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Great game, but the peripherals are cheap

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: December 16, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is very fun and a blast to play with friends. My only problem, and I feel it is a very substantial problem, is that the guitar and drum set are very cheaply made. After playing it for less than 12 hours total, I have already had to make calls to get the guitar and the kick pedal for the drum set replaced. On the guitar the strum bar stopped working correctly after about 4 hours, and the kick pedal broke where it is attached to the base. I can see these things breaking eventually, but not during the first weekend of use.
Great game, I just wish that they had included more robust equipment with it.

Rock Band vs. Guitar Hero

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: March 21, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RPWRT37Y9ZEKW Disclaimer: I've uploaded some video here with me drumming and another with me on bass and vocals. My "singing" may make your ears bleed. You have been warned. I'll try to shoot a better video in the future, but in my house it's pretty challenging with the glare in mny living room and the family and all that so this one will have to do for now. Sorry!

So which to buy, "Rock Band" or Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock? The big money is on both, but which of the two is the best? That all depends on what you want out of YOUR kicka$z rock simulator. Both have flaws and can be excruciatingly difficult, both are insanely fun to play, both are great party games, both cost an arm and a leg and both ROCK THE MUTHA@#%*ING HOUSE! The wireless guitar controller for GH3 works wonderfully with RB, but there is no such love for GH3 if you buy the RB guitar -which has a few extra features like soloing frets on the top of the neck (both have the awesome whammy bar, though). If you don't want to drum (singing can be done in a pinch with your xbox live headset), then buying the GH3 bundle is a no brainer as the gameplay, song quality, and presentation are far superior than RB's. Plus, after you're done thrashing it up with GH3 you can get the RB game for a mere $60 (or cheaper) and enjoy it's very customizable characters (GH3 has no such thing) and super-eclectic song selection using the GH guitar. Also in GH3's favor is a new version of "Anarchy in the UK" recorded by the Sex Pistols just for this game. Slash, Tom Morello, and Brett Michaels also make appearances in-game which is sweet. Score one for the Legends of Rock.

However, the fun of playing drums in RB should not be underestimated. It's pricey, but if you've got the dough and a little bit of rhythm and aren't tone-deaf (like me) than RB is like 3 games in one: guitar/bass, karaoke, and drums. Plus there is an amazing and ever-growing selection of downloadable songs (priced about $2 each) from bands like The Police, Grateful Dead, The Clash, and Metallica. So for a few extra bucks you can increase the game's replayability even more. Not a big fan of the "nickel-and-diming", but to play "Complete Control" and "Synchronicity II", it's worth it. Plus, did anybody say "ultimate party game?" My friends and family aren't gamers so I don't get to indulge the multiplayer nearly as often as I'd like (though the wife does enjoy singing on occasion and this marks the first time she's enjoyed a videogame not named "Tetris") but I can assure you that the Band World Tour career mode is outstanding and much better than the lonelioness of the Solo Tour. GH3 also features downloadable songs, but they aren't particularly enticing to me even though the game itself features the most rockin' collection of songs humanly possible: thrash, hardcore punk, blues, avant-garde alternative rock, and much more. I've also gotten 4 songs ("Dream On" and 3 Dropkick Murphy jams) for free by keeping an eye on xbox live so hurray for Activision on that one.

Now the bad. It's annoying to have to beat every single song to progress on solo modein RB. I've been stuck on the insanely long and difficult "Green Grass and High Tides" by The Outlaws on drums and I don't really have time to practice a 10-minute song over and over. GH3 let's you skip a song on each difficulty level if you choose and is easily the more challenging game when it comes to the guitar. The notes come fast and hard even on normal difficulty and the final run of songs will make you head spin and fingers hurt if you're not one of those inhuman gamers who can do this stuff blindfolded. And if you are, I'd like to eat your brain and gain your powers like Sylar because I've got only slightly more talent for this than I do real guitar playing -which is significantly easier than playing expert difficulty on GH3. I play these games to relax, not to go all Pete Townshend on my gaming equipment. Normal difficulty on RB is absolute cake after playing GH3, and the timing on notes often isn't right either, but when you go into hard difficulty the game goes from slightly challenging to impossible for me about halfway through the solo career mode. At least GH3 ramps up the difficulty slowly. There is no such problem on Band World Tour mode, by the way. YOu can pretty much pick and choose what you want to do and what songs to play. RB's flaws and a very cool, over-the-top style make GH3 the king of guitar games. But, again, if you want to drum or sing RB is the only game in town. Unless you get American Idol, that is. And if you do, you suck. Majorly. And still can't drum.

