Rock Band hysteria...

Author's Rating:

Pros: Great Gameplay, Tons of fun, Drums, On Stage Graphics

Cons: Repetitiveness, New Guitar, Expensive

The Bottom Line: 
Fan of Guitar Hero? Get Rock Band now!!...

Author's Review
Ever since the release of the original Guitar Hero, Harmonix has become extremely popular. However, when they announced they would be leaving the Guitar Hero franchise to work on the new Rock Band, many people were both upset, and hopeful for Harmonix's new creation. Some did not think the game would live up to the anticipation it had been building. The wait was worth it¡¦..Rock Band is AWESOME!!
Many people will proclaim that Harmonix¡¯s new creation ¡°Rock Band¡± is easily the best rhythm game of all time. If both Guitar Heroes, and Singtstar, and a drum set were combined to form one super game would the world be ready? Well it better be. What it got was Rock Band!!! The gamers will be selling out gigs in no time! It is a four-player cooperative game. There is one player on drums, lead guitar, bass, and lead vocals. It honestly makes one feel as though they are in a real band. A person finds them self feeling like a rock star in minutes.
The game play is much like Guitar Hero. There are four difficulty levels: easy, medium, hard, and expert. Although it is repetitive, the notes change with each song. One can either play solo careers for singing, drumming, and playing guitar (sorry bass), but the real fun lies with making a band and playing a world tour. During the world tour, you'll play gigs, unlock more songs, new vehicles, shop for clothes and much more. Characters can be created for each instrument and it is possible to fully customize him in clothes that fit each rock stereotype with crazy hairstyles to boot. The only real issue is that there isn't too much customization here, meaning options are slightly limited. Other than that, the main basis of Rock Band is playing together as a band with friends. You'll have tons of fun making your own set lists and playing them with friends while earning money and eventually play in the big arenas. Some songs are played a little more than liked due to random set lists that pick songs for the band, but it's all worthwhile because it ends up being fun regardless.
Visually, Rock Band looks fantastic. It is right up there with Guitar Hero, the two being very similar. The animation in the game is great. The many characters on stage move according to the music being played. No longer are the singers mouth¡¯s stationary, or the guitarists fingers in one place the whole time. Also the drummer¡¯s hands hit the drums to the beat of the tune. The stage affects are amazing. The camera angles are similar to the ones found in Guitar Hero, but it just makes everything look better. All together it is Guitar Heroes¡¯ big brother on steroids!
Buying the bundle pack comes with the game and all the hardware needed to play. First and foremost, the largest, best piece is the drum set. This mimics a drum set pretty well, having four drums and a foot pedal. Also included is a pair of drumsticks. Regular drumsticks do the job just fine too in case the ones included break. Overall, the drums play nicely, and are probably the most fun to play. It is a real challenge, because most of the songs are hard to play on the drums. It takes a lot of coordination. Secondly, the game comes with a Fender Stratocaster look-a-like guitar. This guitar also does not come with a port for a headset on it. However, the guitar shows many improvements over the Guitar solo buttons on the bottom of the neck, and an FX switch, which allows you to change effects you guitar makes during solos. The guitar works averagely. It takes some getting used to the new buttons, and hammer-ons and pull-offs are much harder with the new guitar. The new guitar is inadequate because the buttons are very hard to find during the intense game play. The buttons are not raised like the original Guitar Hero guitars, but are part of the neck of the guitar. It is just flat out harder to play. However, double strumming is much easier, and when you master the solo buttons, you feel like a true rock star. However, if you fear change, no worries the Guitar Hero guitars can be used to shred.
Other than the guitar, Rock Band includes a standard microphone that can be hit to act as a tambourine during select parts of a song. The microphone works nicely, and works through the controller, meaning it's the only way you can use a headset. Nothing else can really be said about the mic except that it does what it's supposed to do and is +pretty sturdy. Overall, the equipment you'll receive is decent. It looks good, realistic and it's fun to play. The only bad thing about the game is the price. The bundle pack which includes: the game, the guitar, the drum set, and the microphone can range anywhere from 170 to 279 dollars depending where it is bought.
Other than local play, finding a few people online to join the band is easy. While this isn't as fun as playing with people locally, it still gives the idea of playing together as a band, and is still fun nonetheless. The only problem here is that there aren't very many people online searching for games, especially those for certain positions (i.e. singers are hard to come by). And even when people are found, talking to them is out of the question, which takes some fun out of it. Talking trash when someone fails is half of the fun. Other than that, online multiplayer is still a nice addition, is fun to play, and completely lag-free.
Overall, Rock Band is just fun. It is one of the most fun games to play. It will have anyone who straps on a guitar feeling like a real rock-star in no time. The instruments may not be the best and most durable, but they do their job just fine. The idea of creating your own rocker is a great idea that will be around for a while. Also, the price may be high but Rock Band is worth it. Regardless of all the little setbacks it has, Rock Band is a phenomenal game for music lovers to play, and is arguably the best rhythm game of all time.