kit uses three AA batteries and I found it to not use up too much juice so that I'd have to switch batteries very often. The drum pads themselves are softer, resulting in a quieter experience when you're banging away with the drumsticks. There were complaints about the kick pedal from the first set of drums but luckily the new ones have a metal plate on them so its much sturdier. The new Fender Stratocaster Guitar has also received a few tweaks. On the one hand, the fret buttons are not as clicky meaning they're a little more quiet. Also the whammy bar felt stiffer this time around so I felt safe tapping away at it without worrying that it was going to break. Though you can manually calibrate your guitar with the game, the new Fender allows you to also do an automatic calibration. Aside from that, it handled pretty much the same way so it's up to gamers if they want to plunk down for a new guitar. The only other change to the guitar is the look of it as the black and white look is gone. Now we get a sexier looking design that has realistic looking brown finish.

Graphics



The overall look of the game remains largely unchanged. Character models look about the same but now we have some newer venues to look at. The interface still looks sharp and colorful as before if you're enjoying it all in HD. I mentioned character creation earlier and that's something else to touch on in more detail. When you're choosing your character, you can select their style from grunge to rock to metal or goth. Also you'll have the option of a few different hairstyles and face types though I would have like to see a more robust set of options. Given EA's Gamerface feature on various games, it would have been nice to have more control over the look of my character. As it stands you get a few other options like facial hair, tattoos and skin color. What I wouldn't give to have been able to use my Live Camera to take a snapshot of myself ala Facebreaker – but oh well.

Sound

Obviously if you're playing Rock Band 2, you have some interest in the sound and music. Again, you get an enormous library of music to go through when you utilize all of your options. For those using a surround system, specifically with an optical cable for digital sound, you'll have to remember to access the sound menu and turn on Dolby Digital, otherwise you'll be playing in simulated surround sound. Having setup my sound options, I jammed out all of my favorite tracks which include newer songs as well as older jams with groups such as AC/DC, Guns N' Roses, Metallica and Journey to name a few. Speaking of Guns N' Roses, Rock Band 2 includes "Shackler's Revenge", which is a track off their unreleased album “Chinese Democracy” and it's the only place to hear it first. The game comes with 84 original tracks but there is a 20-song pack that will be free to download as well. To add to that, you can also rip tracks off the original Rock Band disc provided you have the latest Rock Band update and you are connected online. All you have to do is visit the options menu and select Disc Export to get it started. “But wait, thereshhh mo!” Not enough songs for you? Well RB2's got you covered you needy bastards! All previously released downloadable tracks from the original Rock Band can also be transferred over to Rock Band 2. You can visit the Music Store with its new interface that allows you to see album art, and difficulty levels along with the ability to sort between various different categories to get your DLC. For Rock Band 1 tracks though there will be a small fee to get it transferred over while the DLC will work for free.

Fun Factor

Really, fun is what Rock Band 2 is all about. Clearly if you played the first one, you're probably already hooked to begin with but with some of the newer additions. It's nice to be able to jam with your friends online and also having the ability to bring on a fill-in member if someone from your original bandmates isn't available. Add to that the excellent variety of music and any gamer will have a favorite set of tracks to play with. As I stated earlier, it would have been nice to be able to go head to head with other bands as I think that would have been the next evolution in the franchise but perhaps its something we'll see with the next version. As it stands, it's still a joy to play and playing with a full band is as good as it gets.



Lasting Appeal

Barring an announcement that Rock Band 3 is already on the way, Rock Band 2 has the stuff to keep you playing for a long time. The downloadable content on the way alone, is enough to give this game legs to remain fresh. The newer features are great to have so even after you complete World Tour, there's still the Tour Challenges and more importantly the Battle of the Bands which will give you daily and weekly challenges to look forward to. It's a great way to keep players coming back for more.

The 411

For gamers who have yet to get into Rock Band, this is the perfect time to start. Rock Band 2 features all of the great options from the original game plus a whole new and upgraded set of modes to fulfill just about anything you want out of the experience. For Rock Band veterans, there's enough new content in the sequel that warrants a purchase in my opinion. Plus you won't be punished for having already downloaded music packs since you can bring those along too. At the very least, you're getting over 100 new songs for $60 which is still a deal in itself and you can use your existing instruments. In the end Rock Band 2 is the definitive Rock Band experience and no gamer with a love for the genre should pass it up. Now who says that sequels can't be better than the originals!

Graphics	9.0	Still as good looking as the original.
Gameplay	10.0	Excellent controls with a better balance of easier and tougher tracks. New instruments feel better too and improved modes are welcomed.
Sound	10.0	Killer soundtrack with a ton of new and old school groups. Best when played with a digital surround sound.
Lasting Appeal	10.0	Over 100 songs without counting future DLC. You can even rip music from the original game and previously released content making the track list at about 500 songs available!
Fun Factor	10.0	How can you not enjoy yourself rocking out with friends as a band?
Overall	10.0   [ Virtually Perfect ]

Screenshots
All 3 Rock Band II Screenshots