The bottom line is this: if you love rock music, save up whatever you can and buy both. Even if you have to buy them piece-by-piece like I did, both games are awesome for rock music fans. If you're into the hard stuff like Slayer and Dead Kennedys and do most of your gaming singleplayer than go for GH3; the game's song selection and challenge is unrivalled. If you prefer more mainstream alternative music like Radiohead and REM than RB is your ticket. While GH3's guitar battle mode is very cool, RB definitely gets the win on the multiplayer aspect. If you've got 3 friends or family members who are into it, there is no better way to enjoy some great music together than with RB. There is some song overlap as both games feature "Sabotage", "When You Were Young" and others which is annoying and there should never, ever, EVER be a rock game -much less two- with no Jimi, no AC/DC, and no Van Halen. It's just not right. But all is forgiven because these are two killer gaming franchises that will keep us busy (and broke!) for years to come. Rock on!

Great, but not perfect.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: November 30, 2007
Author: Amazon User

'Rock Band' is the latest music/rhythm game release by Harmonix, the original creators of the 'Guitar Hero' franchise (Guitar Hero 3 was actually done by a different company, but they changed very little). Essentially, 'Rock Band' is Guitar Hero with the ability to play additional instruments (bass guitar and drums) and to sing along. While there have been several earlier drumming games (the biggest being Konami's 'Beatmania', currently out only in Japan), this is the first US console release of such a game, and the only one to put together multiple types of instruments. To put it bluntly -- this is, in my opinion, the best multiplayer music/rhythm game made to date. By far.

The meat of the game is the "Band World Tour" mode; this is a multiplayer career mode that allows you to progress from a small, local band to become international superstars. You can create and customize your own band of gnarly musicians, including different animation styles (rock/punk/goth/metal) and an enormous variety of costumes, hair styles, tattoos, and makeup/face paint. Tattoos and face paint can also be extensively customized, as well as your band's logo; the editing process is laborious, but very flexible. Once you start playing, your band gains fans as you master harder performances, and has to unlock new modes of transportation (beat-up van, tour bus, plane, etc.) and various rock star perks (roadies!) to be able to access more tour stops. Rock hard enough and you can wind up in the Hall of Fame! Various events include not just playing single songs, but having to play preset, random, or customizable 'setlists' of multiple songs back-to-back, and various 'challenge' events that require you to play difficult songs at or above a certain difficulty level.

Unfortunately, "Band World Tour" can only be played locally, and not online. Online play is available (in the XBox 360 and Playstation 3 versions), but only in the "Quickplay" mode where you pick individual songs from a list and not the full career more. Harmonix has said that it is unlikely that this will be added later; this will probably be the killer feature of 'Rock Band 2'. There is ranked 1-on-1 matchmaking through XBox Live in a few different modes, but no way to have your whole band take on another one head(s)-to-head(s) (again, I would look for this in a sequel).

One other caveat that deserves mention: In "Band World Tour" mode, you must have everyone in your band at least use "Medium" difficulty (the second of four settings) to progress more than about halfway through the game, and "Hard" difficulty (the second-hardest setting) to unlock a few of the challenge events and the last few arenas. At "Medium" difficulty, most people will need to actually work at/practice the harder songs if they do not have earlier experience with Guitar Hero (or playing a drum kit in real life), and it may prove frustratingly difficult for little kids or particularly tone-deaf/rhythm-challenged players. You are free to simply play the songs at any difficulty in "Quickplay" mode once they are unlocked in either the single-player or multiplayer career mode (there are also cheat codes to unlock all the songs right away).

The single-player modes actually take a step back from Guitar Hero 3; there are no special challenges or deviations from the regular "play through the songlist to unlock everything" formula of Harmonix's earlier titles. Clearly the main focus of the game is the multiplayer aspect (which, to be fair, is extremely well done).

