Well I haven't been playing too many games as of late....this week has been pretty hectic with a lot of different things. But that doesn't mean I can't play catchup with some of the games that I haven't reviewed yet.
Rock Band is probably the most hyped game out at the moment, and the most coveted by non-gaming people. A PS3 and the Rock Band set will likely run you over $650! So the question is, is it worth it?
Rock Band (Playstation 3)
Move aside Guitar Hero. We just added drums and a microphone. I think anyone that has played Guitar Hero alone and with a partner would agree....it's twice as fun with a partner. Imagine having a group of four playing songs together! Rock Band comes with a surprisingly realistic drum set with four pads and a footpedal. It works much like the guitar on the screen, but requires much better coordination to do it.
The microphone is quite creative as well. If recognizes pitch, so you can actually just hum along to the song. But what's the fun in that? The words scroll across the screen, so you might as well sing em!
Add to that the guitar that most people are familiar with. There are a few mechanical differences between the Guitar Hero guitar and the Rock Band guitar. There is an extra set of keys for solos that you can use to avoid strumming, which is very helpful in certain sections.
What I Liked:
-The party atmosphere. It's easy to get anyone involved. Each instrument can be set at a different difficulty level, so it's easy for experts to play with amateurs and not be bored. In addition, four people can play at a time, so even in a party of 8 people, you get to play every other song.
-The teamwork aspect. When you're playing with a group, if one person is struggling to keep up, they may fail. This doesn't necessarily mean the end though...a teammate can save you if they play well enough. The same thing goes for if you're going down the tubes...they can kick it into "overdrive" and you can redeem yourself much faster.
-The song list. Not only are many of the songs from different genres and decades, but they are primarily catchy and easy to get into. In addition, they make new songs available for download every week, so you can buy new songs that you would like to play.
-The multiplayer band-mode. You can actually make your band name, character names, and you can design your characters with physique, hair-styles, body art, and clothing. It acts as a world tour, where you need to earn a bus, and a jet, and bodyguards, and the whole nine yards by doing well at the gigs. Most importantly, there is a lot of flexibility...you can do random song lists, or custom set lists.
What I Didn't Like
-Single Player mode. Don't get me wrong, it works just fine. But while I could play Guitar Hero III alone and get into it, I can't do that for Rock Band. It just isn't as much fun by yourself, and I'd rather do something else than bang on the drums alone.
-Microphone. As creative of an idea as this is, I think this is the least favorite instrument of most people. Some karaoke fanatics will love it. The problem is, not all songs will be in someone's voice range. Doing a set of random songs is frustrating if your voice can't reach the notes on one of the songs. Finally, it doesn't feel as challenging to beat the song by singing. If you're playing on easy or expert, you still sing the same thing. It doesn't get harder...you just have to get more accurate. So it almost doesn't pay to ever sing on expert. It's also easier to beat a song by humming the notes, which is just not nearly as fun either.
-Purchasing of new content. I understand that they are sinking time and money into making new songs and coming up with the drum lines and vocals, etc. But you have to spend maybe $1.75 for a song. That can add up over time, making this initially expensive game even more costly.
Who I Think Would Like This Game
Honestly, anyone who enjoys music will like this game. There are songs from any decade at all sorts of difficulty ranges. The fact that you are playing with friends makes this an amazing party game. Don't be afraid of all of the things that I didn't like about the game. I just wanted to share the things that I had slight frustrations with. Overall I think that this game is well worth the investment, especially if you plan on purchasing a PS3 anyway. If it isn't in the budget yet, I suggest saving up some cash...it's truly a blast.
Many people compare Guitar Hero III to Rock Band....it's really an unfair comparison. One is designed around single player, and the other around multiplayer. That's just the way that it is. If you liked one, you should like the other. I'd like to hear any experiences you've had with Rock Band...post em if you got em. Also any questions, feel free to ask.
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I think it's about time to update this. I am 24 years old. I co-own a (very) small software development company. I enjoy reading, playing video games, and pondering about life. I am Roman Catholic. I enjoy intellectual discussions. I enjoy spending time with family and friends. I do not play World of Warcraft any longer. And I am now resolved to update this blog more than once or twice a month. Hopefully you enjoy my ramblings about software, video games, and life in general.
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6 comments:
Good Review Trystery. Unfortunately, I havent made it over to Rock out with you guys yet. I have good news though, Rock Band is slated to appear on the Wii at some point this year, and there is a follow up disc for GH3 coming out. It looks like it will be a disc dedicated to Aerosmith. Good news if you are a fan.
One other thing to note about Guitar Hero 3 on the Wii is the original game shipped out and only played in MONO sound. That's right they managed to ship a music based game and only have it play mono sound even though it's advertised as a surround sound game. On the bright side Activision is admitting their mistake and there's a site you can go to and get a new surround sound disc.
On other news since HD-DVD has died I'm thinking I might pick up a PS3 for it's Blue-Ray playing ability. Probably won't get Rock band though. I will probably end up picking up Guitar hero 3 for it. I don't like the Wii version because you can't download extra stuff for it.
I like rock band for the non-competative factor as well. In GH games, when you're playing with a friend, it's almost impossible to just enjoy the game and sit back and groove to the music, unless one of you wants to play bass. I guess its easier to not feel humiliated at the end of a rock band song when you get 63% because the other person was on a different instrument, not playing guitar better than you :)
- pat
I am waiting on activision to send me my surround sound disc. I was a little upset at that bonehead mistake, but at least they are working to fix it. The lack of downloadable content on the wii version is a huge bummer, but oh well, its better than no guitar hero at all. I have been playing Professor Layton for the DS, and its pretty sweet. Somewhere around 200 puzzles mixed into a pretty cool game, with weekly downloadable content. Worth the $30 in my opinion.
I think the biggest thing with Rock Band is that both the drum and mic take an entirely new skill set. Drums are -hard- but a hell of a lot of fun. From what I've seen and read, if you can play Rock Band drums on expert, you could actually play a real drum kit with competency. The guitar obviously doesn't give you that kind of skill.
As for the mic, anyone can pass the songs on easy. Most people can pass the songs on medium. Hard is a pretty solid challenge and Expert is freaking nasty. However, Daenerys doesn't like playing the guitar or drums much - but she does enjoy the singing. And she can kick expert just fine except on the songs that are -really- in bad ranges for her. There are a couple where even changing octaves doesn't matter too much because it's a strange note break and she needs to drop it a bit in difficulty for more forgiveness. Easy to overlook the voice as an instrument taking skill, but again it's a good bit harder to learn to sing on Expert than it is to learn playing the guitar (controller) IMO.
Trys mentioned it and I'll stress it again - the fact that you can each be on your own difficulty is the biggest factor for me enjoying the game. We play a lot with our 12 year old right now - me on drums (Med), 12 y/o on guitar (Med) and Dany on vocals (Expert/Hard). When we get a second guitar controller, I'll end up playing guitar or bass on Hard/Expert while the 12 y/o plays along on Med. It makes it a hella lot more fun when you're not bored or alternately, frustrating the hell out of someone by making them play out of their reach. As for the solo careers... The biggest reason I don't mind them is the leaderboards. That's an XBox 360 thing of course, but it's damned cool to get a realtime updated ranking showing where you individually and your band as a whole ranks in the US. Gives a very nice competitive edge to the game while still allowing for the sheer fun of co-op multiplayer.
Saro
Good for people to know.
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