Underlying all that is an extremely fun and accessible rhythm game. The basic gameplay is extremely similar to Guitar Hero (not a bad thing). Players can individually select their difficulty level, ranging from "Easy" to "Expert". Higher difficulties require hitting more notes, and much more complex patterns of notes and chords. While playing, each instrument has a "crowd meter" that tracks how well you are doing; if you are not playing well, the meter will go down, and if it hits the bottom you will be booed off the stage! Playing certain note phrases perfectly fills an "energy meter"; when the meter is more than 50% full, each instrument has a way to activate an "Overdrive" mode that gives a score multiplier and increases the crowd meter immensely (and if multiple players activate it simultaneously, the entire group gets an additional score multiplier). Activating "Overdrive" also brings eliminated players back, although if they are booed off stage three times in total they are out for the rest of the song. Some songs feature a "Big Rock Ending", where all the players can freestyle and play whatever they want for bonus points (but only if they stop freestyling at the right time and actually hit the last few notes of the song!) A practice mode is available that lets you play individual sections of a song, and slow it down by up to 50%.

Visually, the game looks great, especially on an HDTV. The musicians are detailed and well-animated. Close-up shots show individual strings being plucked on a bass, the guitarist rapidly changing their hand positions, or the drummer accurately hitting complex rhythms and fills, unlike the simplistic strumming of the characters in earlier Guitar Hero games. The musicians interact (for instance, your singer might move next to the guitarist and they'll sing along together for a few bars), and have a wide variety of animations (including the singer occasionally crowd-surfing!) The only real complaint is that in 4-player modes, the screen gets quite crowded, especially on a smaller television set. This not only keeps the onlookers from seeing the awesome graphics, but can occasionally make it difficult to follow complex note patterns or to read the lyrics of a song. On a large HDTV this is not an issue.

The guitar/bass gameplay is almost identical to Guitar Hero 3 (although the guitar parts are frequently much easier). If you have the new "Fender Stratocaster" guitar that comes in the Rock Band bundle, there are a few new features available. There is a selectable effects switch that gives you various special effects during solos (such as echo, chorus, or wah-wah). There is also a second set of fret buttons near the bottom of the controller's neck; during specified "guitar solo" sections you can play using these buttons and not need to actually use the strum bar (that is, you just tap the notes as they come up). This helps immensely on some songs, although on others I found it easier to just play it normally. A "Lefty Mode" is available that reverses the note positions on the screen, making it easier for a left-handed guitarist to follow along. The new guitar is also more easily reversible to play lefty than the Guitar Hero 3 model.

I have not played any other karaoke games, but the singing in Rock Band is a lot of fun. A pitch track and lyrics scroll along the screen (or, alternatively, in a static 'follow the bouncing ball'-type setup); if you match the notes and timing closely you get more points and increase your crowd and energy meters. You have to match the pitch of the vocal track, but you can sing in a higher or lower octave (good for those of us who can't match the vocal range of either Jon Bon Jovi or Kurt Cobain). Activating "Overdrive" mode is done by singing/talking/yelling during specified "freestyle sections" where you can sing anything you want. You can also adjust the volume of the in-game vocal track, as well as how loudly your singing is played through the speakers. The easier difficulty settings are very forgiving on both pitch and timing, but you will need to be a fairly competent singer to clear most songs on Expert. A handheld (wired) microphone is included in the bundle package, but any USB microphone (or an XBox Live wired/wireless headset) can be used.

The newest addition to the console rhythm game market is drumming. The bundle package includes a USB electronic drum kit, which consists of an adjustable base, four pads, and a foot pedal. Similar to playing the guitar parts, a series of colored notes scroll from top to bottom, with each note corresponding to a different drum pad (an orange line across the scroll area indicates a hit on the foot pedal/kick drum). For the most part, the leftmost pad is the snare drum, the second is the hi-hat, and the third and fourth are various toms and cymbals (the same pad will often make different sounds depending on the context of the song). A "Lefty Mode" is available for southpaws, which reverses the pads and the screen display. "Overdrive" mode is activated by playing a freestyle drum solo (at specific times) and hitting a crash cymbal at the end of the fill. The drumming is -- while far from the difficulty of playing some of the real drum parts -- quite challenging, especially on the higher difficulty levels of very fast and complex songs. The drum pads are sensitive, but do not always register hits near the edges (so you have to be more precise than when hitting a real tom or snare drum).

The game features an extremely wide variety of musical genres, and a large number of songs (the full list can be seen at www.rockband.com). The game ships with about 60 tracks, and there are already more than a dozen released as downloadable extras, with more coming every week (albeit at a cost of around $1.50-$2 per track, which can add up quickly). Harmonix has stated they will have at least one new track for download every week in 2008, as well as several full albums (the first of which will be 'Who's Next' by The Who.) About 45 of the starter tracks are in the "main setlist", consisting of big-name artists, and another 15 or so are "bonus tracks" from up-and-coming bands. All but a handful of the tracks are the original recordings; the rest are covers by Harmonix's studio musicians.

While overall this is a fantastic game, there are a few drawbacks that prevent me from giving it a 5-star overall score:

1) The single-player mode is somewhat lacking, and not having an online multiplayer career mode makes it difficult for some people to get to play that part of the game (since you have to get several people together at the same place at the same time). You *can* play the multiplayer career mode "solo" if you are capable of both singing and playing the guitar/bass/drums simultaneously (a headset microphone or mic stand is all but required).

2) Some of the menus and modes are confusing, and they made a few very odd design decisions. First, all the instruments are 'live' in the menu screens even if you have a normal controller attached. When we had a group of people playing the game and swapping in/out on instruments (and trying to show each other how to play), frequently we'd have problems because someone hitting the drum pads or practicing fingering/strumming on the guitar was moving the game in/out of various menu screens. Another odd decision is the inability to change the 'leader' of a band once it is created (which is a problem because the 'leader' must be present for the band to play in career mode), and that individual characters cannot change instruments (although guitarists can play either guitar or bass per song). None of these are dealbreakers, and they may be addressed via downloadable patches in the future, but it gives the impression that the game was rushed.

3) There have been reported issues with reliability of the new guitar and drum kit (I have not had any problem with mine, but it seems to be enough of a problem to mention). The design of the 'strum bar' on the new guitar was changed -- and while most people seem to like the performance of the new design, it also seems somewhat less resistant to abuse then the original Guitar Hero controllers. Also, some people have reported problems with their drum kit where the pads stop responding reliably. A few people have even managed to break the foot pedal(!), although I suspect that bad foot positioning and overzealous stomping are factors. So far EA and Harmonix have been very good about replacing any broken hardware, and are supposedly tweaking the designs to improve reliability when the individual instruments are released.

Overall, I would not hesitate to pick up Rock Band if you are fan of rhythm games, or if you are looking for an awesomely fun party game. However, it is not as compelling a single-player experience, and the online multiplayer does not seem to be completely fleshed out. But the single-player replay value is still extremely high (since you can play all the songs as a singer/drummer/guitarist, with increasing difficulty levels for each), and if Harmonix follows their downloadable content plans there will be a far larger song list in Rock Band than any of the Guitar Hero games. Rock Band is the most ambitious rhythm game to date, and is clearly a milestone achievement for Harmonix. I suspect a lot of people are going to unleash their inner rock star this holiday season, and few will be disappointed.

Quite Possibly the Greatest Party Game Ever Made

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: December 11, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This Christmas season many people and parents are thinking about whether or not to buy Rock Band or Guitar Hero 3. I bought Guitar Hero 3 when it came out but the truth is I only bought Guitar Hero 3 so I could have the extra guitar controller. Guitar Hero 3 is a fun game but if you're a parent who's looking to decide which one to buy there's really no competition. Rock Band may be $170 but it's been many years since I felt that I got this much value out of one game. Rock Ban's replay ability downright massacres Guitar Hero 3's. Rock Band may be a lot of money but I think you'll win parent of the year award if you buy this game.

Harmonix, the original Guitar Hero creators have once again revolutionized the way we play video games with Rock Band. Rock Band's main game play is meant to be its multiplayer where four people create their own characters in a band and travel to various places around the world playing gigs and earning fans and money. A new feature introduced in Rock Band is that you are penalized in the game for failing or restarting a song during world tour. As you gain fans you gain people like sound technicians who in reality do nothing but look cool in the game. The world tour should supply you with many hours of game play even more if you aren't using the same four people as your band mates.

The solo career is basically the same thing as Guitar Hero's except it should give you a lot of much needed extra practice with drums, vocals, and guitar if you need it. I found the guitar parts to be much easier than Guitar Hero's but at the same time more enjoyable because hard and expert are not all about pushing the same two buttons over and over again as fast as you can. It's quite fun. I'm a bassist so I was disappointed about the lack of bass career mode but the bass lines can be rather boring so I don't exactly blame them. The drum parts are very hard at first but you should get the hang out it. Singing is a different story, I still haven't mastered it. Despite what people might tell you, Rock Band's single player is just as fun as Guitar Hero and gives you more stuff to do.

Rock Band fixed some of the annoying things about Guitar Hero. Rock Band shows you how many stars you have earned and how close you are to the next one while you are playing so you get a sense of where you need to improve. However I felt that the Rock Band guitar was not as good as the Guitar Hero 3 wireless guitar. The set list is great but contained fewer songs than Guitar Hero, but there are more downloadable songs and Harmonix have announced more for the future. I was very impressed with the selection of songs the game had, every genre is represented in the game.

Guitar Hero is a great game but Rock Band has taken Guitar Hero's basis and built so much more on top of it. Rock Band so far has destroyed every party game I've ever played and this game is the must have game of the year. I would still buy Guitar Hero 3 for the controller, but if you're only going to buy one Rock Band is the one for you.

Guitar broke after 3 hour of play!!!!!!!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: December 29, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The game is really a lot of fun. The only thing (and it is a big thing) is that the guitar broke within the first 3 days. We had only played it maybe 2-3 hours tops. The guitar quality is bad and needs improvement. This must be a common problem because there is an automatic submission request form for the guitar on the Rock Band website for it to be returned for it to be swapped out for a new one. If the guitar worked better. I would give this game 4 out of 5. Be prepared to return your guitar and be waiting a couple of weeks for the manufacturer for the new one.

Defective Components a BIG Problem!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 7 / 11
Date: December 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I bought Rock Band (xbox 360) for my 13 year old son for Christmas. I bought it even after reading an extensive Boston Globe article about all of the problems with the game and its components. And of course, it's Christmas morning--we get the whole thing hooked up only to find out that the drum kit is defective. We did online trouble shooting and were told to return the game. So we packed the whole thing back up and returned it. Today, the day after Christmas, we are unable to locate another one in our area so I either need to buy one online (and the basic 169.99 model is not available anywhere--even Amazon) or we need to wait. I am so disappointed...as are my kids. It's irresponsible to heavily market an expensive game that has not been properly tested.

Broken guitar

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: November 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I only had Rock Band for five days before the guitar broke. I was a little suspicious that in the box, they would include a bright pink flyer telling consumers not to return the game but to contact EA customer support instead if any hardware peripherals breaks. You can get a new guitar shipped two day express as long as you provide a credit card number for a deposit.

The game itself is excellent. I'm having a lot of fun with the multi player features.

The Dream Becomes a Reality!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: November 29, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The Good: It is the ultimate party game. It's fun to play every instrument (except maybe for bass). Cool visual style.

The Bad: $170 price tag. Guitar peripheral a mixed-bag. Unfulfilling single player mode.

For the uninitiated, let's play a quick round of catch-up. Harmonix, the game developer responsible for the massively popular (and rightly so) music rhythm series, Guitar Hero, has taken that idea to the next level. This time around, instead of just rocking a sweet axe, a drum kit and microphone are included in the package. The idea is to offer up the ultimate multiplayer music experience, that of being in a real live Rock Band! Does it succeed?

In places, yes. Let's start off with the guitar, shall we? Any person familiar with the Guitar Hero series should have no problem jumping into Rock Band on the guitar. It plays identically to it's spiritual predecessor. In the past, however, official guitar peripherals have been designed and manufactured by Red Octane. Now they're developed without the help of of that great name. The result is an aesthetically pleasing design, paired with a concoction of smart moves and missteps. The peripheral (which resembles a Fender Stratocaster) has fret buttons that are flush with the neck of the guitar (both at the end and closer to the body). This makes it more difficult to keep track of where your fingers are located than it would on a Red Octane guitar, but after a few practice songs it hardly matters.

The largest problem with the guitar is the strum bar which, even though it is entirely silent when strummed (finally), feels too spongey for it's own good. In a fast song like The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop" where you're required to strum quickly, it can become difficult to lose track of where you are in the song. The old Red Octane guitars had a definite "stop" to it that you could feel (and hear). These do not. Overall, it's a somewhat decent peripheral (even if the failure rate is remarkably high). Still, I won't be throwing out my Red Octane guitars anytime soon.

The microphone peripheral is, well, a microphone. There's no getting around this one. Even if you can't play guitar, you can still shred the stuff at Guitar Hero (I'm proof of that). But if you can't sing, you may want to do your friends and family a favor and pass the mic to someone who can. Accordingly, the gameplay is fairly straightforward. Getting a high rating on your vocal performance will require you to sing the song well. Like the other instruments on the game, "notes" will scroll across the screen and it is your job to not only hit the right notes, but to begin and end the notes at the correct time. An arrow to the right of the screen will tell you if you need to shift your voice to match the correct pitch, just in case you couldn't tell on your own. As you increase the difficulty of the game, you'll have to be more accurate in your notes as well as your hits and releases. Things can get pretty unforgiving at higher difficulties.

But like all songs, there are times when you're not going to be singing, just standing around. Harmonix has smartly added in a nice gimmick to keep you busy. During these times, small dots will appear on the screen and you'll have to tap the microphone in time to simulate shaking a tambourine or clapping your hands. It's not the most enthralling gameplay ever, but it keeps you from getting bored while your buddy is wailing away on the guitar. The worst part about singing is trying to tackle a song that you're unfamiliar with. Fortunately, Harmonix has done it's best to get a wide variety of songs in to make sure that most people know a few songs beforehand.

Ahh, but most people aren't going to be buying Rock Band for the guitar or the microphone. They already own games like that. No, the big draw for Rock Band is the new drum peripheral. And it's great! I had my doubts the first time I hopped behind a demo kit, but now that I've had substantial time with the drum peripheral, it's safe to say that this is what people will be fighting over at the inevitable Rock Band parties. The build quality of this peripheral is phenominal. It feels solid, and unless you're taking out your aggression on the bass pedal with cement shoes, you should have a hard time breaking it. Real wooden sticks are included in the package, and though the pads don't have as much bounce as a real kit would, the experience of sitting behind the kit and rocking out is awesome!

The gameplay is very similar to the guitars. Notes will scroll vertically from the top of the screen, and you must hit the correct colors in rhythm. When a long orange line appears, you must step on the bass pedal. It's all pretty straightforward and self-explanatory for anyone familiar with Harmonix's other games. In addition to that, there are also "fill sections" where you're free to bang around on the drums at your leisure and hitting the crash cymbal at the end of the section will trigger "overdrive" (Rock Band's "Star Power"). The fill sections can be a curse too, however. While a real-life drummer could knock out a fill without hesitation, someone who absolutely sucks at playing real drums (myself) will find themselves struggling to keep rhythm when they're not spoon-fed scrolling notes. It really breaks-up the gameplay. When you add in the fact that these fill sections will become more prominent until you activate your overdrive, it can get kind of annoying. Also annoying is when you're playing guitar while someone else comes across a fill section and butchers it, screwing you up in the process. It's a cool idea, but poorly implemented.

And now on to the game, itself. Single player is set up almost exactly like the Guitar Hero series. There is a career mode, where you play through the game's entire soundtrack, and there is quickplay. Career mode is the game's biggest failure. It's an absolute chore to complete this mode by yourself when all you want to do is jam with friends. And you have to complete it if you want to unlock all of the game's songs too (a huge, huge misstep). Unlike Guitar Hero, there are no encore songs, and therefore no surprises. It's just a straightforward play-through mode with little to no reward for completing it.

Multiplayer is where it's at. And unlike most Xbox 360 games, local multiplayer severely trumps online play. When you're in a room with 3 other people in your virtual band, it can get pretty fun. You just don't get that same feeling when you're going online against people you don't know and can't interact with. The biggest attraction in multiplayer mode is the Band World Tour mode (no Xbox Live functionality here), where you and your friends can start a virtual band and tour the world. The better you perform, the more fans you attain. Likewise, if you fail a song, you lose fans. You can also unlock vans, busses, and other rock gear to help you on your tour across the globe. The whole idea of this mode is to realistically mimic the real-life journey of a real-life band. For real. Harmonix has also added in some choices to the gameplay that will keep things interesting (i.e. Will you sell out or not? Will you play this large venue and risk losing more fans or stick to the small one?). It all makes for a surprisingly fun, and engrossing multiplayer mode.

The standard multiplayer modes are here as well, including "Tug of War" and "Score Duel" (similar to Guitar Hero's "Face-Off" and "Pro Face-Off," respectively). Unfortunately, these only work if you have two of the same instrument lying around. Unless you're unfathomably wealthy, that means you'll likely be dueling on guitars only for the time being.

The game has a pretty cool visual style, with heavy distortion and filters applied to almost all in-game character animations. It gives it a very raw feel, which fits the game's rock-theme perfectly. There is a pretty deep character customization system too, where you can create a digital version of yourself or your idealized self. Tattoos, piercings, and fauxhawks are all available for you to play around with, and you can even unlock more through the game's career mode. Load times can be a bit grueling (at least on my early-model Xbox 360), and the lack of any wireless peripherals is an absolute joke! Expect plenty of tangles, especially from that 20-foot mic cable. The game also comes with a USB splitter to allow you to connect all peripherals, but unfortunately it requires it's own power supply.

In the end though, there are very few things to complain about when it comes to Rock Band. Harmonix's dream game has finally made it's way onto store shelves, and if you're lucky and rich enough to snag a copy (the game currently retails for $170), you will have an absolutely amazing time rocking out with friends. If you don't have any friends though (or at least any that would be interested in playing Rock Band), you may want to spend your money elesewhere. Rock Band's single player experience is fun for a short time, but you'll find yourself longing to play with real live human beings before too long. And if all you're interested in is the drums, you can always just wait until early 2008 to pick up a copy of the game with the drums only (for much cheaper). Anyways, the point is that Rock Band is one of the finest music rhythm games ever made and quite possibly the greatest party game ever to come into existence. If Guitar Hero was your thing, and you have plenty of friends to play with (and, of course, the money), buy Rock Band! You will not be disappointed.

9 out of 10 Stars

Game is awesome, but the instruments are not of great quality.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: December 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

First, let me state that this game is awesome. The play is right on, the songs are diverse and I have enjoyed many hours playing. Now the bad...the instruments are lacking in quality. The strum lever on the guitar works intermittently when pushing down on it, so now I have to pull up on it to make sure no notes are missed. The USB adapter is very cheap and in fact, you are better off using another adapter from any computer store. The drums are fantastic except I kept reading about the foot pedal breaking, so I have been very careful not to step too hard. This, unfortunately does not make for realistic gameplay. All in all, I am happy, but Rock Band could have gone the extra step to make instruments that could take the wear and tear that should have been expected.

Frustration Trap!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: January 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I bought Rock Band special edition for christmas, because I had enjoyed Guitar Hero III so much and I thought that the added drumset and microphone would make Rock Band even more fun. I opened up the box and was totally psyched to see that the guitar was larger than that of Guitar Hero, and of course, being a drummer, I was completely excited to see the little drum set. I got everything set up and was having a blast. About three or four days later, I started noticing some weird thing happening with the guitar controller. It wasn't picking up the notes (I promise I don't just suck :)) and eveuntually it would only pick up the notes if you strummed up. Now the controller is completely kaputt. It's really infuriating. It simply won't work. When I plug it in the one and four lights are illuminated on the 360 logo and it tells me to please replace the controller. Also, on top of all of the guitar frustration, my bass pedal just went out. So, I'm going to send my guitar AND bass pedal back to the manufacturers and if I experience any more difficulties, I'm going to demand a full refund. Overall, I think that the game is really, really fun, but it just makes me sad that things are so cheaply made. I simply wanted to have some fun with my friends and enjoy my game, and now I'm pulling me hair out in frustration trying to deal with the EA Games website, and hoping that everything will get replaced free of charge. All-in-all it's a great game, but I would suggest Guitar Hero, and save yourself the freaking frustration!

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